2019-2020

Come and join us as we celebrate the Great Lakes. As part of the LS&A's theme semester 'Lake Effects'  this third Thursday will feature the Clark Library's vast collection of maps on the Great Lakes. Using historic maps, follow in the footsteps of Native Americans and fur traders and witness the War of 1812 in the Great Lakes. Take a spin through the Clark Library's road maps of the Great Lakes area and explore the changing tourism of the area through pictorial maps. Finally, explore the lakes themselves and the secrets that they hold, from shipwrecks to invasive species. 

Join the Clark Library as we celebrate the opening of our new exhibit, Waterways to Motorways: Traversing the Great Lakes, a visual tribute to the famed lakes. Explore the new exhibit while delving into the history of exploration and cartography in the Great Lakes. Examine the modern role of tourism and motorized travel and probe the depths of the lakes themselves. Celebrate with us the unique role of the Great Lakes in the history and development of the surrounding areas. 

On November 9, 1989, the world celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall, dividing East and West Berlin. This November we mark the 30th anniversary of the wall’s collapse and the fall of the Iron Curtain. Explore the Clark’s collection of Cold War maps, as well as the occupied zones in Germany. The open house will also feature plans with the locations of nuclear missiles in the United States and maps of the countries behind the Iron Curtain. Join us as we mark this momentous anniversary. 

There is not in the wide world a valley so sweet, As that vale in whose bosom the bright waters meet… 

~Thomas Moore, writing about the Vale of Avoca

A poet has the awe-inspiring power to immortalize a place within his audience’s mind with only their words. Join the Clark as we explore the real locations behind many of the world’s most famous poems and their bards. From the shores of the British Isles to the churchyard in Cambridge to the source of Lake Huron, we will visit the places that inspired some of the world’s most famous poets, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Butler Yeats, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and many others. Bring a poem about your favorite place and take a journey with us. 

From Paris and Rome to Marrakech and Jaipur to Hangzhou and Kyoto, the world is full of romantic cities. Join the Clark Library as we take a stroll through many of the world's most romantic cities. Wander the cobblestone streets of Florence and dance the Argentinian Tango in Buenos Aires, then sit by the shores of Lake Pichola and gaze at the illuminated Lake Palace in Udaipur, before taking a carriage ride through Quebec City. 

Step aboard our hot air balloon as we set off for the Mysterious Island, plot a course for the center of the Earth, and follow the Nautilus to the depths of the sea. Join us as we map the life and literary works of the Father of Science Fiction, Jules Verne. Examine moon maps, study the bottom of the ocean, peruse maps of steamship routes, investigate the layers of the Earth, and look for the Mysterious Island. We will also feature maps of important locales from Jules Verne’s own life, including Nantes, Paris, and Amiens. Step into the fantastic world of Jules Verne with us and don’t forget your passport.