Banned & Censored Artists – An Exhibit

By Guest Author, Mairin Plant

As with books and other text-based materials, visual art has long been a popular target for censorship. Historically, both private groups and public leaders have leveraged their power to ban works of art from public view, alter their contents, or brand them as somehow harmful to spectators for political, social or religious reasons.

Some acts of censorship are directed at individual artworks by otherwise renowned artists. Michelangelo, to name one famous example, grappled with heavy restrictions and post hoc alterations while painting the Sistine Chapel, which inspired him to paint himself into the Last Judgement as St. Bartholomew’s flayed skin. Artists such as Franscisco de Goya, Gustav Klimt, and Pablo Picasso also encountered proscriptions during their careers and after their deaths.

Other censorship campaigns involve the elision of certain viewpoints altogether. In the 20th century, prohibition of abstract, expressionistic, or otherwise experimental art in favor of realistic painting and sculpture emerged as a prominent form of social control in the authoritarian regimes of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Each of these regimes framed nonrepresentational art as a corrupting influence over the public and offensive to the presumed sensibilities of model citizens. The Nazi party specifically pointed to modernist art as evidence of a Jewish assault on German values.

In the 21st century, bans and censorship still proliferate. David Wojnarowicz, an artist who initially faced suppression in the 1980s when the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) opted to pull funding from an exhibition focused on the ongoing AIDS epidemic, more recently censored when Smithsonian opted to remove several minutes of footage from a film installation in 2010—nearly 2 decades after the artist’s passing.

While art censorship can take on many different forms, discrete instances share themes. Art censorship is inherently elitest: it betrays a lack trust in the public to be able to contend with works of art responsibly or correctly on the part of authorities who seek to restrict what people are allowed to see and absorb.

Explore SHU Libraries through books on banned and censored artists on the second floor of the Walsh Library to learn more!

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

Happy New Year & Technology Resource Information

As we move into 2025 our information professionals are looking to provide the best possible service and resources available to the Seton Hall community. The University Libraries also joins the rest of the United States in observing National Technology Day on January 6th. Equally, the embrace of technological advance is an everyday occurrence.

Counted among the numerous resources that we provide that go beyond traditional print resources includes our specialized homepage site entitled Accessibility Information for Major Library Databases.

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

Multi-Language Education & The University Libraries

December is “Learn a Foreign Language” month within the United States and this provides our research community with the prime opportunity to explore different ways to connect more closely with the world at large. Popular dialects from Afrikaans to Zulu and others in-between are available for your discovery.

The University Libraries has various links to different language resources in order to aid your research efforts. This includes general  Books on Language, SHU Search – Introduction to Languages, along with Languages & Library Guides found on our homepage.

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

University Libraries Podcast: “Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences,” With Kelly Goedert, Ph.D. and Susan Nolan, Ph.D.  

We are happy to announce the latest installment of the University Libraries podcast series entitled: Zet Forward. This podcast entitled: “Statistics For The Behavioral Sciences,” with guest scholars and co-editors: Kelly Goedert, Ph.D. and Susan Nolan, Ph.D.

This broadcast features Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Psychology, Dr. Kelly Goedert, who has an extensive knowledge Cognitive Psychology and related subject matter. For more information on Dr. Goedert and her accomplishments visit her = professional homepage

Also featured is Professor Susan Nolan, who created earlier editions of this series (now in its sixth edition), originally with former co-author Thomas Heinzen, along with the most recent version discussed here. Dr. Nolan is a specialist in International Psychology Education and associated studies. More information on her accomplishments can be found via her =  professional homepage

Their collaboration yielded a full-length work that connects various expert perspectives into one well-developed volume. As their publisher noted that the content found within this book provides:

“. . . an introduction to statistics that engages behavioral science students with fascinating stories and real data drawn from the history of statistics and contemporary research. The authors support students and professors with market-leading coverage of visual displays of data, helpful mathematical and formula pedagogy, extensive practice exercises, Learning Curve adaptive quizzing, and immersive learning activities in Achieve (“Which Test Is Best?” And “Interpreting Statistical Results”). This new edition features updated information on open science practices and new “Statistics at Work” photo examples.”

You can find this podcast at: Podcast @ Seton Hall University.

Further details connected to this work can be found via the Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning homepage. A physical volume of Statistics For The Behavioral Sciences (New York: Worth Publishers, Macmillan Learning, 2024) is ready for circulation and can be found within the Main Collection of the University Libraries, specifically within the Faculty Publications section (Call #: HA29 .N776 2024) located on the Second Floor of Walsh Library.

Zet Forward is a podcast to celebrate authors and other individuals who are involved with projects for the benefit of Seton Hall University and the wider world.  The series began in February of 2022.

For additional information please feel free to contact us via e-mail at the following University Libraries Address.

