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2024 October Membership Drive: Preserving fan history

Do you remember that one fanfic that kept you reading until dawn for the very first time? Or the fan art or video that led you to dig out all the works its creator shared? Have you ever tried to look into the stories of the authors who wrote fics before you were even born? You can find all this and more on Fanlore - the wiki for fanworks, fan creators, and fannish history!

Fanlore is a project run by the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) with the goal of providing fans a place to record and share their histories, experiences and traditions. Fanlore records both the history and current state of our fan communities – fan works, fan activities, fan terminology, individual fans and fannish-related events. You can read about what fandoms were like in the olden days and document memorable events in your own fandoms, all on Fanlore! Check out the wiki’s New User Portal or join the Fanlore Discord server to connect with other editors and users.

We would not be able to preserve these cherished pieces of fandom history without the generous donations of our fellow fans and volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep all our projects running. As always, we have some shiny new donation gifts!

You can choose to display your love for fandom with some of our new thank-you gifts. For a US$40 donation, we have a new sticker set featuring popular AO3 tags. You can show off a bumper sticker saying "my other car is a ship" for a donation of US$50. For a donation of US$75 or more, you could carry home your groceries with a white and red shopping bag or you can announce your love for AO3 with our rainbow kudos pin.

You can also set up a recurring donation and save towards the gift of your choice. Select the gift you want, and if the total for that donation doesn't reach the amount needed for the gift you selected, future donations will be applied to the gift you’re saving for. Those of you in the U.S. might also be able to double your contribution via employer matching: contact your HR department to find out if this is an option for you.

A donation of US$10 or more will also allow you to become a member of the OTW. OTW members can vote for the Board of Directors – the OTW’s governing board. Donating now and checking the “I wish to be a member” box will make you eligible to vote in the 2025 OTW Board Election.

We hope that many of you will take this opportunity to donate and become a member to support projects like Fanlore, Open Doors, Legal Advocacy, Transformative Works and Cultures, and the Archive of Our Own. Your contributions help keep our projects successful for new and long-time fans alike!




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October 2024 Membership Drive: Thanks for your Support

The Organization for Transformative Works's October membership drive is over and we are delighted to say that we are finishing with a total of $214,698.86 raised. We are particularly pleased that 6020 donors chose to either take up or renew OTW membership with their donation, far exceeding our goal of 4,500 members.

These donations came from 6,955 people in 86 countries: thank you to every single one of you, as well as to all of you who posted and shared the news about the drive! The OTW would not exist without its users all around the world, and your continued support for us is our absolute pride and joy! We are so glad to know that our ongoing mission to support, protect, and provide access to the history of fanworks and fan culture continues to resonate with the people that matter most of all: the fans themselves.

If you were intending to donate or join and haven't yet done so, don't worry! The OTW accepts donations year-round, and you can always choose to become a member with a donation of US$10 or more. Memberships run for one calendar year from the date of your donation. If you donate now, you'll be able to vote in next year's OTW Board election, which will take place in August 2025. Our exclusive thank-you gifts are also available whenever you donate!


The Organization for Transformative Works is the non-profit parent organization of multiple projects including Archive of Our Own, Fanlore, Open Doors, Transformative Works and Cultures, and OTW Legal Advocacy. We are a fan-run, entirely donor-supported organization staffed by volunteers. Find out more about us on our website.




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Finished "Chicks" Quilt (Sue Spargo Wool Applique)

A week of finishing!!! Oh my, it feels good to finish things, doesn't it?!


Last October, I started the applique process, stitching chick bodies and wings cut from felled wool onto the wool background fabric. Seven months later, 16 chicks, embroidered with threads and beads, run free! Please click the picture to enlarge it, so you can enjoy the fanciful details.

If you are new to this process, you can see the various steps and pictures of the chicks on these posts. Of course, they are inspired by Sue Spargo's exhibit at the La Conner Quilt Museum, by her book, Creative Stitching, and by taking a one-day class from her to get me going. Along the way, other books, embroideries, and drawings also inspired me.


