Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book

Welcome! The Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book brings together scholars, students, and all who are interested in the history of the book and the materiality of information.

Professor holding clay tablet
Dr. Susanne Paulus teaching with clay tablets at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

From scribal culture to letter-press printing and modern practices of reading, there is no better place to dive into book history than at the University of Chicago, which offers opportunities for research and practice on texts and material objects dating from antiquity to the present, from cuneiform tablets to online games.

Made possible by a gift from the parents of an alumnus, the Kim-Park Program supports cross-disciplinary research and teaching related to all aspects of the materiality and transmission of texts and the history of the book through student and faculty fellowships, teaching stipends, material practice workshops, lectures, and regular colloquia.

People gathered around instrument in library
Ann Lindsey, Head of Conservation, demonstrating how to use a planer to trim a text block for a class studying scribal culture

Mark your calendar for the week of April 14, when the Kim-Park Program will be holding a week of inaugural activities, including a bradel binding workshop with Conservators Ann Lindsey and Melina Avery, an inaugural lecture on why book history matters by Adrian Johns, a talk by Zachary Lesser of the Penn Material Texts workshop, as well as other celebratory events. Stay informed by visiting our Events page and sign up for emails by subscribing to the Kim-Park Book History Colloquium listserv.

For more information please contact Elizabeth Frengel, Curator of Rare Books and Director of the Kim-Park Program or Angela Wachowich, Curatorial Assistant and Inaugural Fellow of the Kim-Park Program.