Universal Human Rights Month & University Libraries

Human Rights Month is celebrated across the globe in December. This commemoration is based on the landmark University Declaration of Human Rights created by the United Nations and ratified by their Draft Committee headed by Eleanor Roosevelt on 10 December 1948.

The University Libraries has several resources related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in various forms including our specially designed United Nations Library Guide along with Books on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, SHU Search – Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and via the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Site.

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

African American Catholic Exhibit & University Libraries

November is African American (Black) Catholic Month. In honor of this commemoration, the University Libraries has proudly created an exhibit featuring books, publication covers, and related materials in homage to the faithful.

In combination with the exhibit and an Introduction to Informational Resources on African American Catholicism, the University Libraries offers our research community print sources including starter sources that can be referred to via: African American Catholic Book Titles and African American Catholic Information Sources (SHU Search).

The display is situated on the second floor of Walsh Library. The exhibit will be available through of the semester.

For more information please visit and/or book a research appointment here.

Military Family History Month & University Libraries

We celebrate the contributions of the United States Military all year long, and Veterans Day along with Military Family History throughout the entire month of November.

The University Libraries has several resources that cover the field of Military Science nationwide and on a local level alike. Included are starter information titles found via the Book Titles page and SHU Search – Journal Articles site along with our Military Science Library Guide.

In addition, the University Libraries has worked with the ROTC Command on campus over the years and are another helpful source for information on military history.

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

Women’s Network Internship Game Night

Did someone say game night?? Please join the Women’s Network of Seton Hall for a night of fun to learn all about the “How To’s” and how to land your dream internship!

This event will be held in Jubilee Room 117 on the evening of Monday, November 11th at 6:00 p.m.

For more information contact Kori Isaac, Vice President of DEI at: <kori.isaac@student.shu.edu>

Native American Resources & University Libraries

November is Indigenous Peoples Month in the United States. In respect to this observance, responsible scholarship produced over the last century related to the historical legacy and enduring importance of Native American culture has given the world documented information on this important and inspirational group of people. Regardless of the individual tribe, the contributions made by all of the Native American Nations provides a story of pride and perseverance for the ages.

The University Libraries contains a large number of Native American-centered resources within its Main Collection. A starter list of book titles can be found via this Link.

On a local level, the Lenni Lenape people of the larger Delaware Tribe were the original human settlers in what would become New Jersey.

Within the annals of Seton Hall University History, a former faculty member, Dr. Herbert Kraft devoted his life to the study of Lenni Lenape history, culture, and customs.

We welcome you to our information center in the near future, but in the meantime if you need detailed help through the University Libraries. You can book a research appointment here: Research Appointment Site.

University Libraries Podcast: “Medievalisms In A Global Age,” With Angela Weisl, Ph.D. and Rachael Warmington, M.A.

We are happy to announce the latest installment of the University Libraries podcast series entitled: Zet Forward. This podcast entitled: “Medievalisms In A Global Age,” with guest scholars, Co-Editor Angela Weisl, Ph.D. and key contributor Rachael Warmington, M.A.

This broadcast features Professor and Chair of the Department of English, Dr. Angela Weisl, who has an extensive knowledge not only of Medieval Literature, but also Women and Literature, Chaucer, and the History of Language among other related interests.

Author, Professor Rachael Warmington currently serves as Head of the Digital Humanities Faculty Learning Community which is part of the Center for Faculty Development on campus who has also taught specialty courses including: “Great Books of the Western World,” “Business Writing,” and “Writing Workshop: Research and Analysis” among others.

Their collaboration yielded a full-length edited work that connects various expert perspectives into one well-developed volume. As their publisher noted that the content found within this book:

“Discusses contemporary medievalism in studies ranging from Brazil to West Africa, from Manila to New York. Across the world, revivals of medieval practices, images, and tales flourish as never before. The essays collected here, informed by approaches from Global Studies and the critical discourse on the concept of a “Global Middle Ages”, explore the many facets of contemporary medievalism: post-colonial responses to the enforced dissemination of Western medievalisms, attempts to retrieve pre-modern cultural traditions that were interrupted by colonialism, the tentative forging of a global ‘medieval’ imaginary from the world’s repository of magical tales and figures, and the deployment across borders of medieval imagery for political purposes.”

You can find this podcast at: Podcast @ Seton Hall University.

Further details connected to this work can be found via the Boydell & Brewer Publications House Homepage. A physical volume of Medievalisms In A Global Age (Cambridge, England: Boydell & Brewer, 2024) is ready for circulation and can be found within the Main Collection of the University Libraries, specifically within the Faculty Publications section located on the Second Floor of Walsh Library.

Zet Forward is a podcast to celebrate authors and other individuals who are involved with projects for the benefit of Seton Hall University and the wider world.  The series began in February of 2022.

For additional information please feel free to contact us via e-mail at the following University Libraries Address.