In honor of our 20th anniversary, the Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities has chosen the theme of Radical Futures or our events this academic year. In partnership with Special Collections and The Davis Museum, we present a one-day, multi-event celebration of the way that libraries and museums use emerging technologies to better understand the past as a way to shape our futures.

These events will demonstrate how scientific advances reveal hidden histories of books and art objects. We will focus on showcasing x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), the use of 3D scanning and printing to better understand art restoration over time, and the art and science of calligraphy. The demo events will use objects from Special Collections and the Davis Museum collection. 

Session I: Davis Museum 
11:30am-12:15pm 

• Room 1: 3D scanning with Johanna Okerlund (Makerspace and Interactive Media Coordinator, LTS) and Nicole Berlin (Associate Curator of Collections, Davis Museum); and 3D printed multisensory demonstration with Dr. Semente (Curator of Education and Public Programs)
• Room 2: XRF with Richard Newman (Head of Scientific Research, MFA, Boston); and Ruth Rogers (Curator of Special Collections, LTS)
• Registration required! Limited to 15 participants per room. 
   

Session II: Davis Museum Lobby
12:30-1:30pm

• Lunch and informal calligraphy demonstration with Maryanne Grebenstein (Lead Designer, The Abbey Studio)
  Maryanne Grebenstein is a professional calligrapher and owner of The Abbey Studio in Marblehead, MA. She studied under Sheila Waters, Jeanyee Wong, Robert Boyajian, and other notable calligraphers. She teaches workshops in calligraphy, manuscript gilding, and layout in her Marblehead studio/shop. She is a former teacher at North Bennet Street School in Boston, and a former Adjunct Professor at Massachusetts College of Art. She is the author of Calligraphy: A Course in Hand Lettering and Calligraphy Bible, both published by Watson-Guptill.
• Registration required—limited to 25 attendees!

   

Session III: Davis Museum
1:45-2:30pm

• Room 1: 3D scanning with Johanna Okerlund (Makerspace and Interactive Media Coordinator, LTS) and Nicole Berlin (Associate Curator of Collections, Davis Museum); and 3D printed multisensory demonstration with Dr. Semente (Curator of Education and Public Programs)
• Room 2: XRF with Richard Newman (Head of Scientific Research, MFA, Boston); and Ruth Rogers (Curator of Special Collections, LTS)
• Registration required! Limited to 15 participants per room. 
   

Keynote Lecture: Newhouse Center Lounge (Green 237)
5:00-6:30pm

• Deep-dive with Richard Newman (Head of Scientific Research, MFA, Boston)
  Richard Newman is Head of Scientific Research at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he has been a research scientist since 1986. He collaborates with curators and conservators to study works of art of all kinds from many cultures and periods. His lab uses about a dozen different analytical techniques to study the materials of works of art, sometimes working with tiny samples, in other cases using "noninvasive" techniques to directly examine objects. In his lab, as in most museums, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is one of the most useful of these techniques. 
• Presentation on the science of x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and a Wellesley case study featuring the discovery of forgeries added to a 15th-century Book of Hours in Special Collections
• Generously supported by The Friends of the Library
• Free and open to the public! No registration required.