The Dark Moment of the Soul: Storytelling and How it Helps Us Persevere

This post was written by Luke Beckstrand, a Humanities Center student fellow.    When David faces Goliath. When Aeneas loses Dido. When Frodo is lost and alone, facing the darkness of Cirith Ungol. In every hero’s journey, there are many moments that challenge them, but there are occasional moments that I have come to call …

“What does that do exactly?”: On Granular Humanities

This post was written by Gabbie Schwartz, a Humanities Center student fellow and the BYU Humanities Center Intern.    It was 4:30 p.m., and I was getting dinner with a friend at the Olive Garden—which is how all great stories start. Excitedly, my friend told me about her senior capstone, an electrical engineering project in …

Woven Together

“I am grateful for my eyes because I can read books.” “I am grateful for my mouth because I can taste blueberries.” “I am grateful for my legs because I can jump.” In the morning, early, before I leave for BYU campus to start my day of classes and writing and thinking, I spend time …

Humanists as Activists: Rewriting the Narratives that Lurk Beneath Technological Tools

Artificial Intelligence has been a topic of special interest for the BYU Humanities Center during the Winter semester of 2023. With masterful blog posts and colloquium presentations by Brian Jackson from the English Department, Earl Brown from Linguistics, and Steve Richardson from Computer Science, we have been enlightened, challenged, and (somewhat) reassured about our abilities …