Enter the category for this item: Featured, History, Literature, International, Religious Studies
The Cohen-Tanoudji Family, A Historical Itinerary Through North African Jewry
May 3, 2012
This talk is the last one in the series "Negotiating French, Maghreb-French, & Jewish Identities Through Literature and History," seeking to enhance a new dialogue between different plural voices writing about multiple Jewish identities originating from France and the Maghreb. Special focus on conflicting and co-existing identities and the ways in which they are presented in literature and history. The goal of the project is to look beyond the much discussed hybrid identity of widely translated writers and scholars, and present a more inclusive, rich, and complex perspective on the unique interplay between Jewish, French and/or Maghreb identities.
Enter the category for this item: Featured, History, Literature, International, Religious Studies
Negotiating French, Maghreb-French, & Jewish Identities Through Literature and History
March 21, 2012
The series "Negotiating French, Maghreb-French, & Jewish Identities Through Literature and History," seeking to enhance a new dialogue between different plural voices writing about multiple Jewish identities originating from France and the Maghreb. Special focus on conflicting and co-existing identities and the ways in which they are presented in literature and history. The goal of the project is to look beyond the much discussed hybrid identity of widely translated writers and scholars, and present a more inclusive, rich, and complex perspective on the unique interplay between Jewish, French and/or Maghreb identities.
Enter the category for this item: Featured, History, International, Arts
History in Film and Popular Culture
February, 2012
Mario Carretero, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor and Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2012, and Sam Wineburg, Director of the Stanford History Education Group, discuss how films affect our interpretation of history.
Enter the category for this item: Featured, History, International
Rewriting History
February, 2012
Mario Carretero, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor and Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2012, discusses current events in Chile and how our perspectives on the past can affect the present.
Enter the category for this item: Featured, History, Ethics
Emancipation and Freedom
February 16, 2012
Tony Bogues, Marta Sutton Weeks Distinguished Visitor 2012, discusses the differences between human emancipation and freedom. Being emancipated does not necessarily make a former slave free; rather, the ability to create one's own freedom does.
Enter the category for this item: History, International
Building National Identity Through Historical Narratives
January 24, 2012
Mario Carretero, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor and Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2012, discusses the ways in which the historical narrative, as taught in schools, builds a national identity that may not always be based on historical fact.
Enter the category for this item: Literature
Wallace Stevens as an American Poet
January 17, 2012
Helen Vendler, one of the leading American poetry critics, as well as a distinguished professor in Harvard University's Department of English, discusses Wallace Stevens, the poet. She dives into some of his work in order to show why he is one of the finest American poets to set ink to paper.
Enter the category for this item: International, Religious Studies
Interview with Anies Baswedan
May, 2011
Anies Baswedan, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor 2011, is the President of Paramadina University in Jakarta, Indonesia. He and Donald Emmerson discuss higher education, democracy and Islam, and the role of the humanities in Indonesia.
Enter the category for this item: International
The Humanities in Southeast Asia
May, 2011
Two leaders in Southeast Asian higher education assess the value of the humanities in the region today.
FSI-Humanities Center International Visitors Thitinan Pongsudhirak (Thailand) and Anies Baswedan (Indonesia) present their views on the issue.
Enter the category for this item: Arts, International
Film Critic According to Frodon
April, 2011
Film Critic and Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2010-11 Jean-Michel Frodon presents his definition of a film critic.
Cinema as Catharsis
April, 2011
Film Critic and Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2010-11 Jean-Michel Frodon discusses the cathartic role of cinema.
Milica Tomic: The Four Faces of Omarska
March, 2011
Milica Tomic, SHC/SiCa Arts Writer/Practitioner in Residence 2011, discusses her project "The Four Faces of Omarska." This is a monument on a site that is now a multinational company and was once the site of a mining complex, a prison camp, and a film studio.
Art and Right to Public Space
March 9, 2011
Humanities Center-SiCa Arts Writer/Practitioner in Residence 2010-22 Milica Tomic discussed her installation “Container – (re)construction of the crime” at the Stanford Humanities Center on March 9, 2011.
