Students’ exhibitions show range of Yale Library collections

  • Photo of Yale student Sarah Adams pointing to a sign post on the Shinetsu Trail in Japan
    Yale student Sarah Adams '20 on the Shinetsu Trail in Japan
April 6, 2021

Three online exhibitions curated by Yale students in English, environmental science, and architecture feature a wide range of primary sources and other resources from Yale University Library      

Publication and Prejudice

Curated by Emma Brodey ’21, this exhibit brings together more than twenty versions of Pride and Prejudice, based in the Yale  collections. It opens with early editions that might be thought of as “original,” and goes on to include everything from magazines to murder mysteries. Every one of these books tells more or less the same story, but they encompass a plethora of formats, editions, and re-imaginings. Even when they contain exactly the same words, the many small choices by publishers combine to create a completely different reading experience. Watch a video interview with Emma Brodey to learn more about her course paper that inspired this exhibit, her curation process, and the versions of Pride and Prejudice that she included from the Yale collections. View the Publication and Prejudice exhibit.

Image: Jane Austen

“Jappalachia”: Connections Between the Appalachian Trail and Japan’s Shinetsu Trail

View of the Shinetsu Trail from the curator's thru-hike by Sarah AdamsExploring the relationship between Japan’s Shinetsu Trail and the United States’ Appalachian Trail, this exhibit curated by Sarah Adams ‘20 studies two nationally funded long-distance trails established during times of increasing industrialization as relationships to the environment shifted. It delves into how the two trails reveal the many unique purposes of the places they serve and reflect the power of transnational connections, largely made by the lead founder of the Shinetsu Trail, nature writer and backpacker Katō Noriyoshi (1949–2013). In this video about Jappalachia, Sarah talks about her collaboration with Haruko Nakamura, librarian for Japanese Studies, to discover a range of historical materials from the library’s collections, including maps of Japan’s National Parks. She also discusses how she was inspired by her own experiences on the Appalachian Trail and her family’s personal connection to one of the Shinetsu Trail’s founders. View the Jappalachia exhibit.

Photo: View of the Shinetsu Trail from the curator’s thru-hike by Sarah Adams

Yale-Aided Design: The Work of Female Architecture Graduates

This exhibit curated by Mariana Melin-Corcoran ’20 explores the original contributions and experiences of some of the female pioneers of the architecture program at Yale from 1879 to the present. Under the guidance of Jessica Quagliaroli, the library’s architecture records archivist, Mariana draws on photographs, historical materials, and architectural resources from Manuscripts and Archives. The exhibit was originally displayed in the Sterling Exhibits Corridor in 2019 during the celebration of 50WomenAtYale150 commemorating the 50th anniversary of coeducation in Yale College and the 150th anniversary of women students at the university. View the Yale-Aided Design exhibit.

Each year, library conservation and exhibition staff provide instruction and assistance to assist selected students to transform research papers and projects into the unique narrative form of an exhibition, to be displayed in the Exhibition Corridor of Sterling Memorial Library. This year, due to pandemic restrictions on access to library buildings, the exhibitions have been produced online.
 
 
Photo: Yale School of Architecture class of 1985 by Marc Luttrell
 
Learn more about Yale Library’s student-curated exhibit opportunities.