A Bookshelf of the World: Bringing Students’ Books Inside the Classroom—A Means for Epistemic Equality?

Abstract

This chapter, as a pedagogical case study, demonstrates how a master’s degree course on the material book at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, that ran from September to November 2020, was adapted to online teaching. Instead of using the University Library’s vast collection of editions of Milton or Bunyan, students worked with books that they had in their own homes. Using the personal libraries of the students, the participants explored how, and by whom, books are made and read in different parts of the world. I discuss what it means for students to share their private books in a classroom context. Does it make them feel involved, or will some students feel embarrassed, pressured, or excluded? I also explore what the use of students’ books means for teaching book history and for pedagogy in general. To what extent will it help diversify the curriculum, put students in charge, and offer better access to learning materials? It turns out that this approach did not necessarily improve access to learning materials for students from abroad, since they do not have their personal library with them. Allowing students to pick books that fit their own taste and background did, however, help build a community, widen the canon, and give students a sense of being in charge. It also proved to be a viable alternative to studying the material book in a library.