Humanities & Culture

Humanities & Culture

No Boundaries

A new cookbook by Rachel Yang ’00 takes Korean cuisine to unusual places. Check out her sweet & spicy sauce recipe.
Humanities & Culture

Interracial Dialogue

Natasha K. Warikoo ’95 examines two contrasting approaches to diversity: Brown's and Harvard's.
Humanities & Culture
Illustration of a man in in the gallows, holding the rope that releases the noose around his neck

What Would You Do?

Why did people help Germans slaughter their Jewish neighbors? It's complicated.
Humanities & Culture
Photo of professor Felicia Nimue Ackerman in her office.

Woman of Letters

Philosophy professor Felicia Nimue Ackerman writes to editors. A lot.
University News
Brown students during the black student walkout in 1968

A Diversity Milestone

The 2018 Black Alumni Reunion
Humanities & Culture
Portrait of Dréya St. Clair ‘05 and Kate Bornstein ’69

Breaking Down the Binary

Male? Female? How about neither, both, or something else entirely?
Humanities & Culture
Image of Alexandra Ulmer taking notes, surrounded by Venezuelan children.

Danger Zone

Alexandra Ulmer ’11: The reporting life in Venezuela
Humanities & Culture
Image of a screen capture from the app: illustrations of plates and food related items.

Kids Cooking

A free app for kids offers recipes and adventures
Humanities & Culture
portrait of Nicole Dusang '20 PhD

The 0.3 Percent

Brown's small but expanding community of students who are military veterans
Humanities & Culture
Photograph of Tania Teschke ’93 in the kitchen

Go Ahead, Use Lard

A cookbook touts traditional "farm fats" in French cooking
Humanities & Culture
Photo of Professor Lynne Joyrich in front of her house

Mid-Century Maven

Professor Lynne Joyrich ’84 AM, ’90 PhD and her vintage collections
Humanities & Culture
Photo of Carrie Swan Needell on an archeological dig

The Glass Jackpot

Curating one of the biggest collections in a tiny field
Humanities & Culture
portrait of André Leon Talley

Fashion’s Scholar Editor

André Leon Talley AM ’73 headlines Ivy Film Fest
Humanities & Culture
Danny Lyon chats on stage with Allison Pappas ’08

The Art of Display

Brown’s extensive collections give an art history PhD student the opportunity to put curation theory into practice.
Humanities & Culture
Mark Gillen ’77 and his wife, Delmafe Festin, standing at the Manila American Cemetery between stone columns

Set in Stone

Undertaking a huge restoration project in the Philippines
Humanities & Culture
Image from one of the board games

Big Game Hunting

One family’s passion for collecting Victorian table games
Humanities & Culture
Illustration of a colorful dragon

Toilet Papers

A course on the history and science of human excrement is not a “gut.”
Humanities & Culture
Prof Iris Montero leafing through a folio

Tomato, Tomatl, Nahuatl

Professor Iris Montero dives deep into the language of the Aztec
Humanities & Culture
illustration of a louche rich dude

Our One Percent Obsession

Why do so many of us spend our free time gaping at the super-rich on TV?
Humanities & Culture
Food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin

Curated Cuisine

African American home cooking in the academy
Humanities & Culture
portrait of AG Sulzberger

Public Enemy No. 1

Arthur Gregg Sulzberger ’03, publisher of the “failing New York Times"
Humanities & Culture

Rich But Nice

Sociologist Rachel Sherman ’91 on why 1-percenters need to see themselves as virtuous
Humanities & Culture
vintage photo of Dell O’Dell

Magic Tricks

Want to study alchemy, witchcraft, or sorcery? The Hay library has you covered.
The Arts
Bunny, by Mona Awad ’14; Bring Your Brain To Work, by Art Markman ’88; and Correspondents, by Tim Murphy ’91 stacked

Fresh Ink

New books by Mona Awad ’14 MFA, Art Markman ’88, and Tim Murphy ’91
Education
Illustration of Toni Morrison

Radical Vision

Life, death, love, and humanity through the eyes of Toni Morrison.
The Arts
Costalegre by Courtney Maum ’01; Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life by Louise Aronson ’86; and The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora ’97

Fresh Ink

New books by Courtney Maum ’01, Louise Aronson ’86, and Lauren Acampora ’97
Humanities & Culture
illustration inspired by Charles Schultz's Peanuts

Losers for the Win

A new book of essays looks at why we love Charlie Brown
Humanities & Culture
Photo of Kimberly Collins ’22 and Lauren Brown ’22

Whichever Way You Wear It

Brown Black Hairitage likes your style
Politics & Law
Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui ’10

