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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Translating nine pounds of poetry
Sinologist Stephen Owen devoted eight years to the first complete English translation of the great Chinese poet Du Fu.
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Sacred words
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson gave a lecture called “The Divine” at Memorial Church.
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Patterson receives Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
Orlando Patterson, the John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2016 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards.
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The ace of bass
Noted jazzman Rufus Reid is teaching Harvard students, and will share his wisdom and musicianship with the public. There will be two events open to the public — on April 6 and 9.
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Beyond poetry
Thomas Wisniewski, a Ph.D. candidate in comparative literature at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and a 2016 Harvard Horizons Scholar, seeks to reintegrate the neglected field of prose metrics into literary studies.
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Searching for paradise
Chilean poet Raúl Zurita will deliver a bilingual reading as the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies.
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‘The Global Philosopher’
Harvard Business School (HBS) and BBC Radio 4 have worked together to produce the first episode of “The Global Philosopher,” a program hosted by Harvard political philosopher Michael J. Sandel.
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‘Average’ gets his ire up
Todd Rose, lecturer in education, debunks the myth of the “typical” learner in his new book, “The End of Average.”
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Jazz made visible
“The Art of Jazz: Form/Performance/Notes” explores the interaction between jazz and the visual arts.
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Professor’s book selected for Canto Classics series
Harvard professor and Weatherhead faculty associate Robert Bates’ book “When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late-Century Africa” has been selected for inclusion in the Canto Classics series by Cambridge Univerity Press.
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Always a critic
The New York Times’ chief film critic, A.O. Scott, visits Harvard to discuss his new book, “Better Living Through Criticism,” on Thursday.
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Engaging with Arendt
Four lectures focusing on Hannah Arendt, the political theorist best known for coining the phrase “the banality of evil” when she wrote about the trial of Nazi architect Adolf Eichmann for The New Yorker in the early ’60s, will be held March 9 and 30 and April 6 and 20 at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies.
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Humanities offer marketability in a competitive world
Harvard sophomore finds support for his concentration in Ancient History (Greek and Roman), which allows him to pursue his passions “while maintaining marketability in an increasingly competitive world.”
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Slavery’s chilling shadow
Toni Morrison delivered the first of six Charles Eliot Norton Lectures to an adoring crowd at Sanders Theatre on Wednesday. Morrison is the 58th scholar given the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry.
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Seeing more
In his weekly 90-minute lectures, Professor Robin Kelsey brings historical awareness and contextual experience to 13 technologies that have transformed visual communication.
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‘Ways with Words’ conference will spark conversation
The Radcliffe Institute will host “Ways with Words: Exploring Language and Gender,” a conference on March 3-4 that explores the interplay of gender, language, and why Facebook now offers three pronouns.
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Blended voices, each with a personal charge
Five poets are celebrated in “‘A Language to Hear Myself’: Feminist Poets Speak,” a Schlesinger Library exhibit running from Feb. 29 to June 17, with an accompanying performance March 1.
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Egyptian-style handiwork with a digital past
Harvard is behind the re-creation of a chair from a 4,500-year-old tomb.
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Morrison’s first Norton Lecture set for March 2
Toni Morrison will deliver the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures, which will be held throughout March and April at Sanders Theatre. Hosted by the Mahindra Humanities Center, Morrison is the 58th scholar to be given the arts and humanities honor, officially named the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry.
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Sandra Boynton shares her story
Cartoonist, children’s book author, and songwriter Sandra Boynton will present a fast-paced audiovisual retrospective of her work on Feb. 23, part of the Askwith Forum series.
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Field notes gathered by ear
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Yosvany Terry is bringing the music of his native Cuba to campus as a senior lecturer and leader of the Harvard Jazz Ensembles.
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Spawn of Bosch
This year marks five centuries since the death of Hieronymus Bosch. Harvard Art Museums is paying tribute to the Dutch artist with the exhibit, “Beyond Bosch: The Afterlife of a Renaissance Master in Print.”
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Conan: Explore, learn, take risks
Conan O’Brien spoke with President Drew Faust about how his humanities education made him one of TV’s most successful comedians.
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Adventures of the heart
Visiting Professor Verena Andermatt Conley talks about her first venture into romance writing, “Cree.”
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Turns of narrative
An interview with novelist Claire Messud launches a new series in which Harvard writers discuss how their stories take shape.
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Artfully at rest
A selection of Mount Auburn Cemetery’s evocative funerary sculptures and monuments is the subject of a new book by Meg Winslow and Harvard’s Melissa Banta.
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In his own works
A new exhibit at Houghton Library marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
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Sense of solitude
The Irish novelist Colm Tóibín will sit down with Claire Messud, a lecturer and fellow novelist, as part of the Mahindra Humanities Center’s Writers Speak series.
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‘Pneuma(tic) Bodies’ at Carpenter Center
Sculptures and drawings are part of “Pneuma(tic) Bodies,” which opens today at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts with a 6 p.m. dance performance featuring Jill Johnson.
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Breaking bonds of time
“Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia,” a special exhibit at the Harvard Art Museums, makes room for different perspectives.