As you might guess, most of the chicks have at least a few beads. Here is one with the main motif embroidered with beads.


And, here is one with just a few beads, the center of the "flowers," and one with no beads at all.

Also note that I've quilted the piece with Danish Flower Thread in a shade which closely matches the background color.

At first, I thought it would be pleasing to embellish the areas between the chicks with flowers, vines, and leaves using three close shades of the background color. Here is an example.


It looks OK when you look at just four chicks with the flower/vine motif in the center. But when I had finished 6 of the areas (sorry no photo), some of them with larger spaces and larger vines/leaves, it looked too busy. It took away from the chicks. I couldn't tell if I was supposed to look at the chicks or the flowers. So I picked out the vines and leaves, leaving just the flowers, which weren't such a distraction.


After sewing on the binding, the chicks seemed to need a little warming around them. So I added a line of stem stitch in variegated pearl-cotton in a magenta color. It pleases me!


Oh, and one more thing... This is a quilt, designed to hang on the wall, with lots of details to enjoy as you view it up close. But what happens to wool felt when it is out in the open? MOTH DAMAGE and DUST are the enemies. My solution? Find, buy, or have somebody make a wall-mounted display case, with a hinged door. Hang the quilt inside the case, which remains closed except when somebody wants to take a closer look. The above, found on the internet, is close to what I have in mind, with a white background of course.


What's next in chick-land? Well, my dear niece just got married... Here is the start of her wedding gift... I'll post a finished photo soon.




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"Square Dancers" - Shimmer Quilt

Kitty Sorgen, quilter extraordinaire, and Jenny Bowker, the pattern developer, are to blame for this madness! Shimmering Triangles Jenny calls it, and shimmer it does. In fact, it can be over done to the point where it's difficult to look at. But not Kitty's... Kitty, a member of our local guild and the best colorist I know, brought her shimmer quilt to Wednesday night quilting a few months ago, and

WHAMMMO!

I fell in love, bonkers, totally in love with her quilt. This isn't a great photo, but here it is, Kitty's shimmer quilt...


It's so complex, at first I couldn't even figure out what was a block, squares looking like diamonds, color everywhere, blending in some places, shimmering in others. That day, on the spot, enough of us signed up and paid, filling a one-day class instantly.



The class was on Feb. 21, 2015. Most of the students got a block finished in class, some even finished two blocks. Each block is 16" square (finished), and has 69 pieces. Below is one block, showing the construction of it.



Me? Nope. I didn't sew a stitch. Long after the other students had finished arranging their fabrics on the design wall, I was still struggling with the concept, of how to get shimmer, but not too much shimmer, still arranging my fabrics (photo below).


It was really difficult to imagine what would shimmer, what might be too contrasty and shimmer too much (for my taste), and what would have too little contrast and thus not shimmer at all.


At home, I laid it all out on my work tables again, rearranging and rearranging the fabrics over and over again. The trick, in my opinion, is to work the diagonals. I began with a layout of focal fabrics, in my case "painterly floral prints," leaving space between them for the companion fabrics. Then choose companion "read as solid prints," placing them at the corners of the focals. Like Kitty, I decided to repeat the companions diagonally between two focals. I don't know if this even makes sense, but maybe you can see it in the layout above.


Silly me, I thought sewing it, once I got all the fabrics placed, would be a piece of cake. NOT! Well, technically speaking, sewing it is OK. Although it does take some time and attention to detail to get all the half-square triangles square, and the points nice and pointy.


But cutting the triangles is another matter. To make the colors and shapes flow, it's important to blur the line of the focal square by blending the design/color outward through the half-square triangles. Above is an example of one that worked pretty well, because you can only barely discern the square of focal fabric in the center of the block.


And here is some fabric I turned into Swiss cheese trying to get triangles that would bring the focal fabric design outward, tricking they eye, making it look like a diamond rather than a square. (Sorry, I didn't take a picture of that particular finished block.)


I make the half square triangles using paper piecing, with a free, downloaded template printed on 16 pound copy paper. Paper piecing has a learning curve, yes, but it does make for very accurate piecing, such that I didn't have to trim any of the finished blocks at all!


