POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam Professor of English Dr. Sharmain van Blommestein has been accepted to attend an upcoming session, “Material Foundations of Map History, 1450-1900,” at Rare Book School, an internationally recognized program based at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The course focuses on the cultural history and materiality of maps from 1450 to 1900, examining maps as historical artifacts rather than products of mapmaking. It will support van Blommestein’s commitment to applied, hands-on humanities teaching.

Rare Book School courses are highly competitive and typically limited to 12 participants. Van Blommestein will take part in the course in June.

“This Rare Book School course directly strengthens my teaching in a new course I designed for the Potsdam Humanities Institute, HUMN 302: Monsters on the Edge, which I will teach in fall 2026,” van Blommestein said. “Students work with medieval/early modern and Enlightenment-era maps as part of our study of worldmaking, representation and the cultural history of the monstrous, engaging these materials through close, applied analysis in digital environments. While my current preparation is sufficient to teach the material, this training will deepen my expertise and expand the range of primary sources and interpretive frameworks I can bring into the classroom.”

The new HUMN 302 course was developed as part of the Potsdam Humanities Institute’s microcredential program, Humanities for Thoughtful Leadership. It also aligns with SUNY’s High-Impact Practice initiative, particularly material culture analysis, archival literacy and applied learning. The course will broaden experiential components available to students and enhance the institute’s commitment to interdisciplinary, hands-on humanities work.

Van Blommestein has incorporated applied learning into humanities instruction through hands-on workshops on papermaking, writing with quills and fountain pens, letterlocking and applying wax seals. These workshops have been offered through the college’s LoKo Arts Festival, local high school social studies field trips, and the applied-learning component of her Linguistics course, LNGS 309: Cultural History of English: Writing Technologies, which culminates in a display of student work at Crumb Library.

Van Blommestein earned her Ph.D. from the University of Florida and is a professor of English at SUNY Potsdam. She also serves as associate chair of the Arts and Humanities Division and as campus coordinator for Collaborative Online International Learning.

Her teaching and scholarship span medieval and early modern studies, women’s and gender studies, and literary theory. She regularly teaches British and American literature through interdisciplinary, theory-driven courses.

She is engaged in Collaborative Online International Learning partnerships with institutions in Montenegro, Spain, Turkiye and Romania, designing intercultural learning activities that invite students to examine identities across global contexts.

Rare Book School provides educational opportunities to study the history, care and use of written, printed and digital materials through hands-on, seminar-style courses taught by an international faculty.

SUNY Potsdam’s Department of English offers courses that develop students’ abilities to interpret written, oral and multimedia communication and to express themselves effectively. For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/Engl