Event

The Edges of Truth: Secrecy, Artifice, and the Limits of Knowledge brings together scholars across disciplines to explore how what we perceive as truth has been constructed, obscured, misunderstood, contested, and reimagined throughout history.

The conference opens with a keynote by Michael D. Gordin (Princeton), who reflects on how the boundary between institutionally recognized and marginalized knowledge has been shaped over time. The following day continues this conversation with talks on the trial and error behind invention and exploration, the practices of secrecy and deception, the art of reconstructing and visualizing the past, and the critical study of both intentional and unintentional forgeries. Together, these talks trace how imagination, quest for understanding, spirit, and artistry have continually pushed against the limits of what is accepted and known – and what is permitted.

Held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum and Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, this two-day conference probes the fragile edges of truth – and the social and intellectual stakes of who gets to define, transform, or defend it.

Full Conference Schedule

This conference is co-sponsored Penn's Departments of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English, History, and History of Sociology and Science, Center for East Asian Studies, and Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies.