Thinking on Paper: Handwritten Notes and the Liberal Arts

In an age of increasingly sophisticated digital technology, analog tools and techniques still have educational potential for all of us: students, faculty, and staff.

Based on Roland Allen’s book The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper (2024) and—more importantly—on the personal experiences of the participants, this teaching table will explore some materials, practices, and benefits of handwritten notes and sketches in blank paper notebooks of various sizes.

Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are world-famous for their stupendous, wide-ranging intellectual curiosity and creativity; however, one doesn’t have to be a genius or “Renaissance man” to enjoy using an old-fashioned notebook as a “second brain” in learning, teaching, research, and everyday life.

Lunch will be available for this session. Please register, so we can plan for an appropriate amount of food.