Podcasts by Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast
Following up on key themes in the new book "The Word in the Wilderness: Popular Piety and the Manuscript Arts in Early Pennsylvania," this podcast welcomes you into the world of manuscript production, popular piety, and spiritual culture in early German Pennsylvania and beyond.
Further podcasts by Alexander Lawrence Ames
Podcast on the topic Geschichte
All episodes
Episode 36: The Place of Rare Book and Special Collections Libraries in the Research University: A Conversation with Dr. Paul J. Erickson. from 2022-12-17T05:50
Special collections libraries and archives shape the work of historians and other researchers by preserving and making accessible the records of our shared past. Yet they are also complex, vibra...
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Episode 35: The Digital Revolution in Special Collections Access: Assessing the Present State and Future Prospects of Collections Digitization with Christopher Ridgway. from 2022-12-17T05:40
Rare book libraries, archives, and museums find themselves in the midst of a digitization revolution, which is shifting discoverability of, and access to, their collections, and bringing about a...
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Episode 34: The William L. Clements Library: Exploring the University of Michigan’s Library of Early American History and Culture. from 2022-12-17T05:35
The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan is a world-renowned repository for the study of early American history—holding artifacts including the Pennsylvania German Holstein ...
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Episode 33: The Holstein Family Account Book: Studying a Manuscript Artifact of Pennsylvania German Life at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan. from 2022-12-17T05:30
Resources to study the history of Pennsylvania German material texts exist in institutions all around the nation and world, and it behooves scholars to look beyond the best-known repositories in...
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Episode 32: Design History as Cultural History: A Conversation About Pennsylvania German Design with Historian and Artist Rachel E. Yoder. from 2022-12-17T05:25
One of the most wonderful things about Pennsylvania German Studies is its interdisciplinary nature, and its bringing together of scholarly study with artistic and craft practice. In this excitin...
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Episode 31: Pennsylvania Germans and Other Early American Ethnic, Racial, Linguistic, and Cultural Communities: A Conversation with Dr. Leroy Hopkins. from 2022-12-17T05:20
If any single theme or idea emerges from consideration of the history of Lancaster County, it is the possibilities, and perils, of intense ethnic, racial, linguistic, and cultural interaction. F...
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Episode 30: Pennsylvania German Studies as an Interdisciplinary Enterprise: A Conversation About Musicology, Performance, and the Scholarly Life with Dr. Christopher Dylan Herbert. from 2022-12-17T05:15
One of the most wonderful things about Pennsylvania German studies is the opportunity they open for interdisciplinary research. In fact, interdisciplinary perspectives that draw on multiple theo...
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Episode 29: Studying Pennsylvania German Manuscript Culture in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an Early-American Cultural Crossroads. Results of a Week of Research at LancasterHistory. from 2022-12-17T05:10
Lancaster, Pennsylvania has been a diverse cultural crossroads for centuries, and the immense collections of LancasterHistory document the history of calligraphy, penmanship, and literacy educat...
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Episode 28: Religious Landscapes in Early America: A Conversation About Johannes Kelpius with Dr. Timothy Grieve-Carlson. from 2022-12-17T05:05
There are few characters from early Pennsylvania history more mysterious and fascinating than Johannes Kelpius, “the hermit of the Wissahickon” whose intellectual and spiritual life is the stuff...
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Episode 27: Pennsylvania German Studies: Assessing the State of the Field with Patrick J. Donmoyer, Director of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. from 2022-12-17T05:00:21
Season 4 of Cloister Talk is devoted to the consideration of the past, present, and future of Pennsylvania German Studies. In this inaugural episode of the new season, Patrick J. Donmoy...
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A Second Cup of Afternoon Tea with Alexander Lawrence Ames: Answering Questions about The Word in the Wilderness, and Some Closing Reflections on the Book from 2021-07-03T11:49:24
At the close of Season 3 of Cloister Talk, sit back and relax with a hot cup of tea to reflect on Pennsylvania German manuscript culture and popular piety in early America, and future ...
