Distinguished Visiting Humanist Hazel Carby dissects race and empire
In a variety of events during her visit to Rochester’s Humanities Center, the Yale historian unravels the complex processes of colonialism while tracing her family history through Jamaica, Wales, and England.
Empty high school becomes a playground for artists exploring memory, nostalgia
It has not been used as a high school for years, but the empty, Victorian-era building in Medina, New York, recently hosted a collaborative art project inspired by the fleetingness and permanence of memory.
Psychiatrist Peter Kramer looks back—and always, around
Sigmund Freud could write about a broad range of subjects, from religion to politics. In this age of specialization, why has that changed? Kramer, a clinical professor emeritus at Brown University, tackles this topic in the Humanities Center Public Lecture Series.
Internships prepare new generation of arts and humanities leaders
Traditionally, arts and cultural institutions don’t have funding for student internships, which leaves interested students having to choose between paying jobs and exploring career options.
Rochester premieres recovered landmark opera
In its day, the comic opera Love in a Village was performed more often than Shakespeare’s tragedies. Now the Humanities Project brings it back, with the first performance since the 18th century of the full production with its original score.
What is a journalistic ‘expert’ in a social media age?
If we’re surrounded by “fake news,” was there ever a golden age of “real news?” Journalist and former dean of Columbia’s journalism school Nicholas Lemann kicks off the Humanities Center Public Lecture Series, this year focusing on themes of expertise and evidence.
What happens when democracy becomes irrational?
While in Rochester, Distinguished Visiting Humanist W. J. T. Mitchell will participate in lectures and discussions probing psychology, politics, and culture.
Going beyond medieval times to explore early worlds
The Early Worlds Initiative—an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Rochester—connects faculty researching social and cultural developments worldwide from medieval times to the early modern period.
Descendant of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington hopes to create ‘one million abolitionists’
Kenneth B. Morris Jr. spoke to a University gathering Thursday about his goal of creating helping to end human trafficking, and was presented with the University’s Frederick Douglass Medal.
Can you erase fear from a scary memory?
The Humanities Center’s year-long look at memory and forgetting continues with a public lecture from neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, whose work on the malleability of memory has promise for people with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, addiction, and phobias.