Think clearly. Act well. Appreciate life.
I’m just out to find / the better part of me. —Five for Fighting, “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” I have an existential crisis about once a week. Upon writing that sentence, I’m realizing I don’t know precisely what an existential crisis is—that’s just what my wife and I call these episodes. Fortunately, the initial Google …
All students who are taking a class in the BYU College of Humanities are eligible to enter the 2023 BYU Humanities Center Essay Contest. DEADLINE: March 27, 2023 THEME: Belonging Word Count: No more than 1,000 words Students who would like to enter are encouraged to review the BYU Statement on Belonging as well as …
Four hard, but incredible and rewarding years of college all amounted to this moment for me. This semester I took on the responsibility of student teaching at a local high school, the final step in my preparation for my university diploma and teaching licensure. Over the past couple of months, I had the opportunity to …
BYU’s Humanities Center sponsors two one-year faculty fellowships. Unlike the multi-year fellowships, these one-year fellowships will be awarded by application rather than appointment. The fellowship period will begin in the fall semester of 2022. Fellowships will come with a salary supplement of $2,500, a research stipend of an additional $2,500, and release from two courses …
I can’t remember my great grandmother. She died just before I turned five, and she’d been suffering from dementia long enough that she likely wouldn’t have known my face or name. If, in some hypothetical world, we were to pass each other on the street, I am unsure if I would even recognize her. More …
We live in a world that abhors discomfort. Watch 30 minutes of television and you will see numerous ads testifying that product X will make your life better because it will be easier. There’s an app for everything and all promise to make you healthy, wealthy, and wise without having to exert yourself or experience …
We are currently looking for a new group of Humanities Center undergraduate fellows. Generous donors have made it possible for us to fund at least four student fellowships – the equivalent of a full scholarship – next year. As always, our pool of candidates will consist solely of nominations sent by you, our faculty. The …
The world of ancient Christianity can be daunting, complex, and easily misunderstood. In fact, unless you hold multiple PhDs in archaeology, art history, ancient near eastern studies, patristics, classics, and theology—not to mention the ability to read Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac—then you may be at a loss for where to even begin learning about …
Last November, OpenAI, a Bay Area research company specializing in artificial intelligence, introduced the universe to a program called ChatGPT-3. Within five days, one million people had jumped on the program to play around with it. For reference, it took Facebook ten months to reach one million users and Netflix three and a half years. …
When editors of a book on the history of the Mexican novel asked me to contribute an essay on the longest books written during the 20th century, I accepted. There was no reason not to, and I was the right guy for the job. My work in historical fiction and high modernist fiction in Spanish …