Humanities

Line drawing of a man and woman / Photo: Courtesy of Halyan Lee

Getting to the 'heart' of the matter

Stanford Professor Haiyan Lee chronicles the Chinese "love revolution" through a study of cultural changes influenced by Western ideals.


Martha Nussbaum speaking / Photo: L.A. Cicero

Not for profit: Why democracy needs the humanities

Author and philosopher Martha Nussbaum says a declining emphasis on the study of the humanities could lead to a world of "useful profit makers with no imaginations."


Scene from American Graffiti / Photo: Universal Studios; Lucasfilm and The Coppola Company

Stanford's Revs Program sponsors film series celebrating cars and car culture

The automobile is center stage in a film series sponsored by the Revs Program at Stanford, which was developed to bridge humanities and fine arts, social sciences, design, science and engineering.


Mark Applebaum performing 'Aphasia'

Aphasia: A Stanford music professor's work, with hand gestures and odd sounds, about obsessive attention to ridiculous things

Mangled vocal samples, random icons and precise hand gestures come together in a mesmerizing performance by Stanford music scholar Mark Applebaum.  Video


Stanford Chinese Music Ensemble rehearsing / Photo: Steve Fyffe

New generation explores cultural changes through Asian music at Stanford festival

Students pay homage to cultural history in the eighth annual Pan-Asian Music Festival.  Video


Walker Evans' Negro Barber Shop Interior / Photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Walker Evans' iconic photos of the Great Depression at Cantor Arts Center

In public programs, Stanford scholars share their views on the groundbreaking artistic endeavors of photographer Walker Evans.


Jaclyn Maxwell and John Cooper at the Tanner lecture discussion/L.A. Cicero

Tanner Lectures explore ancient philosophies as ways of life

You don't have to be a philosopher to contemplate the nature of the universe, the nature of the self, and the meaning of life.


Gloria Steinem / L.A. Cicero

The feminist struggle continues, Gloria Steinem says, encouraging a Stanford audience toward 'one new subversive thing'

The co-founder of Ms. magazine celebrates the 40th anniversary of the pioneering publication.  Video


Marcia Ann Gillespie and Helen Zia / Photo: L.A. Cicero

Four decades - and counting - of feminist journalism

At a Stanford panel discussion, editors, activists and bloggers come together to salute Ms. magazine and consider the future.


Gloria Steinem portrait / Courtesy of Ms. magazine

Gloria Steinem: Still angry, still funny, still tireless

"I'm on campuses a lot, very different kinds of schools," Gloria Steinem said. "I still get asked, 'How can I [the student] combine motherhood and career?' and I tell them, 'Until men are asking that same question, you can't.'"


Detail of Raphael's Italian Renaissance fresco 'The School of Athens.'

Stanford's 2012 Tanner Lectures explore ancient philosophies as ways of life

Princeton philosophy Professor John Cooper will give this year's Tanner Lectures on Human Values. To Cooper, many of the ancient philosophers intended not just to educate, but to offer their students a way of life.


Group of people meeting at d. school/ L.A. Cicero

It's all about the space at Stanford's design school

Stanford's d.school space is the stage for creative collaboration. A new book by two of its leaders provides direction for design spaces elsewhere.


Writer hopes Arab Spring can be an antidote to terror



Historic train image from the cover of Richard White's book.

Railroad hyperbole echoes all the way down to the dot-com frenzy

Stanford historian Richard White said he began his book, Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America, 12 years ago knowing only that he wanted to write something about the American West and railroads. He was unprepared for what he found in the archives.


King memorial in Washington D.C./Photo courtesy of Clayborne Carson

Stanford's King scholar talks about the meaning of the national memorial honoring the civil rights leader

Clayborne Carson, director of Stanford's Martin Luther King Institute, drew on his vast knowledge of King as he advised urban planners, architects and designers on the memorial that now stands on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.