Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Van Pelt Library

Illumination artist Behnaz Karjoo explores Islamic illumination – or tazhib – in a brief lecture followed by a participatory workshop.Wolf Humanities Center • University of Pennsylvania2024–2025 FORUM ON KEYWORDSWord, Ink, Gold, and PaperAn Exploration of the Art of IlluminationIllumination artist Behnaz Karjoo will explore the evolution of Islamic illumination, or tazhib, and its role in manuscript decoration, providing an overview of the traditional tools and materials involved. Visual images of illuminated manuscripts, along with the tools and materials, will illustrate the techniques involved in tazhib, highlighting the precision and artistry.Following her lecture, Karjoo will host a hands-on workshop, inviting participants

Historian Nayan Shah explores the visceral ways that hunger strikes communicate through media and political movements.Wolf Humanities Center • University of Pennsylvania2024–2025 FORUM ON KEYWORDSThe Paradox of Hunger StrikesThe talk considers the keyword "hunger strike" and the historical, social, and political conditions that motivate the rise and transformations of this puzzling and persistent bodily defiance in the 20th and 21st centuries. Investigating contexts from South Africa, India, Ireland, the United States, and Iran, historian Nayan Shah explores the visceral ways that hunger striking communicates through media and political movements, and how it can turn a personal agony into a call