Typography Working Seminar: research with collections, 22–26 July 2024

Spend a week immersed in typographic collections, looking at methodologies for effectively working with and interpreting primary sources, including unconventional material, ephemera, and digital evidence. We will look at the role of materiality and the impact of technologies of document authoring and making across different languages and scripts. Sessions with archival material are paired with practical sessions: demonstrations and hands-on exercises with writing tools in different scripts, and printing equipment across technologies, will give you a direct appreciation of the role of typographic research for text- and publishing-focused disciplines.

Our sessions will be particularly relevant for those working with under-represented scripts, languages, or communities, and those working to address biases in existing literature. This course is suitable for academics, researchers, and individuals preparing for PhD study who are developing a research project, publication, or proposal. Additionally, for those with broader interests, the course will help build skills for qualitative work with archives and constructing narratives from material evidence.

Contributors in the week include Borna Izadpanah, Neelakash Ksetrimayum, Gerry Leonidas, Fiona Ross, and Geoff Wyeth.

To discuss the fit of the course to your interests, and for more information, contact Gerry Leonidas at g.leonidas@reading.ac.uk.