The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell’s Quest to End Deafness
Lecture with Katie Booth and The Thornburgh Family Lecture Series on Disability Law & Policy

Moderated by Dr. Kenneth DeHaan, Professor and Director of the MA in Sign Language Education Program at Gallaudet University.

Invention of Miracles is a story of brilliance and a reminder of the ethical responsibilities of great minds. Taking place in the Victorian Age and an era of expansive innovation and invention, Booth tells parallel stories - the first details the advent of one of the world’s most famous inventions, the telephone; while the second powerfully reveals the many unintended and dire consequences that were perpetrated during this time by its inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.

Booth’s biographical account of Alexander Graham Bell depicts a passionate and brilliant man who gained international fame racing to invent the telephone while he was also fixated on curing deafness by teaching the deaf to speak. Each of his pursuits originated from a place of love -- for his mother and his wife each of whom lived with non-congenital deafness, and for his father who was an internationally renowned elocutionist. Despite his good intentions, Bell had a profound and long-lasting negative impact on the language development and education of the world’s deaf community in the 19th and 20th centuries. This impact continues today.

As the story unfolds, Booth demonstrates that good intentions can easily be corrupted by the absence and the denial of scientific data. Join us to learn more!

About The Author
Katie Booth has been researching this story for more than fifteen years, poring over Bell’s papers, Library of Congress archives, and the records of deaf schools around America. But she’s also lived with this story for her entire life. Witnessing the damaging impact of Bell’s legacy on her family would set her on a path that overturned everything she thought she knew about language, power, deafness, and the telephone.

Katie Booth teaches writing at the University of Pittsburgh. Her work has appeared in The Believer, Catapult, McSweeney’s, and Harper’s Magazine, and has been highlighted on Longreads and Longform; “The Sign for This” was a notable essay in the 2016 edition of Best American Essays. Booth received a number of prestigious fellowships to support the research for The Invention of Miracles, including from the Library of Congress and the Massachusetts Historical Society. She was raised in a mixed hearing and deaf family. This is her first book.

Refreshments will be served. Parking suggested at Soldiers and Sailors auditorium garage.

This lecture series is co-sponsored by the Institute of Politics, Pitt Law, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the David C. Frederick Honors College, the department of Disability Resources and Services with assistance from the Office of the Chancellor.

Date: Tuesday, March 20, 2023
Time: 1 PM - 2 PM EST
Location: William Pitt Union, Lower Lounge
Event Information: Thornburgh Family Lecture Series
Event Registration: Register Here

About the Author | Purchase a Copy

All The Flowers Kneeling
Reading & Book Signing with Visiting Poet, Paul Tran

Writing Program Welcomes Visiting Poet Paul Tran
All events are open to members of the Pitt community
Please reach out to Diana K Nguyen with any questions at [email protected]

Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Time: 6 PM EST
Location: Cathedral of Learning, The Understory, Room B50
Event Information: Click Here

About the Author | Purchase a Copy

Translating Early Modern China
A Book Lecture and Discussion with Dr. Carla Nappi

Please join us for a lecture by Dr. Carla Nappi, Andrew W. Mellon Chair, Department of History, in which she discusses her book, "Translating Early Modern China: Illegible Cities". Nappi's book presents a significant new interpretation of the history of translation in China.

If you wish to attend this lecture via Zoom, please register here

Date: Friday, March 3, 2023
Time: 2 PM EST
Location: 4130 Posvar Hall & Zoom
Event Registration: Register Here

About the Author | Purchase a Copy

Global Burning: Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis
A Book Lecture and Discussion with Dr. Eve Darian-Smith

Join the Global Studies Center and Dr. Eve Darian-Smith for a lecture on her book followed by a discussion with attendees. Dr. Darian-Smith serves as the Chair of the Department of Global and International Studies and is a professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She has published several award-winning books focused on global issues.

Trained as a lawyer, historian and anthropologist, Dr. Darian-Smith is a critical interdisciplinary scholar interested in issues of postcolonialism, human rights, legal pluralism, and socio-legal theory. Her current work focuses on authoritarianism and crises of democracy.

Date: Friday, February 10, 2023
Time: 12:30 PM - 2 PM EST
Location: 4130 Posvar Hall & Zoom
Event Registration: Register Here

About the Author | Purchase a Copy

Reading & Book Signing with Faculty Author, Kathleen George

Join us on Wednesday, December 7th during our Shop and Stroll event at 1 pm for a reading of Kathleen George's new novel, Mirth.

Reading will be hosted in Center 4 Creativity (C4C) on the lower level University Store on Fifth, with book signing and additional titles on the upper level afterward.

Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Time: 1 PM - 2 PM EST
Location: University Store on Fifth

About the Author | Purchase a Copy | Other Titles by Kathleen George

An Evening with Jennette McCurdy

Join Pitt Program Council on Thursday, November 3rd at 8:30 pm in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union! The event will include a 45-minute moderated Q&A and 15 minutes for audience questions.

***Trigger/Content Warning: This event may contain emotionally difficult content dependent on participants’ discussions.

Date: Thursday, November 3, 2022
Time: 8:30PM EST
Location: William Pitt Union Assembly Room

Learn More | Purchase a Copy

Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series: Dantiel W. Moniz, Milk Blood Heat

Reading and Q&A
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2022
Time: 7:30PM EST Location: Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

Craft Talk
Date: Friday, October 28, 2022
Time: 11:00AM EST
Location: Room 252 - Cathedral of Learning

Learn More
Purchase a Copy: Paperback | Hardcover

Revising the Imagination: An Author Panel on Queer Fantasy Fiction
Date: Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Time: 11:00AM EST
Location:Online - Register Today
Recommended Titles: Shop Here

Time: October 22, 2020. 7:30PM - 9:00PM
Location: Online

The Critical Role of Dissent in Government and Foreign Affairs

Free Lecture
Date: Tuesday, September 22 2020
Time: 12:30 pm
Location: Online