Arts and Humanities

Photos: Elementary students uplift their voices in Brown poetry program

June 12, 2026

Vartan Gregorian Elementary School fifth graders shared original poems created during a writing residency led by Eleni Sikelianos, a professor of literary arts at Brown, and her students.

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Arts and Humanities

Student-led oral history project with Class of 1976 alumni documents Brown at the U.S. bicentennial

May 21, 2026

Current Brown students are recording memories from members of Brown’s Class of 1976 to glean insights on what the University, the country and the world were like 50 years ago.

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Arts and Humanities

5 ways that Rhode Island factored into the American Revolution

May 19, 2026

As the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches, the scholars who teach Brown’s American Revolution course share facts about Rhode Island history.

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Arts and Humanities

Community-based exhibition at Brown carves a future for a fallen elm

May 14, 2026

The juried group exhibition “Point of Entry” showcases sculptures and other works of art created from a beloved elm tree that once shaded Brown’s College Green.

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Arts and Humanities

Photos: The Lindemann offers ‘elevated’ experience for student-led fashion show

May 5, 2026

Fashion@Brown staged its annual show of student-created designs, presented for the first time at Brown’s Lindemann Performing Arts Center.

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Arts and Humanities

From Brown to the big screen: How Tim Blake Nelson’s classics degree propelled a Hollywood career

April 1, 2026

Actor, writer and director Tim Blake Nelson, a member of Brown University’s Class of 1986, talked about the impact of his time on College Hill during a conversation hosted by Brown Arts Institute.

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Arts and Humanities

Brown University scholar to become president of the Society of Architectural Historians

March 31, 2026

Itohan Osayimwese, a professor of the history of art and architecture, will serve a two-year term as vice president of the Society of Architectural Historians before becoming president of the society in 2028.

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Arts and Humanities

From Delhi to Providence, Karan Mahajan’s ‘The Complex’ culminates 10 years of research, writing

March 4, 2026

In this Q&A, Brown University Associate Professor of Literary Arts Karan Mahajan discusses his forthcoming novel, teaching and multi-genre writing career that spans fiction, criticism and essays.

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Arts and Humanities

Large-scale AI analysis to explore how centuries of knowledge passed through Jewish communities

February 4, 2026

Supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, Brown University scholar Michael Satlow will use cutting-edge computational techniques to analyze 18 centuries of traditional Jewish texts.

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Arts and Humanities

Exhibition of drawings by Israeli and Palestinian children is on view at Brown

January 29, 2026

“Innocent Knowledge,” a project developed in a public humanities course at Brown, shares the perspectives of children living amid conflict through their drawings, and is on view at the University through Feb. 20.

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Arts and Humanities

Exhibitions in Brazil showcase global slavery oral history project led by Brown’s Simmons Center

December 3, 2025

Research led by the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice is highlighted in two museums in Rio de Janeiro in exhibitions that focus on the global legacies of racial slavery.

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Arts and Humanities

Chanelle Dupuis: Finding sweet success in smell studies at Brown

November 24, 2025

The doctoral candidate is leveraging Brown's culture of open inquiry to advance research on the sense of smell through French language and literature, neuroscience and history.

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Arts and Humanities

Art exhibitions at Brown University honor and interpret historic campus elm tree

November 14, 2025

A current solo show and an in-development group exhibition invite the Brown community and the public to create new meaning out of the wood from an American elm that previously flourished on campus.

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Arts and Humanities

Refreshed, upgraded Pembroke Hall is a fitting new home for Brown’s Pembroke Center

October 17, 2025

The newly renovated, centralized home for the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women will enhance collaboration and expand the use of the center’s extensive archives.

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Arts and Humanities

Exhibition that originated in Brown course highlights artwork by Israeli and Palestinian children

October 6, 2025

“Innocent Knowledge,” now on view at New York’s Central Synagogue, shares the perspectives of children living amid conflict through their drawings.

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Arts and Humanities

From the Studio: Composer Wang Lu scores human history and connection through music and teaching

October 3, 2025

The Brown University music scholar embraces cultures, storytelling and soundscapes to advance “fierce expression” through composition and her dedication to her work with students.

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Arts and Humanities

Exhibition at Brown responds to University’s Haffenreffer Museum collection of Navajo objects

September 15, 2025

A major solo exhibition by Diné artist Eric-Paul Riege exploring the production and reproduction of Indigeneity is on view at Brown’s David Winton Bell Gallery through Dec. 7.

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Arts and Humanities

From medieval manuscripts to 19th-century laundry, student researchers find history in the Hay

September 4, 2025

The John Hay Library Undergraduate Fellowship Program offers Brown students a unique summer opportunity to engage in intensive, self-guided research with one-on-one support from library mentors.

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Arts and Humanities

Nathan Winoto: From Brown University to a big Broadway break

August 27, 2025

Talent and tenacity landed a member of Brown’s Class of 2025 in New York, where he is co-producing the hit play “John Proctor Is The Villain.”

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Arts and Humanities

Original manuscript of George Orwell’s ‘1984’ is a highlight of Brown’s literary archives

August 11, 2025

The one-of-a-kind artifact in Brown University Library’s special collections offers students and scholars insights into the novelist’s writing process.

