Arts & Culture
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17 books to soak up this summer
Harvard Library staff recommendations cover romance, fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, memoir, music, politics, history
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What to make? Let the wheels decide.
‘Randomizer’ gets creative gears spinning in ceramic studio
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Writing to the beat of your inner Miles Davis
Jesse McCarthy sees Black authors during Cold War philosophically opting for none of the above, and improvising their own way
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A modern approach to teaching classics
Martin Puchner is using chatbots to bring to life Socrates, Shakespeare, and Thoreau
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Stumbling through fog, disillusionment of 1970s
Francine Prose’s memoir trails fleeing 26-year-old novelist to S.F., her attraction to deeply troubled, fading counterculture hero
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Finding new art in unexpected places
Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies loaning pieces from collection to areas around campus to widen exposure, spark reconsideration
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A ‘Catalogue’ of dance
William Forsythe dance work will be the first live performance at Harvard’s Widener Library.
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‘Scale’ tells the story of how, and what, we measure
A cross-disciplinary exhibit at the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture uses a wide array of artifacts to examine the role of “Scale.”
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A film to ‘unpack’ Vietnam
In visit to Harvard, Ken Burns previews part of his film designed to “unpack” the Vietnam War.
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A transformative trip
A required course for classics concentrators at Harvard, “Regional Study of Sicily” student writer Matthew DeShaw says it is “unlike any other class I have taken.”
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Cassandra Wilson’s voice of wisdom
Acclaimed jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson is at Harvard this week to work with students and share her insights and experiences in music.
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‘Baggage’ claims Gish Jen
At a lunchtime talk at Harvard Law School, writer Gish Jen discussed her latest book, “The Girl at the Baggage Claim: Explaining the East-West Culture Gap,” making the case for the sociological and cultural patterns that influence many aspects of identity.
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Trumpeting women in jazz
Some inroads finally may be happening for women in jazz, which traditionally has been a man’s musical world.
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Emily Dickinson, on the screen
Terence Davies, director of the new Emily Dickinson biopic “A Quiet Passion” talks with The Gazette about his challenges in making movies, his artistic kinship with Dickinson, and what drew him to her deeply internal, isolated life.
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The magic and moonlight of Winslow Homer
American artist Winslow Homer’s evocative oil painting “Summer Night,” depicting a scene along the Maine coast, is on loan to the Harvard Art Museums from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The local museums’ director Martha Tedeschi, a Homer scholar, discussed the artist and his work.
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Hitting the books after hitting a wall
Miguel Garcia ’17 found meaning and salvation in his humanities studies after a bout with mental illness forced him to take a sabbatical in his Junior year.
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No rest for the witty
In the current political climate, using humor as a legitimate form of discourse is on par with scholarly essays and newspaper op-eds.
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When potatoes become art
“Analogia I” by Victor Grippo is one of the Harvard Art Museums’ many works by artists who were redefining the global artistic landscape in the second half of the 20th century. The piece incorporates a series of potatoes connected to electrodes and a meter that registers the energy they produce.
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Fresh off Oscar win, another honor for Davis
Viola Davis was honored by the Harvard Foundation as Artist of the Year during the 32nd annual Cultural Rhythms Festival.
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Life in wartime, etched in sound
Radcliffe Fellow and Boston Globe critic Jeremy Eichler is working on two books examining music and memory against the backdrop of World War II.
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Reviving the past, one revision at a time
Ahead of a Harvard visit, Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan talks about the research behind her forthcoming historical novel, “Manhattan Beach.”
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Bogie, Bergman, and the Brattle
Harvard scholars weigh in on the range of factors that have made “Casablanca” one of the most beloved movies in history.
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‘Moonlight’ reflection
Composer-pianist Nicholas Britell ’03 will celebrate with Harvard friends this weekend as his score for “Moonlight” competes for the Oscar for best original score.
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A close reading of Elizabeth Bishop
Megan Marshall ’77 talks about the personal and scholarly perspective behind her new biography of the poet Elizabeth Bishop.
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More than language lessons
María Luisa Parra teaches a course that caters to students of Latino heritage who spoke Spanish at home but never had formal instruction in the language.
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On stage: Nights of ‘the Iguana’
Director Michael Wilson is bringing Tennessee Williams’ “Night of the Iguana” to the American Repertory Theater with an all-star cast.
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Poetry unbound
Harvard Professor Elisa New’s Gen Ed course, “Poetry in America,” attracts students from across disciplines.
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Hope and loss made vivid
Arab-American artist Helen Zughaib tells the story of the Middle East’s spate of revolutions with brightly colored paintings in her latest exhibit, “Arab Spring/Unfinished Journeys.”
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Jeff Koons: High king of middlebrow
Though he may be the favorite artist of oligarchs, Jeff Koons sees his art as democratic experience for viewers and a vehicle for his own transcendence and self-actualization.
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Drawing wisdom from drawings
A new exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums offers up a diverse sampling of the museums’ rich collection of drawings, while highlighting the creativity of Harvard’s classrooms.
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A study in contrast: Copley’s America, America’s Copley
Historian Jane Kamensky’s new book explores the life and times of painter John Singleton Copley.
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A vocal stand
Harvard Choruses will join a performance of Grammy-winning composer Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering Matthew Shepard” Feb. 5 at Symphony Hall.
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Novelist Perrotta headlines LITFest
Novelist Tom Perrotta, who headlines Harvard’s LITFest on Feb. 4, talks with a television co-writer and a Harvard instructor about the craft.
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Prescribing art in medicine
A Wintersession course studied compassion and suffering through the lenses of dance, music, and science.
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Shadows of Cuba’s past
An exhibit by Cuban mixed-media artist Juan Roberto Diago at the Ethelbert Cooper Gallery folds history into imagery.
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What’s in a (scientific) name
The Harvard Museum of Natural History is taking on names — both common and scientific — together with companion institutions in a series of new installations that introduce the public to the color and complexity of appellations.