What can we learn about book banning from the 400 years of the Catholic Church’s Index of Prohibited Books?
Related Readings & Resources
Robin Vose, The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle Over Word and Image for the Greater Glory of God. Reaktion Books, 2022.
Eric Berkowitz, Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, from the Ancients to Fake News. Beacon Press, 2021.
Richard Ovenden, Burn the Books: History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge. Harvard University Press, 2020.
Klaus Petersen and Allan C. Hutchinson (eds.), Interpreting Censorship in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 1999.
Post, Robert C. (ed.), Censorship and Silencing: Practices of Cultural Regulation. Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 1998.
Wells, Ira, On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy.Biblioasis, 2025.
Event Details
Robin Vose in conversation with James L. Turk
Today’s misguided, hurtful, and divisive government attempts to impose censorship on our schools and libraries are nothing new. Controlling thought and communication has always been a goal of authoritarian regimes. Join James L. Turk ‘s conversation with historian Robin Vose who addresses lessons we can learn from four centuries of failed attempts at institutional censorship by the Catholic Church—as revealed by his latest book on the chaotic and ultimately counter-productive Index of Prohibited Books.
Co-Sponsored by Edmonton Public Library, PEN Canada, Toronto Public Library, and Vancouver Public Library
Zoom link to event torontomu.zoom.us/j/91941276567
This is a free event and no registration is required.
Please contact cfe@torontomu.ca if you require accommodation to ensure inclusion in this event.
