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Document Type

Open Access Article

Author Biography

Amanda Stuckey is an assistant professor of English at Central Penn College, where she teaches interdisciplinary humanities and literature courses. Research for this piece began with a fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and support from the Bibliographical Society of America.

Abstract

This article theorizes methodological transparency in intersections of book history and pedagogy. To illuminate the intersections of accessible pedagogy and liberation bibliography, I describe the process of planning and conducting an archive-based workshop submitted to the Bibliographical Society of America. The workshop focuses on one book object: an 1836 New Testament embossed in raised roman letters meant to be read by the fingers of low-vision and blind students. The workshop especially seeks to reach community and traditionally nonacademic spaces, both virtual and on-site. Workshop participants discuss and reflect on the relationships among education access, disability history, and the book as a material object. We emphasize the merging of method with material: in the same way that the embossed book attempted to make literacy accessible to blind and low-vision readers, this workshop must be accessible to a range of participants and tailored to the individual needs and preferences of those registered. Reflecting on the planning, conducting, and aftermath of this workshop, I suggest that the workshop potentially merges disability pedagogy and liberation bibliography: interdependence is not only acknowledged but also privileged; hierarchies are not only identified but also unpacked; and knowledge is made rather than received. I build this theorization from participant’s contributions, feedback, and meta-reflections that assess the workshop on multiple levels, from access to content.

(In the issue section "Uncovering Labor")

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