Public Humanities

This post was written by Rex P. Nielson, BYU Humanities Center Director.   On July 25, 1139, in a placed called Ourique, roughly an hour north of modern-day Lisbon, Afonso Henriques and his armed forces faced a much larger army loyal to the Almoravid dynasty and the governor of Córdoba, Muhammad Az-Zubayr Ibn Umar. Though …

This post was written by Jane Henderson, winner of the 2025 Humanities Center Essay Contest.   Ross Gay said joy is “a room at the top of a flight of stairs.”  I was standing in a room in a community center in the middle of Herriman, Utah. It was warm with bodies. Colorful posters breathed …

The Humanities Center is pleased to display an exhibit featuring the work of four Latter-day Saint artists: James Rees, Jessica Day Smith, Sarah Schwieger, and Justin Wheatley. The exhibit was curated by Elizabeth Finlayson, a current BYU Comparative Studies MA student and a graduate of BYU’s Art History & Curatorial Studies program.   Elizabeth was inspired …

This post was written by Sophie Hirtle, a Humanities Center student fellow.    My great-grandmother Mary Abbott Self loved to write. While she kept most of her works to herself, she was especially proud of an article she published in 1951 in the Independent Press-Telegram in Long Beach, California. In her article, she describes the …

This post was written by Ryan Hill, Assistant Academic Director of the BYU Humanities Center.    A few months ago, as I listened to a song by Trueno, one of my favorite musicians, I was struck by the lyrics of one of the verses. In his song, “Sangría,” released in 2019, the young Argentine hip-hop/rap …

This post was written by Sydney Jo Pedersen, a Humanities Center student fellow.    “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”   - George Bernard Shaw  Even before they speak their first word, a child begins to communicate. They express surprise with raised eyebrows, joy with a smile, and hunger …

This post was written by Starly Pratt, a Humanities Center student fellow.    In the sport of bouldering, one has to be a little insane. Or, at least, it appears that way. I’ve often heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. This coincides with …

This post was written by Kaden Nelson, a Humanities Center student fellow.    It’s difficult to find purpose in writing a paper when its composition sits against the backdrop of what seems to be a progressively purposeless world. Students and scholars in the humanities have been pummeled relentlessly over the last two decades with statistics …

This post was written by Mabel Court, a Humanities Center student fellow.    History unspools as it occurs; the future has always been an ever-murky, ever-shifting puzzle. That being said, there do seem to be compounding factors that make this historical moment feel particularly uncertain, with mounting political polarization, wars and rumors of wars, and …