UWM Special Collections - Scholar in the Library

The Scholar and the Library
Recent Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
A 1999/2000 Library Speaker Series

Fall 1999 through Spring 2000


November 19, 1999	RICHARD ZAUFT, Associate Dean, School of the Arts and Professor, Department of Visual Art *"Visualizing Writing: An Artist's Interpretation of Meaning"* Professor Zauft is a graphic designer, letterpress printer, book artist, and Web site designer. His primary research area relates to his interest in making letterpress broadside prints, using handset lead type printed in the letterpress method, combined with alternative and new technologies of digital imaging and outputting. His design and printing efforts follow four distinct avenues of interest: the visual interpretation of poetry; commissioned commemorative prints for special events; political and social satire and humor; and personal celebrations featuring his own poetry. Using many examples from his own work, Professor Zauft will discuss the process of researching and constructing imagery appropriate to written material for the production of a final printed product. Different strategies are required for prose, poetry, events, and nonsense/humor. He will talk about the decisions, mistakes, and redesign/reprint steps that occur when new research or technical difficulties intervene in the creative process, and how these considerations lead to the eventual solution and final design. He will discuss this process from both conceptual/idea and technical points of view.
December 17, 1999	MARTHA CARLIN, Associate Professor, Department of History *"`What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?' Going Out for Dinner in Medieval and Tudor London"* Professor Carlin will discuss her most recent research on extra-domestic dining in Medieval and Tudor London. After the completion of her detailed study on the urban development of the medieval London suburb of Southwark, Professor Carlin co-edited a collection of essays on Food and Eating in Medieval Europe (Hambledon Press, 1998). In her own essay in this volume, "Fast Food and Urban Living Standards in Medieval England," Carlin contended that ready-made foods were available principally in large towns, and "flourished not to serve well-to-do residents and travellers, but rather to serve the urban poor." She concluded that "fast food flourished in medieval English towns among those who could least afford it, but whose circumstances made it irresistible. . . . For the very poor and the homeless . . . fast food was often their only source of hot food at all," revealing the "darker side of poverty misery and hunger for a hot meal." Professor Carlin's most recent work is an extension of her research in this book.
February 25, 2000	FRANK H. WILSON, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology *"Footsteps from North Brentwood: A Sociologist Reconstructs the Life & Heritage of His Hometown"* Professor Wilson will discuss his recent documentary research on North Brentwood, Maryland, the first African American incorporated town in Prince George's County and in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Through photographs, interviews, artifacts, and archival evidence, Prof. Wilson's work demonstrates how generations of ex-slaves and descendants of slaves organized their lives and built this suburban community from the 1890s through the post-WWII years. He published the results of his research in "Footsteps from North Brentwood: From Reconstruction to the Post-World War II Years." Having been raised in North Brentwood himself, Prof. Wilson's history highlights the importance of family and extended family in shaping the town. The inter-family relationships of North Brentwood are rooted in the shared experiences of their ancestors--black men who fought in the Maryland Colored Regiments during the Civil War; shared dreams and interests of owning land and homes; shared memories of civic participation and association to improve community life. These family relationships were further strengthened by the boundaries of racial discrimination and segregation, difficult times, and poverty. Prof. Wilson's history forms part of the Footsteps From North Brentwood Oral History Project funded by the Maryland Humanities Council through a grant from the NEH. His work was published in conjunction with a 1997 traveling exhibit at the Anacostia Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the North Brentwood Community Center, and the Lowe House of Delegates in Annapolis.
March 31, 2000	RUTH SCHWERTFEGER Associate Professor, Department of German *"Hearing the Voices: Representations of the German-Jewish Experience of Vichy France."* Professor Schwertfeger will discuss her current research and use of information resources on German-French relations during World War II, particularly the German-Jewish experience in German-occupied France.
April 21, 2000	MARGO ANDERSON Professor, Department of History *"Who Counts? The Politics of Census-Taking in Contemporary America."* Professor Anderson will discuss the research for her most recent publication Who Counts? The Politics of Census-Taking in Contemporary America (Russell Sage Foundation, 1999), which she co-authored with Stephen E. Fienberg, the Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics and Social Science at Carnegie Mellon University. The book is an in-depth examination of the discontent surrounding the last census of 1990, specifically the lawsuits, congressional hearings, and bureaucratic intrigues. The book also offers an overview of Census 2000, and how its design springs from previous census controversy, most especially the vexing questions of how the census can be modified to rectify the demonstrated undercount of poor urban minorities, and what methods are required to enumerate an ever more diverse and mobile population of over 200 million. Margo Anderson's presentation is particularly timely, as new controversy begins to build around the current census and its methods. Please join us for this provocative discussion.

These UWM arts, humanities and social science scholars will discuss their recent research activities, and how library resources and services helped facilitate the research process.

All presentations are free and open to the public, and will be held in:

Room 281, Golda Meir Library
Second Floor, East Wing
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

SPONSORED BY THE GOLDA MEIR LIBRARY AND
THE FRIENDS OF THE GOLDA MEIR LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE

For more information, contact Max Yela, Special Collections, (414) 229-4345