Mayberry to lecture on the power of community-made video
Lecture Announcement: "Why Voice Matters: Lessons from India for America's Future," Monday, September 29, 5:00pm, A.D. White House (Guerlac Room)
Dual-campus visit highlights A.D. White Professors-at-Large lineup
Best-selling writer and technology blogger Cory Doctorow will make the A.D. White Professor-at-Large program’s second dual-campus visit, ending his week at Cornell Tech in New York City. Four other professors will visit Cornell this fall.
Film series: Scale on Screen
This series features a dynamic selection of films that approach questions of scale from different perspectives. Screenings will be introduced by this year’s Society for the Humanities Fellows and are inspired by the topics and themes of their fall course offerings.
New Course Offerings Fall 2025
Our fellows offer experimental interdisciplinary seminars on research topics related to the year's focal theme. These seminars are offered one time only! The theme for 2025-26 is "Scale."
2026-27: The Year of Survival
The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University seeks fellows for year-long residential fellowships who are conducting interdisciplinary research projects exploring the literary, historical, ethical, and political registers of survival.
Irina R. Troconis on her new book, The Necromantic State
The Fellows’ Q&A series continues with a spotlight on Irina Troconis, Irina R. Troconis is Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies in the Department of Romance Studies at Cornell University and 2021-22 “Afterlives” Faculty Fellow. Her book The Necromantic State: Spectral Remains in the Afterglow of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution (Duke UP, 2025), evolved out of research during the Fellowship year.
Media Objects podcast releases 'sonic essays' based at Cornell
“Media Objects,” a podcast collaboration between Cornell media experts and sound artists The World According to Sound, is now available in full on all streaming services, including Spotify and Soundcloud, and the Media Studies homepage.
From posters to precedent, humanities scholars showcase their research
Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.
First Guerlac Lecture to celebrate ‘rock star’ science historian
Princeton history professor Michael Gordin will give the inaugural lecture celebrating the life and work of Henry Guerlac ’32, M.S. ’33, an influential historian of science and Cornell faculty member for three decades.
In ‘Silence’ spring conference, Fellows ‘attend to what is not there’
On April 25, seven Society for the Humanities’ Fellows will present their projects in progress during the annual Spring Fellows’ conference, highlighting the various ways that the theme of silence has been explored –
Symposium launches archive of Venezuelan migrant testimonies
On April 18, this collection of migrant experiences will be presented to the public in a daylong symposium at the A. D. White House.
Professor’s book probes afterlife of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela
Latin American studies scholar Irina R. Troconis, assistant professor of Romance Studies, and 2021-22 Society for the Humanities "Afterlives" Faculty Fellow, publishes book, "“The Necromantic State: Spectral Remains in the Afterglow of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution,” (Duke University Press).
Jane Bennett to deliver Culler Lecture in Critical Theory
Bennett, a founding scholar of the field of new materialism, will talk about the limits of “data” as the unit of humanistic study.
University Lecture examines ‘The Narrative Brain’
Our minds and the ways we tell stories are closely attuned, research shows, and scholar Fritz Breithaupt will explore how that connection works during a March visit as University Lecturer.
2025-26: The Year of Scale
Announcing the 2025-26 cohort of Scale Fellows at the Society for the Humanities.
Explore home space in a teenage sitcom during upcoming lecture
"Sanctuary from the Storm: Making (My) Room with The Torkelsons," will explore Sheppard’s fondness for the 1990s television show and what the show’s representation of home spaces can tell us about the way television influences living practices.
New Course Offerings Spring 2025
Society for the Humanities' new course offerings for Spring 2025. Enroll Today!
Poets in Japan experiment at the edge of media
Andrew Campana, 2024-25 Society for the Humanities "Silence" Faculty Fellow (Asian Studies), releases new book, December 2024.
Exhibit highlights art/tech intersections in student work
The event invited undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines to display their projects at the historic A.D. White House.
The A.D. White House: Andrew’s abode is a campus gem
Commissioned by Cornell’s inaugural president, the villa later became an art museum—and has long hosted a humanities group.
Crowdfunding launch supports Ways of Knowing podcast at Cornell
A crowdfunding campaign launched Nov. 1 to support a Cornell-based season of "Ways of Knowing,” a new podcast created by The World According to Sound.
Short films from Rural Humanities course selected for festivals
Three short documentaries produced in a Rural Humanities Seminar, taught by PMA Associate Professor Austin Bunn, are headed to film festivals this fall.
‘Silence’ theme of Society for the Humanities Fall presentations
Six fellows from a broad swath of humanities fields will present their projects in progress during the annual Fall Fellows’ conference, on Friday, Oct. 25.
