Strangers

This post was written by Courtney Bulsiewicz, Assistant Academic Director of the BYU Humanities Center. When I was a child and would have to ride in the car for any amount of time, I would look in the cars next to ours and imagine the lives of those that passed us, slipped behind us, or …

an image of a bunch of newspapers are stacked on a shelf

Reading Uncertainty

This post was written by Rex P. Nielson, Director of the BYU Humanities Center. The constant barrage of distressing news stories took a toll on me last summer. Perhaps you can relate. Headlines of crisis impacting nearly every dimension of my personal, social, professional, and political life seemed to reach a fever pitch around the …

an image of a long hallway with a clock on the wall

On Walking Through Museums

This post was written by Sawyer Wood, BYU Humanities Center intern and student fellow. For most of my life, I thought I wasn’t a museum person. I’d been to plenty of galleries, but I didn’t see what I was supposed to do there. I would stumble through room after room, trying to match pace with …

an image of a man and two children are sitting at a table

Learning Languages as a Family

This post was written by Nieves Knapp, a BYU Humanities Center faculty fellow. In his most recent General Conference address, President Oaks spoke about the 30th anniversary of The Family Proclamation and encouraged family activities, including learning languages together [1]. His comments made me think about my own life because in 1995, precisely when the …

an image of a chair and hose on a patio

Giving Up the Hose

This post was written by Aiden Jones, a BYU Humanities Center student fellow. I don’t mind being scolded by a poet, but a recent Billy Collins piece I read stung a bit too much for my comfort. He ends “Introduction to Poetry” with these stanzas:   But all they want to do is tie the …

an image of a brick walkway in a park with trees and bushes

Provo Walks Project

Provo Walks is a set of unique self-guided walking tours that present a new way to engage with Provo’s community and culture. Recently featured as a “Beacon of Light” on the BYU College of Humanities website, the project, which was sponsored by the BYU Humanities Center, constitutes a form of public scholarship intended to benefit …

an image of a spiral made of books in a library

Novelty in the Loop

This post was written by Stephen Tuttle, a BYU Humanities Center faculty fellow.   Recently, I’ve been thinking quite a lot about novelty. This is partly because I teach creative writing, and novelty is a central element in most definitions of creativity. Morris Stein’s definition goes like this: “The creative work is a novel work …

an image of a yellow sunset

In the Unseen

This post was written by George Dibble, a BYU Humanities Center student fellow.   How long has it been, Lord? Your voice is so quiet. Alone in a park, in cold and night, I looked. Searched by wandering, stumbling, warming my hand with the other. Closed eyes as I leaned against a tree near a …