humanities

Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew is often criticized for its portrayal of women as weak and submissive. But on Thursday, April 9, the University's International Theatre Program will present a new take on the classic comedy in a production performed by a largely male cast.

The play opens in Todd Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 4, and is based on the true story of Saartijie Baartman, a South African woman taken from her home in 1810 and brought to London where she becomes an overnight sensation on the freak-show circuit.

Founded in 2006, the Central New York Humanities Corridor is an interdisciplinary collaboration among research institutions and liberal arts colleges focused on enhancing scholarship in the humanities. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has committed a matching grant of $500,000 to the University of Rochester, which will establish an endowment for the University’s continued partnership.

One of the world’s most celebrated scholars in the humanities, Stephen Greenblatt will visit the University to lecture and participate in workshops with the campus community. Greenblatt will give a public talk for the University's Ferrari Humanities Symposia on Thursday, Oct. 30 based on ideas introduced in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.

Sex, authority, and psychoanalysis take center stage on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Todd Theatre as the International Theatre Program begins its 25th season with the provocative farce, What the Butler Saw.

On Thursday, April 24, the International Theatre Program presents the rarely performed Madame de Sade, a work that explores deeply disquieting questions about the nature of suffering and belief.

The International Theatre Program presents a modern take on one man's struggle between morality and self-interest in Henrik Ibsen's dark satire, An Enemy of the People.

Students from any of Rochester's four humanities Ph.D. programs—English, history, philosophy, and visual and cultural studies—are invited to apply for admission to the fellowship.

Aaron Hughes will give his first lecture as the Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religion and Classics.