Arts & Culture

All Arts & Culture

  • A world tour with David Damrosch

    David Damrosch, chair of the Comparative Literature Department, revised pandemic-era essays into “Around the World in 80 Books.”

    David Damrosch.
  • But my mother’s in China…

    Weike Wang tails Harvard-educated ICU doc through surprise visit after her dad’s death in witty look at family, culture, and COVID

    Weike Wang.
  • Rocky path to publication for ‘most dangerous book’

    Denounced as obscene, Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ exploded old ways of thinking about fiction — and the world itself.

    "Most Dangerous Book" jacket.
  • Finding modern issues in study of ancient world

    Professor’s research while developing Latin course turns up surprising insights into political, gender, racial, religious identity.

    Irene Peirano Garrison.
  • Pinker tries Wordle

    Language expert Steven Pinker explores how the brain tries to make sense of those pesky missing tiles in the popular word puzzle.

    Brain-shaped Wordle grid.
  • Finding joy in the everyday

    Artists digitally remix the everyday sights and sounds of Allston-Brighton in “Frequencies,” showing nightly at Harvard’s Ed Portal through February.

    footage from students in a visual arts class at Brighton High School.
  • Film full of sound and fury in dark pandemic season

    Filmmaker Joel Coen brings a trimmed-down, sparse theatrical version of the Shakespeare play to the screen, says Jeffrey Wilson.

    Silhouettes of Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand in “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
  • The stars align for the Pudding Pot

    Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman star in the return of the Hasty Pudding’s Man and Woman of the Year awards.

    Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.
  • Overture of an opera life

    James Joyce will be star of final act of Benjamin Wenzelberg’s undergrad career.

    Benjamin "Benjy" Wenzelberg '21
  • Belle of Amherst 2.0 (feat. Emily D)

    Production archive materials donated by the Apple+ TV series “Dickinson” arrived at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

    Items from the Dickinson collection.
  • Civil War opera starring Walt Whitman? Really?

    In excerpt from his new book, Matthew Aucoin details why he chose Whitman as main character in his debut opera “Crossing” at American Repertory Theater.

    Matthew Aucoin.
  • Much more than a movie

    Sebastián Lelio, director of “A Fantastic Woman,” talks about the film, which tells the story of a transgender woman in Santiago, Chile, and its role in the passage of a landmark Chilean gender-identity law.

    Daniela Vega.
  • The Sondheim he remembers: genius, friend, board game geek 

    Harvard grad John Weidman collaborated with theater giant on “Pacific Overtures,” “Assassins,” and “Road Show.”

    Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman.
  • Moving together again

    Studios reopen for in-person classes in Soca Fusion, Latinx Movement, and more.

    LROD leads Latinx Movement class.
  • Competing visions

    Ahead of Harvard football’s annual showdown with Yale, two art historians got into the competitive spirit.

    Two art pieces.
  • Bringing monuments to life

    On Friday, Krzysztof Wodiczko discussed the creative impulse behind his work during a pair of talks sponsored by the Graduate School of Design.

    George Washington.
  • ‘The steam and chatter of typewriters’

    A typewriter belonging to John Ashbery now has a home in the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard, the late poet’s alma mater.

    Hands on a typewriter.
  • A musical duo of mythic power

    Eight years in the making, the opera “Iphigenia” makes its worldwide debut in Boston.

    Esperanza Spalding and Wayne Shorter.
  • Genuine heroines

    Answering Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero with a Thousand Faces,’ Maria Tatar reveals multitudes in her new book.

    "Pandora" by John William Waterhouse.
  • How to pick a literary winner

    Maya Jasanoff, Coolidge Professor of History, spoke with the Gazette about her role as chair of the panel that crowned “The Promise” by Damon Galgut this year’s winner.

    Illustration of community building tall pile of books.
  • Women who are ambitious, powerful, in love — and in peril

    Whitney White plans musical programs, each on a different Shakespeare play, all asking: What is price of ambition for women?

    Whitney White.
  • Checking in with the local ghosts

    Folklore & Mythology course examines how tales of spirits and ghosts from the past affect the present and the future.

    Supernatural Storytelling students meeting at night.
  • In this writer’s life, the art of noticing comes first

    Rachel Kushner discussed the connection, and differences, between writing fiction and essays at an online Writers Speak event.

    Rachel Kushner.
  • Raised voices

    Tara K. Menon discusses her research and writing and how the author and cartoonist Alison Bechdel influenced her work.

    Tara Menon.
  • Tapping into magic

    Tap dancer Ayodele Casel explores communication, improvisation, culture, and history in “Chasing the Magic” at the American Repertory Theater.

    ART production with Ayodele Casel.
  • Creating art from Radcliffe archives

    Artist Tomashi Jackson’s latest work, “Brown II,” on view at Radcliffe, is inspired by the work of Civil Rights pioneers Pauli Murray and Ruth Batson, who helped drive public school desegregation efforts

    Tomashi Jackson.
  • Something darker than awe

    Professor Ellen Winner looks at what may be happening in the minds of viewers who are taking in Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s wrapped Arc de Triomphe.

    France Arc de Triomphe.
  • A look behind the scenes

    This fall, the Harvard University Committee on the Arts is supporting a series of six commissions from seven contemporary artists across various disciplines.

  • Earth’s most excellent mixtape

    Harvard music professor Alex Reading’s book turns up volume on Golden Record of sounds of our civilization sent into space.

    Fanny Peabody Professor of Music Alex Rehding speaks about a new book he co-authored on the Golden Record and a new approach to music theory. He is pictured outside the acoustically-designed archway of Sever Hall in Harvard Yard at Harvard University.
  • Giving Carrie Mae Weems her due

    New volume fills gap in scholarship on work of celebrated Black photographer Carrie Mae Weems.

    Two women and a girl in mourning.