This post was written by James Swensen, a Humanities Center faculty fellow. Last year, I visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. As a scholar of American art from the 1930s, I was eager to see the museum’s new exhibitions. I was pleased, but not surprised, to see a photograph I …
A Series of Edges and What They’ve Taught Me
This post was written by Starly Pratt, a Humanities Center student fellow. I sat on the edge of the cliff at Tintagel Castle as the wind pushed salty air into my lungs. To the right of me stretched miles of the Cornwall coast in all its cloudy glory, the soiled smell of the ten-minute-past …
To Unite or to Divide: A Treatise on Linguistic Variation
This post was written by Sydney Jo Pedersen, a Humanities Center student fellow. To live is to breathe, To breathe is to voice, To voice is to speak, To speak is to share, To share is to love, To love is to be. Language reveals. It shares. It unites. But, it can also divide. Sitting …
Linguistic Ecosystems and the Creation
This post was written by Chris Rogers, a Humanities Center faculty fellow. The first time I wanted to learn another language was because a new student, Edgar, had moved from Mexico into my fourth-grade classroom in Southern California. I asked my dad to teach me how to introduce myself to Edgar in Spanish (my …
Choosing to Build
This post was written by Sophie Hirtle, a Humanities Center student fellow. For my family, staying in a hotel often means watching the home renovation channel together and mercilessly tearing apart the perky hosts and their design choices. We watch people enter a dilapidated, old home and, within the span of thirty minutes, transform …
The Art of Cartography
This post was written by Coleman Numbers, a Humanities Center student fellow. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about maps. What makes a good map? The most obvious answer might be that “a good map is an accurate representation of the region that it names.” The goodness, or usefulness, of a map scales with …
Never Get Used to This
This post was written by Mabel Court, a Humanities Center student fellow. Two summers ago, on a hike near Provo’s Khyv Peak, my friend turned to me and asked if I thought we would be able to see the Taj Mahal during the Millennium—if our exalted bodies could instantaneously transport us to see sites …
National Humanities Center Summer Residency CFP 2025
BYU Humanities Center Sponsored NHC Summer Residency CFP The BYU Humanities Center is pleased to announce a Call for Proposals to participate in the Summer Residency Program sponsored by the National Humanities Center (NHC), located in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina (near Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh). Every year, the NHC sponsors a …
Book Manuscript Workshop 2024
What: BYU Humanities Center book manuscript mentoring workshop Brief description: The BYU Humanities Center will support a faculty member (or collaborative team of faculty members) working toward the completion of a book manuscript by paying two reviewers of the scholar’s choosing to read the manuscript and offer substantive feedback. One of these reviewers will be internal to …
Research Group Proposals 2024
November 1 is the proposal deadline for research groups supported by the Humanities Center. Research groups are one of the best things the Humanities Center sponsors, and this is the time of year when we take single- or multi- (i.e., three-) year proposals. These proposals must include: a rationale a list of prospective group members a …