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Connections

Connections: Is Rochester becoming a hub for the field of textual science?

Students at RIT are making international news for a discovery they made related to medieval manuscripts. The students developed a system that uses ultraviolet-florescence imaging to read text that's invisible to the naked eye. In their process, they discovered lost text on a 15th-century manuscript, revealing it was a palimpsest -- a manuscript on parchment with multiple layers of writing. The discovery and the system the students created will help libraries around the world learn more about medieval texts and collections.

The RIT project was a collaboration with the University of Rochester, where faculty and students are also making advancements in textual science. Is Rochester becoming a hub for this kind of work?

Our guests discuss the recent project, its impact, and what's next in the field of textual science locally and around the world. Our guests:

  • Roger Easton, professor at RIT's Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science
  • Gregory Heyworth, associate professor of English and Textual Science at the University of Rochester
  • Lisa Enochs, second-year student double majoring in motion picture science and imaging science at RIT
  • Zoë LaLena, second-year imaging science student at RIT
  • Madeline Rose, Take 5 Scholar in English literature, computational linguistics, and classical mythology and ethics at the University of Rochester
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
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