Concentration: Sparking Creativity and Ingenuity

8:00 a.m.
Studio | 3rd Floor, Farkas Hall

Registration and Breakfast

8:30–8:45 a.m.
Studio | 3rd Floor, Farkas Hall

Welcome

Robin Kelsey PhD ’00, Incoming Dean of Arts and Humanities; Shirley Carter Burden Professor of Photography; Chair of the Department of History of Art and Architecture
Diana Sorensen, Dean of Arts and Humanities; James F. Rothenberg Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Comparative Literature

8:45–9:45 a.m.
Studio | 3rd Floor, Farkas Hall

Exploring Theater, Dance, and Media at Harvard

Harvard's newest concentration leverages the University’s immense resources—from the Theatre Collection to the Dance Center to the American Repertory Theater—and invites students to become art makers and researchers. Through a unique combination of theory, history, and practice, students explore physical movement, directing and design, aesthetics, digital humanities, and more to hone their creative instincts and their ability to work collaboratively. Equally invested in technical skills and a broad liberal arts education, the concentration aims to launch a generation of graduates who will use their experience in storytelling, performance, and media for careers inside and outside the arts. Hear from Jill Johnson and Martin Puchner about the concentration and what it prepares students to do.

Jill Johnson, Director of Dance, Theater, Dance & Media (TDM) and Dance Program, Office for the Arts (OFA); Senior Lecturer in Music, TDM; Artistic Director of the Harvard Dance Project
Martin Puchner PhD ’98, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature; Chair of Theater, Dance & Media

10:00–11:00 a.m.
Studio | 3rd Floor, Farkas Hall

The Art of Listening

Our world is steeped in sound, but we must learn to pay attention to listening. Sounds produce emotions, mark out spaces, call up memories. Silence can be deafening. Voice is a marker of identity. By exploring the sonic world through diverse readings and creative projects with sound, we can sharpen our ears. How might we open our minds (and ears) to listening? What can the arts teach us about listening, and how can we describe our experiences as listeners? Join Alexander Rehding to examine the relationships between sound and time, community, responsibility, and attentiveness, and explore the soundscape in which we live.

Alexander Rehding, Fanny Peabody Professor of Music

Leadership Lessons from Antiquity

The Roman Empire lasted for more than 700 years, and Romans were well known for power and vast organizational structures. Perhaps less well known is that they subjected power and organizational structures to intense scrutiny, reflecting on the nature of success and its precariousness, the ethics of leadership, the dynamics of power, and how best to prepare the next generation. What can we learn by reading some of the most influential ancient authors alongside modern leadership literature? What can we gain by considering how ancient lessons on leadership might be useful in our own society, careers, and lives? How have our notions of leadership evolved over the years? Experience a portion of Emma Dench's Harvard Business School course "Leadership Lessons from Antiquity."

Emma Dench, McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History and of the Classics; Visiting Professor, Harvard Business School (2015−2016)

Luncheon: Constructing Fictional Worlds

To observe the world; to communicate clearly, vibrantly, and passionately; to articulate and illuminate human experiences—to teach creative writing is to nurture skills we can use in our everyday lives and our interactions with others. Harvard's creative writing program draws on the interdisciplinary strengths of a Harvard College education, providing students the opportunity to study literary fiction and explore elements of craft. Over lunch, hear from acclaimed novelist Claire Messud about her own writing and her work with undergraduates, as they learn to analyze critically, to revise and improve constantly, and to hone their storytelling skills to construct worlds rich with detail and truth.

Claire Messud, Novelist; Senior Lecturer, Department of English

1:45–2:45 p.m.
Harvard Semitic Museum

Visualizing the Past

Harvard faculty and students are applying the tools of the future to the study of the past, combining technology and imagination to gain access to an ancient world. They are building a historically accurate virtual Giza Plateau, based on scientific research and archaeological discoveries; utilizing computer modeling to construct a throne from the tomb of Queen Hetepheres; and employing advanced imaging techniques to recreate some of the world’s earliest written records. These approaches to visualizing the past spark major discoveries and open the door to better understanding a culture that lasted three millennia—its political structure, economy, religion—and how its members examined and answered age-old questions about life and the afterlife. Join Peter Der Manuelian to enter a virtual 3D pyramid and experience Giza as it was and to explore the Semitic Museum’s collection of ancient objects excavated across the globe as well as those crafted today in Cambridge.

Peter Der Manuelian ’81, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology; Director, Harvard Semitic Museum

 2:45–3:00 p.m.
Harvard Semitic Museum

Closing