Enter the category for this item: Writing
Scott Saul on Researching Richard Pryor
March 1, 2011
In this video, Scott Saul, associate professor of American Studies and English at UC-Berkeley and external faculty fellow 2010-11 at the Stanford Humanities Center, talks to Hilton Obenzinger, associate director of the Hume Writing Center, about researching Richard Pryor for his book "Becoming Richard Pryor: A Critical Biography."
Enter the category for this item: Religious Studies
Robert Putnam on his Research
February 10, 2011
Robert Putnam, 2011 Presidential Lecturer, discussed his co-authored book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (Simon & Schuster, 2010). In this interview, he describes some of the book's most surprising findings.
Enter the category for this item: International
Interview with Stéphane Dudoignon
February 3, 2011
During his 2011 residency at the Stanford Humanities Center, international visitor Stéphane Dudoignon sat down with Stanford historian Robert Crews to discuss his research on Baluchistan and, more broadly, contemporary Sunni-Shia relations in Central Asia.
Enter the category for this item: Writing, Ethics
Tim O'Brien in Conversation with Tobias Wolff on "Writing and War"
January 24, 2011
On January 24, 2011, award-winning author Tim O'Brien, Raymond F. West Memorial Lecturer, discussed his experiences in Vietnam with fellow veteran and author Tobias Wolff.
Enter the category for this item: Arts
Victor Gama in Concert: A Multi-Media Solo Show
October 27, 2010
Victor Gama, musician, folklorist, and instrument maker, was in residence at Stanford University during fall quarter 2010 as the Stanford Humanities Center-SiCa Arts Writer/Practitioner in Residence. He performed a multimedia solo show at Dinkelspiel Auditorium on October 27, 2010.
Enter the category for this item: Arts, Writing
"Fashion, Writing, and the Arts:" Cathy Horyn and Nancy Troy in Conversation
October 19, 2010
Cathy Horyn, Arts Critic in Residence 2010-11 and fashion critic for The New York Times, in conversation with Nancy Troy, chair of Art and Art History at Stanford and author of Couture Culture: A Study in Modern Art and Fashion.
Enter the category for this item: Arts, History
Tzvetan Todorov on his Research
May 6, 2010
In 2010, Tzvetan Todorov visited Stanford as the Stanford Humanities Center's Harry Camp Memorial Lecturer. In this short interview, Todorov shares his thoughts on his current research and where he finds inspiration for new subjects.
Enter the category for this item: History, Arts, Ethics
'Creative Resistance' in the Nazi Camps
May 4, 2010
Holocaust research has traditionally portrayed Jews as passive victims but Stanford scholars John (former fellow 2004-05) and Mary Felstiner study how some took up the pen, the paintbrush or the piano to send a message to future generations.
Enter the category for this item: Ethics
Human Rights Strategies in the 21st Century
April 12, 2010
Mary Robinson, Presidential Lecturer 2010 and former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, discusses the work of her organization in areas of corporate responsibility and the rights to health, decent work, and climate justice.
Enter the category for this item: Arts
The Artist as Critic / The Critic as Mouthpiece: The Peculiar Case of Jeff Wall
April 7, 2010
Julian Stallabrass, Bliss Carnochan Visitor 2010, discusses one of the foremost photographic artists, Jeff Wall.
Enter the category for this item: Writing
Gwyneth Lewis on the Writing Process
March 8, 2010
In this video, poet Gwyneth Lewis, Arts Practitioner/Writer Fellow 2009-10, talks to Stanford's Hume Writing Center Associate Director Hilton Obenzinger about the writing process.
Gwyneth Lewis on the Subconscious and Writing
March 8, 2010
In this video, poet Gwyneth Lewis, Arts Practitioner/Writer Fellow 2009-10, talks to Stanford's Hume Writing Center Associate Director Hilton Obenzinger about the role of the subconscious in writing.
How I Write: Gwyneth Lewis
March 8, 2010
Gwyneth Lewis, 2009-10 Arts Practitioner/Writer Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, discusses the inspiration and philosophy behind her writing methodology.
