an image of a man in a lab coat looking through a microscope

Why Experiential Learning?

This post was written by Greg Thompson, Spanish and Portuguese, HC Faculty Fellow A lab coat, a lab coat! My kingdom for a lab coat! When President Worthen first announced the university’s new focus on inspiring learning, I was initially slightly saddened by the fact that our teaching had not been “inspiring” during BYU’s 140 …

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The Fruits of Failure

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default” J.K. Rowling, Harvard Commencement address (2008) My friend shared her experience in a small town piano recital. Most of the judges felt that giving a …

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The Human Contradiction

This post was written by Hannah Leavitt, HC Student Fellow The first time I read Anna Karenina, I was quick to pick sides. As I continued to read, I recognized that despite their major flaws and mistakes, each character acted authentically. Reflecting on this experience, I realized that, like each of Tolstoy’s characters, I am …

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Adaptation: (Not) a 21st Century Phenomenon

This week’s public humanities post features the experience of Dennis Cutchins, English, on BYUradio Movies are on the mind: many of you watched the Oscars 2018 last week. The award for Best Picture, The Shape of Water, was an adaptation of a book written by Andrea Camilleri in 1994. Adaptation studies is an important field …

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Treating Insensitivity with Compassion

This post was written by Jennifer Bown, Department of German and Slavic Languages, HC Fellow Just last week, a flyer created by a BYU undergraduate student went viral, becoming the object of much derision. A female student organized an event dedicated to Women in Math, publicizing the event with a flyer containing the pictures of …

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Please Save Me from Neil DeGrasse Tyson

This post was written by Elisabeth Loveland, HC Student Fellow “I believe in science” is a common mantra these days, but for all its commonality, I do not fully understand what the “science pious” mean by it . . . in fact, given the vulgar conception of belief, it seems to profess a leap of …

JFSB arches in the spring

Spring 2018

​All Colloquia will take place in JFSB 4010 at 3:00pm unless otherwise specified. May 17 Roger Macfarlane (Comparative Arts & Letters) “Eurydices Deserve Better: Another Look at Adaptations of a Classical Myth” May 31 Sara Phenix (French & Italian) “Bodice Politic: Fashion, Fiction, and Physiology in Nineteenth-Century France”

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Thinking through a new Odyssey

This post was written by Roger Macfarlane, Comparative Arts & Letters, Humanities Center Fellow “This book is really based on the Odyssey. All Roy really wants is to return to a clean home and to a faithful wife.” KUER pitched me this pair of sentences out of the blue when I cranked the ignition and …

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The Grace of Divine Union

Winter 2018 In this lecture, Andrew Prevot shares some new research about the reception of Christian mysticism in contemporary theology and philosophy. He argues that certain postmodern ethical discourses about the self’s experience of being flesh and the self’s porosity to the other can be traced back to mystical sources in the Christian tradition. Yet what is …

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Astonishing Creatures

This post was written by Benjamin Jacob, HC Student Fellow, Interdisciplinary Humanities major I hope you will indulge a personal piece on this week’s blog. You see, this will be my last chance to write for the illustrious (nay the prestigious!) Humanities Center Blog, due to my upcoming graduation.  In preparation for this piece, I toyed …