Hometown Advocate

The new mayor of Cambridge, Mass., fights to keep the city affordable
Humanities & Culture
At-home set of SGN

America’s Quarantine Dad

John Krasinski ’01 curates reasons to smile
Humanities & Culture
Photo of Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo

Video-game Music

Five minutes with Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, Mellon Gateway postdoctoral fellow in music.
Humanities & Culture
Image of Suzanne Rivers

Leading Amid Unrest

A Twin Cities college president’s Day One was the week of the riots
Humanities & Culture
Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve

Rotten Culture

Why removing “bad apples” won’t fix the police
First Person
Image of Makedah Hughes

A Jamaican American in Paris

Six Questions for Makedah Hughes ’19
Humanities & Culture
Portrait of Nitana Hicks Greendeer ’03 with her daughters

A Language, Liberated

Nitana Hicks Greendeer ’03 is a leader in the effort to bring the Wôpanâak language back.
Humanities & Culture
Portrait of Heidi Kim ’87

Walking the Labyrinth

For Heidi Kim ’87, combating racism is a lifelong practice deeply rooted in her Christian faith
Humanities & Culture
Illustration of two lovers (after Chagall)

Love, Actually

A lit class examines love and desire through academic, intellectual, and deeply personal lenses.
Humanities & Culture
Illustration by Raymond Biesinger

Everything Old Is New Again

Technology and new questions bring long-studied archaeological sites to life.
Politics & Law
photo of Professor Seth Rockman on campus

Capitalism on the Couch

A history course analyzes the social, political, and cultural underpinnings of our economic system.
The Arts
Gulmira Propper and mom Parida

Celebrating Uyghur Culture

Silk Road Recipes: Parida’s Uyghur Cookbook
Politics & Law
photo of Deborah Witzburg in Chicago

Use of Force

A conversation about police reform with Chicago’s new deputy inspector general for public safety
Humanities & Culture
illustration of traveler with telescope

The View From Tripoli

I went to Lebanon not just to learn Arabic but to take a break from America—and came back with a new perspective.
Education
Image of Briannah Cook

The Power Within

TWTP’s annual welcome meets Afrofuturism, over Zoom
History
Image of Alexa Howard ’20

Working Class Hero

A senior thesis on a legendary Panamanian boxer
Science & Tech
Image of Doug MacDonald at Yellowstone Lake

Manufactured Wilderness

Creating Yellowstone Park meant evicting longtime Native American residents
The Arts
Image of Shani Mahiri King

A Celebration of Black Lives

A new book for kids ages 9 and up
Education
Image of Dzidzienyo's office

Archiving the African Diaspora

Anani Dzidzienyo’s presence was healing; his scholarship, groundbreaking. You could say the same about the class created in his memory.
Humanities & Culture
Image of Jerrine Tan

Hidden. Exposed. Targeted. Forgotten.

In 2021 America, Asians are targeted with violence yet still in the margins of our national conversation on race.
Politics & Law
Divestment illustration by Fernando Cobelo

Monetary Morality

Students often push the University to ditch “immoral” investments. Results have varied.
Education
Illustration by Pola Maneli

Bird by Bird

An environmental studies course on birding looks at what separates us from one another and from nature, and what might bring us together.
The Arts
No-No Boy's Julian Saporiti

Untold Stories

The songs of Julian Saporiti ’17 AM ’22 PhD are lost pieces of Asian American history cradled in melodies and chords.
Student Life
Photo of Michelle Liu and Estelle Zhu

Speak Out

Asian Americans share stories on race and identity
Humanities & Culture
Image of Professors Jonathan Collins, Mahasan Offutt-Chaney, and Lynne Joyrich

An Academic Theory Goes Unexpectedly Viral

Brown scholars on Critical Race Theory, the most divisive topic in American education
Service & Advocacy
Image of Dr. Hannah Janeway and Christian Armenta at a clinic

Border Aid

Hannah Janeway ’15 MD cofounded a group giving medical care to migrants stuck in Tijuana.
Humanities & Culture
Image of Sherente Henny

Stepping Up

A Narragansett dancer on life as a dual degree student, documentary star, and tribal activist
Humanities & Culture
portrait of Prof. Elizabeth Rush

Lift Up Their Voices

Former journalist Elizabeth Rush traded news writing for testimony—allowing people in coastal communities to tell their climate change stories their way.
Student Life
Image of Afghanistan refugee Maryam Khademi

Academic Safe Space

Afghan scholars fleeing the Taliban’s oppression of women find welcome at Brown
Humanities & Culture
Image of Marcia Chatelain

