The Marcie Sweren Wogan Institute for the Study of the Book is funded through the generous support of Betty Applestein Sweren ’52, Dr. Edgar Sweren P ’74, and members of the Sweren family to honor their daughter, Marcie Sweren Wogan ’74. The institute supports interdisciplinary teaching and programming focused on the literary, visual, social, political, scientific, and cultural dimensions of the book and the fundamental role of the book in shaping the transmission and production of knowledge across time and world cultures.

The Sweren Wogan Institute encourages the study of the past, present, and future of the “book”: a technology that is changing rapidly in today’s digital age.  In partnership with Goucher’s faculty and the staff of Goucher College’s Library and Special Collections & Archives, the Institute supports collaborative, project-based learning in the treasure trove of books housed in Goucher’s Special Collections and Archives, as well as the world-class collections housed in the libraries and museums of Baltimore and the mid-Atlantic. 

The Sweren Wogan Institute supports classroom teaching, guest speakers, and workshops at Goucher that engage our students in aspects of Book Studies, including the history of reading, artist books, librarianship, digital humanities, the relationship between books and society, and the history of publishing.  The Sweren Wogan Institute will fund activities such as:

• Class Field Trips to Libraries, Publishing Houses, Museums, and Artist’s Studios
• Exhibitions
• Materials for courses focused on the Book Arts and Book Production
• The Annual Marcie Sweren Wogan Lecture on the Study of the Book
• Defray Fees for area experts to teach workshops that engage the study of the book
• Student-run Book Arts Baltimore Social Media Outreach and Updates to the Sweren Wogan website (paid student jobs through the Office of Career Development)
• Visiting Book Artists
• Bookish Conversations (lunchtime discussions with area professionals engaged in a book-centered career)
• Pedagogical support to develop or build upon courses that engage the study of the book
• A fellowship to support collaborative student research
• Digital Humanities projects that situate books and ephemera in Goucher’s Special Collections in their broader cultural, literary, visual, social, historical, and political contexts.

The Sweren Wogan Institute is intended to support collaborative learning, both in and beyond the classroom, that engages Goucher students in the history of the book, the production of books and the field of publishing, and the book as an agent of change and social justice. The Institute complements the activities of the Peirce center, which supports research in Special Collections, as well as the Nancy Magnuson Fund, both housed in Special Collections.  The Sweren Wogan Institute operates out of Goucher’s Visual and Material Culture Program and the Center for the Humanities.