Special Collections and University Archives

Welcome to Special Collections’ Spring 2019 exhibit: especially for bibliophiles! “Master of a Hundred Arts” Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) was regarded as a great intellectual during his lifetime. With insatiable curiosity, access to the expansive knowledge networks of the Jesuit order, and the power to disperse his ideas in print, Kircher produced over forty “seat-cushion-sized” tomes … Continue reading the article: Athanasius Kircher and Other Curiosities from Special Collections →

The latest Library exhibit, opening May 31, 2017, presents a less-examined side of political debates and demonstrations during the Vietnam War era. As United States military involvement in Vietnam escalated during the late 1960s, students at colleges and universities around the world mobilized against the war. From the Sorbonne in Paris to Kent State University in Ohio, … Continue reading the article: “Conservatism in a Revolutionary Era” →

An astronomical observatory on the roof of the Ondine? An elementary school on campus? A student-run television studio? These are just a few of the Portland State projects that campus planners and architects envisioned, designed, and drew… but never built. The “never-built environment” is a term for architectural design and urban planning projects that were either … Continue reading the article: Never Built: The Past Future of Portland State →