Enter the category for this item: History, Ethics
My Experience as an International Visitor at the Stanford Humanities Center
March, 2010
In this video, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor 2009-2010, talks about his experience at the Stanford Humanities Center.
Enter the category for this item: History, International
Frederick Cooper on his Research
February, 2010
In 2010, Frederick Cooper visited Stanford as the Stanford Humanities Center's Marta Sutton Weeks Distinguished Visitor. In this interview, Cooper shares his thoughts on his current research, the role of a historian, and where he finds inspiration for new subjects.
Enter the category for this item: History, International
What I Found in the Hoover Archives
January-February, 2010
Historian Anne Simonin, FSI-Humanities Center International Visitor 2009-2010, talks about what she discovered while researching the French Resistance in the Hoover Archives.
Enter the category for this item: Arts, International
Rediscovering a French Masterpiece: Army of Shadows
January-February, 2010
Joseph Kessel's novel, Army of Shadows, was adapted into a film by Jean-Pierre Melville. Historian Anne Simonin and Film Critic Jean-Michel Frodon present their views on the novel and the film.
Enter the category for this item: History
Tracking 18th-Century "Social Network" Through Letters
December 14, 2009
Former Stanford Humanities Center fellows are collaborating with the Center's academic technology specialist Nicole Coleman to map thousands of letters exchanged in the 18th century's "Republic of Letters" and learn at a glance what it once took a lifetime of study to comprehend.
Enter the category for this item: Writing
André Aciman on Writing, His Work, and Inspirations
December 11, 2009
Novelist and literary critic André Aciman, Presidential Lecturer 2009, shares his thoughts on his current work, inspiration and being a writer.
Enter the category for this item: History, Ethics
Going Back to Compton: Reflections on Life in an Infamous City
November 16, 2009
Former fellow 2002-03 and history professor Al Camarillo talks about his research, why he chose his research, and how he goes about conducting it.
Enter the category for this item: Literature
Tragic Passions from Shakespeare to Verdi
October 24, 2009
Former fellow and Associate Professor of English Blair Hoxby (2009-10) discusses how dramatists and composers write tragedies by depicting strong passions such as fear, rage, and pity and elusive moods like melancholy. This class shows how understanding the emotions in historical terms can deepen our appreciation of theater from Shakespeare to Verdi.
Enter the category for this item: Literature, Writing
The Value of the Essay in the 21st Century
October 11, 2009
A panel discussion exploring the past, present, and future of this important genre of writing with Stanford professors Andrea Lunsford, Dan Edelstein, Nicholas Jenkins and Robert Harrison.
Enter the category for this item: Literature, Writing, Philosophy
The Role of Fiction in the Well-Lived Life
June 16, 2009
French professor Joshua Landy talks about his latest research and his research interests, which include literature and philosophy. As a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center in 2008-09, professor Landy was researching the role that fiction plays in the well-lived life.
Enter the category for this item: Ethics
Riches for the Poor
May 21, 2009
Debra Satz, the Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society, speaks about her project that brings humanities courses to recovering women at the Hope House in Redwood City.
Enter the category for this item: History, Writing
The Black Death: A Personal History
April 30, 2009
John Hatcher, Cambridge University history professor and 2008-09 Stanford Humanities Center Fellow, shares the challenges of writing and researching his book The Black Death: A Personal History. He talks about the way in which he combines history and non-ficitional writing to describe a single location during the Black Death.
Enter the category for this item: Writing, Ethics
Rob Reich: How I Write
April 22, 2009
Former fellow Rob Reich (2001-02), associate professor of political science and director of the Ethics in Society Program at Stanford, discusses how he develops ideas for his writing, his writing style, the evolution of his writing strategies. Reich references his recent writing on the ethics of homeschooling and charitable giving.