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Cloister Talk Live! Dr. Franklin’s Library: A Conversation with James N. Green, Librarian Emeritus of the Library Company of Philadelphia from 2021-06-26T12:24:37
Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company of Philadelphia is the thriving epicenter of early American book history, and the inspiration of librarianship in America. James N. Green, Libr...
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Cloister Talk Live! A Mystical Heritage: A Conversation with Allen Viehmeyer and Candace Perry of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center from 2021-06-19T18:15:13
Mysticism is a central (if complex, debated, and often misconstrued) part of the religious DNA of early German Pennsylvania. The theology and devotional practice of the Schwenkfelders—a G...
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Cloister Talk Live! Incense Hill: A Conversation with Kerry Mohn and Michael Showalter of Historic Ephrata Cloister from 2021-06-13T11:55:40
Few landmarks of early Pennsylvania heritage inspire awe and capture the imagination quite like Historic Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County—a place of architectural beauty, spiritual devo...
Cloister Talk Live! Books Along the Brandywine: A Conversation with Emily Guthrie, Formerly of The Winterthur Library from 2021-06-05T21:39:35
Nestled amid the rolling hills and verdant landscape of the Brandywine River Valley in Delaware, The Winterthur Library brims with rare books and manuscripts documenting material life in Americ...
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Cloister Talk Live! From The Rosenbach’s West Library: Religion and Early American Material Texts, from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Mexico City from 2021-05-30T22:20:23
Rare books at The Rosenbach showcase the incredible religious diversity throughout the Americas in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. This episode of Cloister Talk...
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Cloister Talk Live! At The Rosenbach: The Other Pennsylvania Germans? A Discussion of Early Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Jewish Community with Judith M. Guston from 2021-05-23T13:05:21
The multicultural life of early Pennsylvania included a vibrant Jewish community. Judith M. Guston, Curator & Director of Collections at The Rosenbach, discusses early Jewish settleme...
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Cloister Talk Live! Exploring the Free Library of Philadelphia Rare Book Department, one of the Great Collections of Pennsylvania German Text Culture, with Janine Pollock and Caitlin Goodman from 2021-05-17T11:42:44
The Parkway Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia is a majestic urban monument to literacy, learning, and robust civic discourse. What is more, the Rare Book Department at t...
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Cloister Talk Live! Volksbibliothek: A Conversation with Dr. Maria Sturm and Bettina Hess of the German Society of Pennsylvania Library from 2021-05-10T10:55:02
Few library spaces glimmer with the sense of historicity and culture that the Horner Memorial Library at the German Society of Pennsylvania exudes. In this episode of Cloister Talk L...
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Cloister Talk Live! The Faith That Binds: A Conversation on Anabaptist Bookbindings with Chela Metzger and Erin Hammeke from 2021-05-03T11:18:14
How can material artifacts be wielded as tools for unlocking the lived experiences of past spiritual-devotional cultures? In this inaugural episode of Cloister Talk Live!, join b...
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Cloister Talk Season 3 Teaser Trailer from 2021-04-08T23:57:45
Season 3 of Cloister Talk will begin on Monday, May 3, 2021, and will feature ten brand-new episodes that expand on themes and concepts explored in The Word in the Wilderness: Popul...
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Afternoon Tea with Alexander Lawrence Ames: Answering Your Questions about Writing The Word in the Wilderness, and a Life Spent in Libraries and Museums from 2021-03-01T12:53:03
Writing The Word in the Wilderness: Popular Piety and the Manuscript Arts in Early Pennsylvania, especially sharing the book’s ideas with audiences from across Pennsylvania and around t...
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"Errand Into the Wilderness": What Pennsylvania German Illuminated Manuscripts Mean in American History from 2021-02-22T13:05:16
A key topic addressed in The Word in the Wilderness: Popular Piety and the Manuscript Arts in Early Pennsylvania is how a deeper understanding of the spiritual underpinnings of the Penn...
