Center for the Humanities

During the Center for the Humanities Lecture Series, nine scholars explored the theme of "Dirt" throughout the fall 2020 semester. The theme explored the material ecologies and symbolic currencies of filth, waste, toxicity, and contamination alongside ideas of purity, hygiene, and cleanliness to address and reframe a range of contemporary environmental and cultural urgencies. Through various topics, the scholars discussed uses and abuses of dirt and its various political, religious, sexual, ethnic, racial, and ecological significations. The topics and speakers included: "Projected Resonances: Intersections of Sound, Performance, and Tourism Underground at Mammoth Cave" by Paula Matthusen, associate professor of music;…

Eight Wesleyan students presented papers during the inaugural CTW (Connecticut College, Trinity College, Wesleyan University) Undergraduate Symposium in the Arts and Humanities on Nov. 10. This symposium, hosted at Trinity, provided undergraduate students from the three partner institutions, as well as other institutions in the region, an opportunity to present their original scholarly work in a professional setting. Topics included languages and literatures, philosophy, theater and dance, art history, women’s studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, religious studies, film studies, and more. Paper submissions were accepted by a committee of faculty members. During a panel on The Construction of Spaces, Teresa…

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Two Wesleyan faculty received NEH Public Scholarships to encourage new research and support their upcoming publications. Only 36 writers in the country received the award. The Public Scholar program, a major new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, is designed to promote the publication of scholarly nonfiction books for a general audience. On July 29, the NEH awarded a total of $1.7 million to 36 writers including Wesleyan’s Jennifer Tucker, associate professor of history, and Andrew Curran, the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities and professor of French.

On May 2, the Wesleyan Symposium on Risk brought together faculty and students for an interdisciplinary discussion of risk. The event was sponsored by American Studies, the Center for the Humanities, the College of Letters, Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, the Neuroscience and Behavior Program, the Science in Society Program, and the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies support funds. (Photos by Hannah Norman '16) (more…)

Over the past decade, a new approach to the study of mobilities has emerged involving research on the combined movement of peoples, animals, objects, ideas and information. This can be viewed through the lens of complex networks, relational dynamics, and the redistribution or reification of power generated by movement. This fall, Wesleyan's Center for the Humanities will offer 10 lectures on the theme of "Mobilities" as part of its lecture series. Five of the speakers are from Wesleyan. All talks begin at 6 p.m., are open to the public, and are held at Daniel Family Commons. The dates, topics and…

On Friday, May 9, the Center for Humanities held its last theory salon for the 2013-2014 academic year. The intimate faculty-student presentation revealed ground-breaking research on the Stanley Milgram "shock" obedience experiment, led by Jill Morawski, the Wilbur Fisk Osborne Professor of Psychology, professor of science in society, professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies, and assistants Ethan Hoffman ’14 and Nick Myerberg ’14. Stanley Milgram, a psychologist from Yale University, is known for his experiment on obedience to authority figures. In the 1960s, Milgram measured the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform…

"Audience(s)" is the theme of the Center for the Humanities' Spring 2014 lecture series. “Audience(s)” asks us to explore the phenomena of the audience from multiple perspectives. How does audience shape the form and function of our work? Is the desire to reach a wider audience consistent with our academic or artistic goals? How should we reflect on the relation of intellectuals to their audience or audiences in general? What can the audience tell us about past or present works of scholarship, theater, music, politics or art? Speakers also will explore the ways in which audience behavior is changing in…

In this video, Ethan Kleinberg, director of the Center for the Humanities, professor of letter, professor of history, talks with Hayden White, professor of comparative literature at Stanford University, about history, theory and the humanities. White is the former director of the Center for the Humanities at Wesleyan. Watch this video and many more on the Video @ Wesleyan website. [youtube width="640" height="420"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViG30Fkz2cI&feature=share&list=UUxYjyka74gKQqR_tJz8jB-A[/youtube] #THISISWHY

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Thanks to a matching grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and substantial gifts from generous supporters, Wesleyan’s Center for the Humanities has secured $6 million in endowment as it celebrates 54 years of scholarship. The $2 million Mellon grant was announced in October 2011 (see story here); Wesleyan succeeded in raising the $4 million required for the match in two years, less than half the time required by Mellon when the grant challenge began in 2011. Fifteen Wesleyan alumni, parents and friends supplied leadership gifts to win the matching funds. “At a time when one hears so much rhetoric…

Scholars Explore the Theme of “Dirt” Through Center for the Humanities Series

8 Undergraduates Make Presentations at Arts and Humanities Symposium

A Black Phoenix Rising Art Experience Premiered at Zilkha

Refugees’ Art Featured at Student-Run “Art in Crisis” Exhibit

NEH Supports Research, Writing Projects by Tucker, Curran

Faculty, Students Discuss Risk at Symposium

Center for the Humanities Explores “Mobilities” in Fall Lecture Series

Faculty, Students Discuss Milgram’s “Shock” Experiment Research at Humanities Theory Salon

“Audience(s)” Theme of Humanities’ Spring Lecture Series

Kleinberg Speaks with Former Humanities Director White about History, Theory

Political Theorist Hannah Arendt Discussed at Recent Conference

Humanities Secures Endowment with Matching Funds from Mellon Foundation