Enter the category for this item: History, Ethics
But There Was No Peace: The Aftermath of the Civil War
April 13, 2009
President Abraham Lincoln called for "a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations." Three years later, General Ulysses S. Grant accepted the Republican presidential nomination with the words: "Let us have peace." The apparent irony of the Civil War's commander in chief and the nation's foremost military leader calling for peace illustrates the paradox at the core of what we call the humanities. The pain of warfare and the possibility of peace form the theme of this lecture.
Enter the category for this item: Philosophy
Philosophy Talk: The Very Idea of a University
March 27, 2009
Stanford Provost John Etchemendy attempts to define the essence and purpose of universities and the research, education, students, sports, and arts and culture embodied therewith. Stanford's mission statement promotes the creation, proliferation, and preservation of knowledge, but what is the importance of this in contemporary society?
Enter the category for this item: History, Religious Studies
Christian Materiality: Miracles in the Later Middle Ages
February 23, 2009
In this lecture, Professor Caroline Walker Bynum describes the miracles of the Later Middle Ages, discusses the problems they presented for both church authorities and the ordinary faithful, and probes the basic assumptions about matter that lay behind them.
Enter the category for this item: Philosophy, Ethics
Cosmopolitan Norms, Human Rights, and Democratic Iterations
October 27, 2008
In this lecture, Professor Benhabib discusses one of the most divisive controversies of our times: What are cosmopolitan rights? Are they, as some argue, "the Trojan horse" of an imperial neo-liberal order extending throughout the globe? Or are they the principles of any future cosmopolitical order based on the principles of equality, autonomy, and self-government?
Enter the category for this item: Philosophy, Ethics
Thinking About our Shared Home: Earth
October 11, 2008
Teaching Fellow of Stanford Masters in Public Policy Program, Kirsten Oleson introduces panelists, John Christiensen: historian and journalist, John Felstiner: Stanford Professor of English, Dagfinn Follesdal: Stanford Professor of Philosophy, who discuss the importance of integrating the humanities in the studies for solutions to the environmental dilemma.
Enter the category for this item: Literature
The Voice of the Toy: Writing Magic and Enchanted States
April 14, 2008
Marina Warner's talk included bottle imps, genies in lamps, flying carpets, speaking fruits, toys, and severed heads. Touching on the influence of Arabian Nights and other Eastern narratives on western European fictions, Warner discussed the changing uses of enchantment in contemporary imagination, the different states of belief and disbelief that are developing, and the experience of the "digital uncanny."
Enter the category for this item: History, Arts
Shall We Change the Subject? A Music Historian Reflects
March 3, 2008
In this lecture, Richard Taruskin reflects on the historiography of music and its embrace of a Whiggish paradigm that he argues has had a deleterious effect on the value and practice of music.
Enter the category for this item: History, Philosophy
Newton on the Ganges: Asiatic Enlightenment of British Astronomy
January 16, 2008
Historian Simon Schaffer, the 2008 Harry Camp Memorial Lecturer, spoke on Newton's fascination with discoveries about ancient Indian philosophy and discussed the global network of information on which Newton relied for his Principia Mathematica.
Newton on the Beach: Principia Mathematica
January 14, 2008
Historian Simon Schaffer, the 2008 Harry Camp Memorial Lecturer, spoke on Newton's fascination with discoveries about ancient Indian philosophy and discussed the global network of information on which Newton relied for his Principia Mathematica.
Enter the category for this item: History, Ethics
The Black Hole of Empire
Novembre 7, 2007
Partha Chatterjee's Presidential Lecture, presented in conjunction with the conference "Ethnicity in Today's Europe," used the controversial incident of the Black Hole of Calcutta to address the history of modern empires over the last 250 years.
The Abolition of the Slave Trade Two Hundred Years On--America & Britain: Two Diverging Destinies?
October 29, 2007
Marking the bicentenary of the abolishment of the transatlantic slave trade, British historian Simon Schama spoke to a full house on the different responses in America and Britain to this historic event.
Enter the category for this item: Philosophy
Analogy as the Core of Cognition
February 6, 2006
In this Presidential Lecture, cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter examines the role and contributions of analogy in cognition, using a variety of analogies to illustrate his points.