Humanities
Explore the intellectual and creative pursuits within philosophy, history, literature, and the fine arts at Harvard.
The Year a Beat Poet Squatted at Harvard
In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.
Being Alive Together
Stephen Sondheim, Omicron, and the Power of Theater
Adamantios Korais
Brief life of a leader of the Greek Enlightenment: 1748-1833
The Poet of Old Age
Donald Hall, chronicler of life
by Adam Kirsch
Critique and Joy
Kevin Young’s anthology of African American poetry, from Phillis Wheatley to hip hop
by Elisa New
Namwali Serpell
The professor of English is also a novelist and a critic.
Musician and professor Braxton Shelley
A gospel scholar shapes music theory.
by Jacob Sweet
Humanities and democratic discourse belong together
Active citizens are humanists.
by Doris Sommer
Secretaries’ role in history of information
From a huge new book on the history of information, an excerpt on the role of secretaries
An intellectual history of the Cold War era
In a new book, Louis Menand probes the cultural currents of postwar America.
Peabody Museum Discovers Possible Slave Remains in Its Collections
“We must begin to confront the reality of a past in which academic curiosity and opportunity overwhelmed humanity,” Harvard president Lawrence Bacow wrote.