Fast Food Capitalism

The Pulitzer-winning Franchise by Marcia Chatelain ’03 AM, ’08 PhD, narrates the complicated history between McDonald’s and its Black outlet owners
Religion & Spirituality
Image of Isaac Goldman Sonnenfelt speaking to a crowd at Brown

Beyond the Divide

A Hillel program gets Zionist and anti-Zionist students talking.
Humanities & Culture
photo of Dr. Robert Smith in the chapel at Tougaloo College

At the Fork of the Stream

In 1964, at the height of the battle to end segregation, Brown entered into a partnership with Tougaloo, a historically Black college in Jackson, Mississippi. From that first year to today, Brown students have been mentored by beloved physician, civil rights leader, and “living legend” Dr. Robert Smith.
The Arts
An illustration of a professor teaching students and everyone is standing on oversized books with letters sitting among them

A New Language, in a Hurry

Intensive, double-credit language courses mean fast learning and instant community
Humanities & Culture
Illustration by Celia Jacobs of a dining table with a book open, flowers and bowls of condiments and a cup.

Food for Thought

Palate meets pedagogy in courses like “Food, Religion, and Politics in South Asia”
Politics & Law
Illustration of pig with forks aiming toward it.

All the Pigs in China

To make good food choices these days, you have to sort out global trade, politics, and environmental issues. Even experts can’t do it.
Humanities & Culture
Image of Angela Mooney D'Arcy and staff holding their fists up in front of a mural on a brick wall.

Sacred Work

Putting power back into the hands of California’s Native tribes.
Humanities & Culture
photo portrait of Prof. Glenn Loury

Maverick.

Professor Glenn Loury is a leading conservative voice in America, from his home base at Brown.
Humanities & Culture
Illustration by Tim Cook of two Native American's looking at one another.

No More Excuses

U.S. histories often neglect to mention the millions of enslaved Native Americans. A Brown database aims to help change that.
Humanities & Culture
collage portrait of Zhuqing's aunt Zhen

Divided Lives

At the dawn of Mao’s China, Professor Zhuqing Li’s aunts were separated by opposing ideologies.
Humanities & Culture
Photo of the clasped hands of Tricia Rose and Andre Willis

Love & Joy

A course on African American culture cotaught by Professor Tricia Rose ’87 AM, ’93 PhD, and Professor Andre Willis—whose vigorous debates are part of their happy marriage—serves as a model for antiracism and radical love.
History
Illustration by Tatyana Alanis of a home from the early 1900s and artifacts buried under the house.

Unearthing Rhode Island History

A dig at a 19th-century College Hill home unveils stories about the textile industry, the European immigrant experience, and life in the Gilded Age.
The Arts
Image of Ramon "Chunky" Sanchez at a United Farm Workers rally with César Chávez.

Songs for Social change
Humanities & Culture
detail of a map of the Jewelry District

Brilliant.

Providence’s Jewelry District once supplied most of the nation’s costume jewelry sparkle. Now it’s home to some of the city’s hottest new restaurants and bars—and a significant part of Brown’s expanding campus.
The Arts
Black and white image of Paris plaza

Are You a Flaneur?

The high art of meandering aimlessly
The Arts
Illustration by Dana Smith of various classic cinematic photos from LGBTQ films.

How to Read a Picture

A course applies seminal texts to classic LGBTQ images and films to show how imagery has been used to fight oppression.
Business & Entrepreneurship
Illustration by Irene Rinaldi of a large hand pressing down a balance beam with a group of immigrants at the other end.

Empowered Investing

Venture capital for Latinx entrepreneurs
Humanities & Culture
Image of Helen Wagner floating icy water.

Self-Healing

The power and resilience of swimming in icy waters
Humanities & Culture
illustrated portrait of Kati and Sa'ed

Eye to Eye

Since 2014’s Gaza War, these two professors—one Palestinian, one Israeli—have been working together. They sat down with us to talk about history, censorship, antisemitism, diasporas, and, most of all, peace.
Education
Image of Irene Glasser standing outside the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence.

The Anthropology of Homelessness

In ANTH 1301, future doctors and policymakers get immersed in research and realities.
Humanities & Culture
Image of George Morgan, Jeff Bercuvitz, and Barbara Morgan on a porch in 1983.

Connection, Justice & Reconciliation

What “never again” really means.
Student Life
Image of participants singing Latin carols in Sayles Hall

A Roman Holiday

Inside Brown’s annual Latin Carol Celebration
The Arts
Illustration by Tim Cook of individuals reading books.

Share the Knowledge

A roundup of topical new books by Brown faculty
The Arts
Image of Yukti Agarwal standing on the bridge near RISD in downtown PVD with the wind blowing her dress

Putting the “Desi” in Design

A pioneering mag on South Asian culture
Issues

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Departments