by JAMES ARNETT “Why was it so hard to see while it was happening that that was what was happening?” —URSULA K. LeGUIN, In and Out [1] “What’s ‘it’–what do you mean by ‘it’?” “O, anything–I mean–you know what I mean.” —VIRGINIA WOOLF, Kew Gardens typescript The walls have closed… read more
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Taking time to teach hidden histories in the archives
This essay is part of a slow research series, What is Research? The students stand, pencil and paper in hand, before the display window in the Harry Ransom Center’s seminar room. Behind the glass are an array of objects from the Center’s archives: Arthur Miller’s handwritten notes on a draft… read more
Learning how to read again
This essay is part of a slow research series, What is Research? Part of what is so compelling about doing research with old books is that the learning curve never ends—there’s always some new challenge, another thing to explain, something else to get to the bottom of. Reading old books… read more