SLIS Celebrates Honors Day 2021
- April 9th, 2021
- in Book Arts News, SLIS News
The School of Library and Information Studies Honors Day activities were conducted on Zoom today. We celebrate all of our award recipients!
The School of Library and Information Studies Honors Day activities were conducted on Zoom today. We celebrate all of our award recipients!
Current Master of Fine Arts in the Book Arts students Sarah Scarr, Kasey Grealis, and Christina Lilly held their thesis defenses on March 26, all presenting original works of art with their unique stories and experiences interwoven in their creations. If you were unable to attend the thesis defense, these students have also enabled viewing of a virtual exhibition of their art and is viewable from now until April 19, 2021 on https://warpandfold.com/ .
Congratulations to these students for their successfully defended thesis projects and on creating such exceptional and beautiful works of art and further congratulations on your upcoming graduation!
SLIS Assistant Professor Sarah Bryant and Associate Professor Miriam Sweeney hosted celebrated book artist Ben Blount over Zoom for a well-attended lecture, “Printing in the Present Tense,” on Friday, March 5. Blount is a Detroit born artist, designer and letterpress printer who loves books, type, and putting ink on paper. His work often explores questions of race and identity and the stories we tell ourselves about living in America. Ben is a believer in the power of the printed word and shares his passion for print and design speaking to students and educators around the country and as a board member of Artists Book House and Fine Press Book Association. His artists books and prints are included in prominent collections including The Newberry Library and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ben currently prints out of MAKE, his storefront studio in Evanston, IL. Learn more about Blount at his website.
Professor Sarah Bryant has been named a 2021-2022 Faculty Fellow of the Collaborative Arts Research Initiative (CARI). According to the press release, “These fellows will participate in a collaborative arts research community for the next two years. The CARI Faculty Fellowship aims to help fellows diversify the impact of their work and to develop new interdisciplinary research.” Learn more about CARI fellowship here.
Dr. Bharat Mehra is a featured speaker in a workshop on December 16 offered by the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs and Naseej Academy. Titled, “Webinar on Infodemic, Info-Vaccine and Libraries during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” the event also features library leaders from Kent State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Jeff Weddle’s book Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press is being reissued in paperback. Initially published in 2007, the hard cover book was published through the University Press of Mississippi. More information on the title can be found here. Dr. Weddle also has a brand-new publication that should be available in the coming month. A poetry collection, There’s More To It Than That, is being published by Poetic Justice Books.
SLIS is proud to celebrate two students who recently completed public defenses of their thesis projects.
Eric Coleman, MFA Book Arts student, defended his thesis on October 2. Titled “Year, Make & Model,” Eric’s project parallels his journey in printmaking, saying, “it’s the culmination of my work with vehicle restoration. It highlights the cars & relationships throughout a ten-year period of my life. This book is not only a glimpse into the inner workings of my psyche, but it’s a world that most may not consider.” Eric’s thesis committee was chaired by Prof. Anna Embree. Coleman will be graduate in December 2020. Join us in wishing congratulations to Eric for a successful thesis defense!
On October 19, Juliana Mestre successfully defended her MLIS thesis entitled, “A Derridean Reclamation of Hospitality in Library and Information Science.” A work of information theory, this thesis uses philosophical deconstruction to argue that learning to embrace hospitality’s irreducible paradoxes provides a model for how library practitioners can, through discourse, continue to serve patrons authentically despite other seemingly unresolvable conflicts in professional values. Juliana’s thesis committee was chaired by Dr. John Burgess. Mestre will graduate with her MLIS in December 2020 and intends to pursue a PhD in LIS. Congratulations to Juliana on this great accomplishment!