Here is a picture of four finished blocks. You can see the way the companion fabrics repeat diagonally to form a 4-patch block between the focal fabrics. These two fabrics need to be close in value and color. If there is too much contrast, it draws the eye away from the focal fabrics and shimmering triangles. In the case above, I think the orange and pink contrast a little too much. Also on the left the lighter and darker green is also a bit too contrasty.  Fabric choices are difficult and important... Any one companion fabric has to work with two focal fabrics and the adjacent companion fabric, which in turn has to work with it's two adjacent focal fabrics. Sound complicated and challenging? It is!


It took many days (lost count) to finish the first half of the blocks (10 of 20)... and many more to finish the last 10 blocks... a bit character building. Many times, I told promised myself I would never do paper piecing or make another shimmer quilt again in my whole life!


Here I've finished all 20 blocks. I've moved all the furniture out of the studio, and put it on the floor to "audition" border fabrics. Most of the shimmer quilts I've seen do not have borders, but I wanted to make it a bit bigger so it could be used for a bed quilt.


This is how it looks all finished, before quilting it, 90 x 74 inches.

Since the throat of my old machine is much too narrow to free-motion quilt a piece this size, I decided to get a professional to quilt it. But first I agonized some about how to do it. At first I thought it would be good to fussy quilt, making flowers in the companion fabric areas and vertical vines with leaves over the focal fabrics. This was my sketch for the idea.


But then I saw a few quilts done like that, and the fussy quilting looked too busy, competing too much with the shimmer. So finally, I decided on using a double-leaf, free-motion edge-to-edge design. I named my quilt Square Dancers, because of the colorful costumes, movement, and squares.

Now that it's finished, guess what?  I started gathering fabrics for my second shimmer quilt. I want a spring-summer quilt for my bed in softer, lighter colors. It needs to be bigger than the first one, at least 36 blocks, to work on a queen size bed. Here are some of the fabrics I've found so far:





These are mostly designs by Philip Jacobs, one of the Kaffe Fassett Collective designers. I love his colors and designs! I will use other fabrics in my stash, but more than half of the 36 focals will be like these.

It will be fun to try this again, to apply what I've learned on the first one, to try to improve my fabric choices, always with the goal of some shimmer (but not too much) and good flow throughout the quilt. I'll also try to pick up my speed a bit, without sacrificing accuracy in the piecing.

Expect a post about #2 shimmer quilt in a couple of months. Right now, I'm still gathering fabrics.












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Hexie 2 Report - 733 Hexie Flowers Finished!


I started cutting scraps of fabric to make hexie flowers on September 1, 2015. After 9 months of labor, I have just finished stitching the 733rd flower!  I'll do the math for you... That's 5,131 hexies. They are small ones, 3/4 inch per side. The finished flowers measure just under 4" in diameter.


To give you an idea, this is what 44 hexie flowers look like. In case you don't know, for each hexie, the fabric is cut, and then basted over a paper, hexagon-shaped form. The hexies are then hand-stitched together to make the flowers. It takes about 1 hour to make one hexie flower, start-to-finish; thus 44 hours to make the batch above. Click the photo to see better detail of this process, which is called English paper piecing.


And here are all 733 hexie flowers! Each flower is a different fabric. Although a few of the flower petal fabrics were also used for flower centers, I'm certain that there are over 1,000 different fabrics used in these flowers.

What's next? Well, I'm going to build a design wall using sound-proofing foam-board covered with a king-sized flannel sheet. I haven't quite figured out how to make it yet.

When the design wall is ready, I'll get out my hexie flowers and start to "paint" with them. Who knows what will emerge? Not me. I only have a vague idea that I might want to try "painting" an abstract view of our island shoreline.

When the "painting" process is finished, I'll stitch the flowers together in small groups, and then stitch the groups together. The result, hopefully in my lifetime, will be a queen-sized, non-traditional style, hexie quilt!

