Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Files and papers relating to the University Seminars.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
Material is unprocessed. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Robert L. Belknap University Seminars Records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
accn number: Source of acquisition--[source of acquisition]. Method of acquisition--Gift, Purchase, etc; Date of acquisition--date.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.
Papers processed mmb 5/2/1999.
Papers appraised appraiser [date].
In the nineteen thirties, Professor Frank Tannenbaum had discussed with Nicholas Murray Butler the idea of ongoing groups of Columbia professors and experts from the whole region to explore matters no single department had the breadth or the agility to study. Butler liked the idea as a quick way to mobilize the intellectual resources of the University about suddenly emerging problems, but World War II supervened and it was 1944 before his successor, Frank Fackenthal, approved the first five University Seminars. Three of these seminars still meet: Peace, Religion, and The Renaissance.
Rober Belknap was a member of several seminars including Literary Theory; Slavic History and Culture; and the History of Columbia University was Director from 2001 to 2011 and our official historian since last year. He both shaped and embodied the ethics of the Seminars movement: to disagree without rancor; to listen before speaking; to seek the truth among peers without the encumbrance of hierarchy; to operate with both modesty and integrity; and above all to be driven by one's curiosity.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
All links open new windows.
| Name | ||
|---|---|---|
| Columbia University. University Seminars | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |
| Subject | ||
| Seminars | CLIO Catalog | ArchiveGRID |