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The Pennsylvania Pilgrim: Fireside Poet John Greenleaf Whittier's Interpretation of the Pennsylvania German, Quaker, and Early Abolitionist Francis Daniel Pastorius from 2021-02-15T13:01:35
The famous Quaker Fireside Poet John Greenleaf Whittier had a special passion for Pennsylvania history, which he expressed in his famous poem “The Pennsylvania Pilgrim.” Learn about Whitti...
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A Lesson in Early Modern Linguistic Theory with Johann Merken, and Its Implications for the Study of Material Texts from 2021-02-08T12:52:36
The history of material texts naturally intersects with the history of language—and linguistic theory. Drawing on fascinating artifacts held at the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at ...
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Johann Gottfried Weber and Johannes Bard: Two Characters in the 18th-century Transatlantic World of Manuscripts from 2021-02-01T12:23:06
Pennsylvania Germans figured prominently in a transatlantic world of copying and exchanging artistic, devotional texts. This episode of Cloister Talk examines intricate and remark...
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Manuscripts in Focus: Birth and Baptismal Certificates from 2021-01-25T12:22:23
Religious rituals and the commemoration of life events found rich expression in Pennsylvania German print and manuscript culture, especially on documents known as birth and baptismal certificate...
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Manuscripts in Focus: Tune Books from 2021-01-17T14:07:06
Music has always figured prominently in Pennsylvania German religious culture, making it unsurprising that the musical and calligraphic arts intersected in potent ways during the Long Era of Ma...
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Manuscripts in Focus: Penmanship Samples from 2021-01-11T12:50:57
Pennsylvania German manuscript penmanship samples are some of the most engaging, text-rich, and religiously-significant devotional documents created during the Long Era of Manuscripts in early P...
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The Pirate Bible: An Epic Tale of Looted Germantown Bibles, and What It Reveals About Pennsylvania German Religion in a Vast Atlantic World from 2021-01-04T12:45:50
Pennsylvania German religious culture existed within a vast, complex, fluid, and interconnected world of German-Protestant spirituality and text exchange. Perhaps no artifact better exempl...
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Cloister Talk Season 2 Teaser Trailer from 2020-12-14T13:14:02
Season Two of Cloister Talk: The Pennsylvania German Material Texts Podcast debuts on Monday, January 4, 2021. In this trailer, learn about what questions and topics will be expl...
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"Eines Christen Reise": Origins of The Word in the Wilderness from 2020-08-03T11:18:07
In this final episode of the first season of Cloister Talk, learn about the research and writing process that led to the publication of The Word in the Wilderness: Popular...
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"The Root of Wisdom is to Fear the Lord": Wisdom Literature and Pennsylvania German Manuscript Culture from 2020-07-27T11:16:34
Old Testament wisdom literature looms large over the Pennsylvania German manuscript arts. Learn about the historical significance of the wisdom literature as part of Pennsylvania German po...
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Manuscript Culture Beyond Pennsylvania: Traditions in Asia, the Islamic World, Early Modern Europe, Great Britain, and the Americas from 2020-07-20T11:35:11
Think that the Pennsylvania Germans were alone in their embrace of calligraphy and manuscript illumination as part of their spiritual enterprise? Think again. In this episode, learn ...
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What is "Manuscript Culture"? Reframing Pennsylvania German Manuscript Studies as a Sub-field of Book History from 2020-07-13T10:51
The study of Pennsylvania German illuminated manuscripts has long lacked a coherent theoretical and methodological foundation that situates the enterprise into wider scholarly conversations abou...
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Who Were the Pennsylvania Germans, and Why do They Matter? from 2020-07-06T11:58:39
Pennsylvania German religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions were extremely complex. This episode offers a quick primer on many of the various German-speaking groups that resided in e...
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What is "Fraktur"? Type, Script, and Art from 2020-06-29T11:28:56
This episode explores the many meanings of the word "Fraktur" in its European and American contexts and considers how best to deploy the term when discussing the manuscript art of the Pennsylvan...
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The History of Studying Pennsylvania Germans and Their Illuminated Manuscripts from 2020-06-22T12:34:42
This episode introduces listeners to trends in the study of Pennsylvania German illuminated manuscripts, commonly called "Fraktur."
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