The curator of Judaica digital humanities position was endowed by Arnold and Deanne Kaplan in 2019. “The addition of an endowed Kaplan Curator expands the Penn Libraries’ ability to build on our existing collections of Early American Judaica and facilitate new scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania and beyond,” says Constantia Constantinou, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries. “The Kaplans’ gifts encompass not only world-class collections but also the funds for digitization and continued study through research fellowships, ensuring long-lasting support for researchers and scholars.”

The Kaplan Curator is part of the Penn Libraries’ Center for Research Data and Digital Scholarship, an emerging multidisciplinary hub led by Nicky Agate, Assistant University Librarian for Research Data and Digital Scholarship. The Center serves as a locus for textual and data analysis, data curation, data visualization, geographic information systems, software creation and management, web platform design, and digital startups across disciplines. The Kaplan Curator collaborates on experimental, sustainable projects and methods that expand the capacity of the Center, while building collaborative relationships with researchers and scholars involved with digital scholarship and Judaica across the Penn campus and beyond.