The Duke University Libraries are now accepting applications for membership on the 2012-2013 Undergraduate Advisory Board, First-Year Advisory Board, and Graduate and Professional Advisory Board. Members of these student advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
All three boards are now taking applications or nominations. Deadlines for applying are:
Graduate and Professional Advisory Board: September 7
Undergraduate Board: September 9
First-Year Board: September 10
Members will be selected and notified by late September, and the groups will begin to meet by early October. More information is available on the Libraries’ website, where you will also find links to the applications and nomination forms.
For more information for any questions about these opportunities, contact:
Graduate and Professional Advisory Board
Robert Byrd
Associate University Librarian for Collections and User Services robert.byrd@duke.edu
919-660-5821
One side of the staircase will be closed for maintenance, and contractors will be using a strong-smelling solvent.
On Thursday and Friday, August 23 and 24, a contractor will be working on one side of the stairs in the Rubenstein Library entrance that lead from the first to second floor. One side of the staircase will be closed but the other side will be open.
The contractor will be using a solvent/cleaner that will produce a strong odor in the immediate area. It will be vented outside, but if you have any allergy or odor sensitivity issues you may want to utilize the main Perkins Library entrance to keep some distance from the area.
Duke Fire Safety will be testing the fire alarm system in Bostock, Perkins, and Rubenstein libraries on Friday, August 10, from 8:30 – 9:15 a.m.
The test will also be a fire drill. If you are in any of these buildings when the alarm sounds, you must evacuate the building. Fire Safety staff will be taking inventory of every alarm in Bostock, Perkins, and Rubenstein libraries to ensure that they are functioning during the test. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Duke Fire Safety conducts fire drills on a routine basis around campus in order to ensure that all Duke students, faculty, and staff know how to make an efficient and orderly escape from campus buildings in an emergency. For more information on campus fire safety, visit the Duke Fire Safety website.
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University has acquired the papers of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a scholar, writer and theologian who is widely recognized as one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20th century, the school announced Monday.
Heschel was a highly visible and charismatic leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. He co-founded Clergy Concerned About Vietnam and served as a Jewish liaison with the Vatican during the Second Vatican Council, also known as Vatican II.
Rabbi Heschel marching with Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights activists in Selma. All images are from the Abraham Joshua Heschel Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The collection, which has never before been available to scholars, consists of manuscripts, correspondence, publications, documents and photographs spanning five decades and at least four languages. Included among the papers are notes and drafts for nearly all of Heschel’s published works, as well as intimate and extensive correspondence with some of the leading religious figures of his time, including Martin Buber, Thomas Merton, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Reinhold Niebuhr.
The papers also contain extensive documentation on Heschel’s life-long commitment to social justice, including planning documents, correspondence with organizers, speeches and even hate mail.
“The presence of the Heschel archive is a significant opportunity to draw together Duke’s traditional strengths in Jewish studies, American history and human rights,” said Laurie Patton, dean of Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences. “One of Duke’s paramount values is ‘knowledge in the service of society,’ and Heschel embodied that value in every sphere of life. We are thrilled to be able to house his papers at our university, and hope to create numerous opportunities for ethical and historical reflection on this extraordinary man’s work and life.”
Photographs and other items from the Heschel archive, including a 1935 Nazi-issued work permit.
“The acquisition of the Heschel papers assures scholars that the legacy of social activism, human rights and the highest standards of Judaic scholarship will be central to the pursuit of Jewish studies at Duke and many other places,” said Eric Meyers, the Bernice & Morton Lerner professor of religion and director of the Duke Center for Jewish Studies.
“I am delighted that my father’s papers have found a good home at Duke, which has long had an important research program in the fields of Jewish studies and religious studies,” said Susannah Heschel, daughter of Abraham Heschel and the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. “Duke’s strong commitment to archival holdings related to Judaica and to human rights places my father’s papers together with those of his beloved student, Rabbi Marshall Meyer, and I know that Duke’s magnificent Rubenstein Library will make the material easily accessible to scholars from around the world.”
Notes and related materials from Heschel’s audience with Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II).
“Together, these two collections represent almost a century of social justice thought and action and provide an important connection between the civil rights and human rights movements,” said Patrick Stawski, human rights archivist at the Rubenstein Library.
Born in 1907 in Poland, Heschel was descended from a long line of distinguished rabbis. Heschel believed that prayer and study could not be separated from public action. He famously marched side-by-side with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala., and is credited with coining the civil rights slogan, “We pray with our legs.”
Heschel’s theological works include The Sabbath (1951), Man is Not Alone (1951) and God in Search of Man (1955). His writings continue to influence contemporary discussions of religion and social justice.
For more information, or for press inquiries, please contact: Patrick Stawski, Human Rights Archivist, (919) 660-5823, patrick.stawski@duke.edu
All library furniture in Perkins and Bostock libraries is scheduled to be cleaned during the week of August 6-10, 2012.
Expect some vacuum noise and other minor disturbances while the work is being completed.
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we’re looking forward to offering everyone a clean, comfy place to sit when classes resume on August 27. (Only three more weeks of summer break? Say it ain’t so!)
News, Events, and Exhibits from Duke University Libraries
The Duke University Libraries are now accepting applications for membership on the 2012-2013 Undergraduate Advisory Board, First-Year Advisory Board, and Graduate and Professional Advisory Board. Members of these student advisory boards will help improve the learning and research environment for Duke University students and advise the Libraries on topics such as study spaces, research resources, integrating library services into academic courses, and marketing library services to students.
Robert Byrd
Jean Ferguson
Greta Boers
Dave Munden