Thanks to everybody who shared scraps of fabric for me to use!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

For those interested, here is a link to a "time study" and photos of my previous hexie quilt, Mama's Garden!




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In McCarter Theatre’s ‘Dreaming Zenzile,’ an accomplished alumna's own dream comes true

Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, a Princeton alumna and current Hodder Fellow who's a composer, vocalist and scholar, has come full circle since the day she sat in a McCarter audience 10 years ago and made a wish to one day be up on that stage. 




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'Legendary' cognitive scientist Daniel Osherson, 'scientist of rare talent' and 'excellent and caring mentor,' dies at 73

Daniel Osherson, Princeton’s Henry R. Luce Professor in Information Technology, Consciousness, and Culture, Emeritus, known for his  creative scientific explorations with collaborators in many disciplines, died at home on Sept. 4. 




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Hisashi Kobayashi, former Princeton engineering dean and data storage pioneer, dies at 84

Hisashi Kobayashi, whose steady leadership as dean guided Princeton's School of Engineering and Applied Science through a rapid expansion of programs and facilities in the late 1980s and early 1990s, died on March 9. He was 84.




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Princeton SPIA's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics helps democracy flourish across the aisle

CSDP brings voices from across the political spectrum into conversation with Princeton social scientists and students. 




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2024-spring-reto-R1-03206-0016 1 naked trees and naked shaped stone

tataata has added a photo to the pool:




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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Worship Service

The dean and associate dean of Religious Life and the Chapel lead the Sunday ecumenical Christian service in the Chapel, which features the magnificent Chapel Choir, the Mander-Skinner organ, preachers from around the country and the world, and a warm and welcoming community of worshipers. All are welcome!




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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SHPE General Meetings

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers meets weekly on Wednesdays in the Yeh PDR to come together, socialize, and envision the future of the club together.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Worship Service

The dean and associate dean of Religious Life and the Chapel lead the Sunday ecumenical Christian service in the Chapel, which features the magnificent Chapel Choir, the Mander-Skinner organ, preachers from around the country and the world, and a warm and welcoming community of worshipers. All are welcome!




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships

Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships




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M/W Squash vs Drexel

M/W Squash vs Drexel




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships

Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships




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Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships

Men's Water Polo - NEWPC Championships




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




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Advanced LaTeX Workshop

This workshop provides a hands-on introduction to more advanced topics in LaTeX, including using beamer and BibLaTeX. Beamer provides an elegant way to create presentations and posters while taking advantage of the potential of LaTeX. BibLaTeX is a powerful, integrated citation system that is easy to use with LaTeX. Peer consultations and troubleshooting also offered throughout the semester. Visit https://libcal.princeton.edu/appointments/jfz to book an appointment.




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

SHPE General Meetings

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers meets weekly on Wednesdays in the Yeh PDR to come together, socialize, and envision the future of the club together.




sh

Intro to Quantum Computing Workshop

Have you ever heard about quantum computing and wanted to learn more about it works? Come to our workshop teaching basics of quantum computing and run code on a real quantum computer! Snacks will be provided.




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Pace Center Summer Internships Drop-in

Meet Pace Center staff and student leaders to learn about Summer 2025 internship opportunities!




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Authentic Jazz and Swing Dance Workshop

As part of Dyane Harvey-Salaam's fall 2024 dance course, "The American Experience and Dance Practices of the African Diaspora," guest artist Mickey Davidson gives a lecture/workshop on Authentic Jazz and Swing Dance Practices. Open to University community.




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Early Modern Nahuatl Workshop

A working group analyzing Nahuatl-language documents of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries with a concentration on deciphering paleography and considering issues of translation. The workshop will commence with Mesoamerican Manuscripts held in the special collections of the Princeton University Library in support of the Translating Mesoamerica project that will provide increased accessibility and analysis of these archival treasures.




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Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.




sh

Fall 2024 Painting Class Show

The Program in Visual Arts presents an exhibition of recent work created by students in the fall course, "Painting I," taught by Pam Lins and Colleen Asper. Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 7 AM-8:30 PM; Weekends, 9 AM-8:30 PM.