Zeavin delivers Annual Digital Humanities Lecture at the Society for the Humanities
The Society for the Humanities & CNY Humanities Corridor, in partnership with Cornell's Media Studies Colloquium, present: The Annual Digital Humanities Lecture - Tuesday, October 22, 5:00pm
A&S announces membership in MLA Strategic Partnership Network
“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author from Jerusalem to speak Oct. 10
Nathan Thrall will talk about his most recent book, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.”
Modeling an ancient house and garden in 3D
Cornell researchers have received a $150,000 NEH Digital Humanities Advanced Grant to create a 3D virtual modeling project based on the Casa della Regina Carolina, a large Pompeian house.
Professor’s feature-length documentary film debuts at Cornell Cinema
“Possible Landscapes,” a new feature-length documentary film exploring the lived experience of landscapes and environments in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, will have its debut screening on Sept. 25 at Cornell Cinema.
Final speaker in series examining antisemitism, Islamophobia
Cornell’s “Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined” series concludes this semester with a talk by Derek Penslar, the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University.
Jonathan Lethem to speak, "The Novel as Lyric Essay and Stage Play"
Author Jonathan Lethem, hosted by the Society for the Humanities, will speak at the A.D. White House at 5 p.m. on 09.12.24
2025-26: The Year of Scale
The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University seeks interdisciplinary research projects for year-long residencies that reflect on the theme of Scale.
Peter Loewen named dean of Arts and Sciences
Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.
National Humanities Center selects two A&S professors as 2024-25 Fellows
Kim Haines-Eitzen, the Paul and Berthe Hendrix Memorial Professor of Near Eastern studies, and Mostafa Minawi, associate professor of history and director of Critical Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Studies, will pursue research projects in residence in Durham, North Carolina.
Ghosh to lead Cornell’s Society for the Humanities
Recently the faculty director of the Humanities Scholars Program, Ghosh brings to the Society scholarly background in the history of British colonialism on the Indian subcontinent; academic focuses on gender and sexuality and South Asia; and broad experience with interdisciplinary collaborations.
Society for the Humanities celebrates 50th year in AD White House
To honor the anniversary, the Society has produced a booklet chronicling the history of the A.D. White House as president’s home, art museum and locus for the humanities at Cornell.
Community event will showcase trans philosophy and scholarship
Organized by trans Cornellians, the event will address issues and harms facing the community from a trans perspective.
April 10 lecture focuses on formation of revolutionary China
Mitter’s talk will re-examine the classic question, “Did the communists win or the nationalists lose the Chinese civil war?”
2024-25: The Year of Silence
Announcing the 2024-25 cohort of Silence Fellows at the Society for the Humanities.
Pheng Cheah Ph.D. ’98 to deliver Culler Theory Lecture
“Beyond the World as Picture: Worlding and Becoming the Whole World [devenir tout le monde],”will examine philosophical accounts of the ways in which we organize the concept of reality.
Grants available to fund rural humanities projects
Funding is available for faculty and students with projects related to rural humanities.
Speaker series focuses on China’s communist past and present
A series of four lectures — two in the spring and two in the fall of 2024 — will focus on “Unmasking the CCP: History, Politics, and Society in Post-1949 China."
Juliana Hu Pegues to speak on Indigenous Feminist Activism
In this year’s Invitational Lecture hosted by the Society for the Humanities, Hu Pegues will examine the story of Tillie Paul, a Tlingit woman in Alaska
Speaker series to examine antisemitism, Islamophobia
Leading academics from around the country will join Cornell experts in a semester-long series, “Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined.”
Conference highlights humanities projects on the theme of “Crossing”
The Society’s fall conference on Friday, Oct. 27, will feature talks by seven multidisciplinary fellows.
Award-winning Simon Shaheen to perform, lecture on Arab music
“Simon Shaheen is widely celebrated as a virtuoso violinist and oud player, incomparably creative composer and master teacher of Arab music."
Mongolian music comes to campus
Concerts set for Oct. 20 and 22 will highlight the musical legacy of composer Byambasurengiin Sharav, a household name in Mongolia.
Poet and scholar of digital media to deliver annual Digital Humanities Lecture
Tung-Hui Hu will talk on “The Grid vs. the Set: Early Attempts at Classifying Data” October 18.
Uyghur children in China’s genocide: A symposium
Reported violations of ethnic minority children’s rights by the Chinese government will be explored in a symposium Oct. 27.
Cornell celebrates 15 years at the heart of CNY Humanities Corridor
The corridor is a consortium of 11 universities and colleges endowed by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.