Wintersession 2025's rich and varied offering of hands-on learning and new experiences included two sessions facilitated by members of the A&A community.  “Sicilian Stories: Tales & Treats from The American Excavations at Morgantina” led by A&A Ph.D. Will Pedrick with guest expert Kevin Ennis and “Making an Accessible Middle Ages: Join an Alt-Text Hackathon at the Index of Medieval Art!” by the Index of Medieval Art team of director Pamela Patton and specialists Catherine Fernández, Alessia Rossi, and Jessica Savage had at least two things in common: they provided fantastic learning experiences—and served distinctive treats!

At "Sicilian Stories," participants learned about the ancient Sicilian city of Morgantina and the vital role played by Princeton archaeologists in bringing it to light. After sampling some traditional Sicilian sweets, they handled the original documentation from Princeton's excavations beginning in the 1950s, and were taken on a behind-the-scenes tour of the ongoing fieldwork at the site. 

“There are so many stories to be told from this material both about ancient Morgantina and about Princeton University in the mid-20th century.” — Will Pedrick, A&A Ph.D. candidate

“Visual Resources has such a rich body of archival material from the early years of Morgantina's excavation, from documentation of the fieldwork to correspondences between the excavation directors, the president of Princeton, and officials in the Italian and Libyan governments,” said Pedrick. "There are so many stories to be told from this material both about ancient Morgantina and about Princeton University in the mid-20th century." 

About 15 participants attended the “Making an Accessible Middle Ages" workshop. Members of the Index of medieval Art team outlined the importance of digital accessibility to University’s mission and walked participants through the basics of writing alternative texts, or alt texts, for online visual images. Alt texts aim to provide a verbal equivalent to the experience of viewing a digital image, in the form of a short description that users with low or no vision can access using a screen reader.

Following the presentation, participants sampled medieval refreshments and tried their hand at writing alt texts for a group of manuscript images found in the online database of the Index of Medieval Art. The texts will be reviewed and incorporated into the Index database as part of an ongoing effort to add alt texts to over 200,000 images.

“These gatherings provide an enjoyable way to advance the University’s goals for web content accessibility across campus while also affirming our continued commitment to equity and inclusion at the Index.” — Pamela Patton, Director of the Index of Medieval Art

Patton was thrilled with the interest and engagement of all the participants, which included students from Music and Classics as well as staff from the PUAM and PUL. She hopes to host similar hackathons soon. “These gatherings provide an enjoyable way to advance the University’s goals for web content accessibility across campus while also affirming our continued commitment to equity and inclusion at the Index,” she said.