Article Title
Access in Book History Methodology and Pedagogy: Report from the “Touch to See” Workshop
Document Type
Open Access Article
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")
Recommended Citation
Stuckey, Amanda
(2022)
"Access in Book History Methodology and Pedagogy: Report from the “Touch to See” Workshop,"
Criticism: Vol. 64:
Iss.
3, Article 11.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/criticism/vol64/iss3/11