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Arts and Humanities

Photos: Students master their mediums in summer art courses at Brown

August 6, 2025

From sculpture and digital media to drawing and painting, undergraduate students embrace creativity and advance their skills in visual art courses during the University’s Summer Session.

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Arts and Humanities

In Pre-College course, students uncover new ways of writing through the forgotten and the familiar

July 25, 2025

Instructed by two Brown graduate students, Secondhand Writing encourages young writers to explore archives, museums and antique shops as a way to advance their own creative-writing practices.

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Arts and Humanities

Beyond the pages: John Carter Brown Library exhibition celebrates the making of rare books

June 27, 2025

“Elemental: Crafting Books from Nature” is an ode to the physical book, exploring thousands of years of practical knowledge and natural resources that led to the production of books.

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Arts and Humanities

Brown University Chorus Director Frederick Jodry brings harmonious career to a close

June 16, 2025

In this Q&A, Jodry reflects on a musical journey at Brown that spanned 33 years and culminated in a monumental farewell concert that drew alumni from around the world.

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Arts and Humanities

Q&A with Sydney Skybetter: Exploring new ‘collisions’ among art, movement and technology

June 12, 2025

Skybetter, director of the Brown Arts Institute, prepares to host the 10th iteration of a conference he founded to advance the study of choreography, performance and emerging technologies.

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Arts and Humanities

With $2 million Mellon grant, Brown scholars will unearth a treasure trove of African poetry

May 28, 2025

With support from a Mellon Foundation grant, Brown researchers will build a database of African poetry, complete with poet biographies, scholarship, news coverage and more.

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Arts and Humanities

Photos: The Lindemann lights up with lively Spring Festival of Dance

May 19, 2025

Brown University students performed an array of works during the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies’ annual spring dance showcase.

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Arts and Humanities

‘Wild Stories’ shows the power of ‘bombastic’ and brilliant narrative art

April 23, 2025

An exhibition in Brown’s Granoff Center for the Creative Arts celebrates the artwork of Professor of Visual Art Leslie Bostrom as she reflects on three decades of teaching and painting at Brown.

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Arts and Humanities

Two Brown faculty members win Guggenheim fellowships

April 16, 2025

The prestigious fellowships will support the creation of new books by Yannis Hamilakis, a professor of archaeology and modern Greek studies, and Tracy Steffes, a professor of education and history.

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Arts and Humanities

Free, student-led public art tours at Brown University to run from April to November

April 11, 2025

The Brown Arts Institute will host public art tours every Saturday and Sunday, inviting Brown and Providence community members to explore the University’s distinctive public art collection.

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Arts and Humanities

In Guatemala, painted altar found at Tikal adds new context to mysterious Maya history

April 8, 2025

A newly discovered altar, buried near the center of the ancient Maya city of Tikal, is shedding new light on the 1,600-year-old tensions between Tikal and the central Mexican capital of Teotihuacan.

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Arts and Humanities

Residual Noise festival explores the creative power of sound

April 7, 2025

Hosted at Brown and RISD, the festival celebrated sound’s potential to transform art and society — and The Lindemann’s potential to push the limits of sound exploration for generations to come.

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Arts and Humanities

Staff Spotlight: Behind the scenes with Alexander Haynes

March 6, 2025

As the technical director of Brown’s John Street Studio, Haynes oversees the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies workspace and supports students’ experiential learning in art and design.

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Arts and Humanities

Filmmaker and Brown scholar RaMell Ross nets another Oscar nomination with ‘Nickel Boys’

February 24, 2025

Five years after his first Academy Award nomination, Ross earned a second for his film about a notorious Florida reformatory school, which stars Brown alumni Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Daveed Diggs.

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Arts and Humanities

French-Caribbean artist Julien Creuzet stages immersive, multi-sensory installation at Brown

February 19, 2025

In a site-specific reimagining of the artist’s Venice Biennale exhibition, the installation in Brown’s David Winton Bell Gallery focuses on water as a site of trauma and emancipation and incorporates Rhode Island-made sculptures.

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Arts and Humanities

With graffiti-inspired bubble clouds, whimsical new art installation illuminates Sayles Hall at Brown

February 11, 2025

New York-based interdisciplinary artist Sanford Biggers created a site-specific installation, “Unsui (Cloud Forest),” which features 10 cloud sculptures that hang from the rafters of Brown’s iconic 1881 Sayles Hall.

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Arts and Humanities

Art history detectives for a semester, Brown students research mystery of the ‘Black Gospel Window’

December 20, 2024

In a hands-on history of art and architecture course, students researched a stained-glass window uncovered in a local church, which may be the first representation of a Black Christ and gospel women.

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Arts and Humanities

From the Lab: Christelle Alvarez illuminates ancient Egyptian insights, encoded in hieroglyphs

December 19, 2024

A collaboration between an Egyptologist and data scientists at Brown aims to make the Pyramid Texts, the world’s oldest surviving corpus of religious texts, widely accessible to a modern audience.

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Arts and Humanities

Brown’s Simmons Center co-organizes major Smithsonian exhibition on global legacies of slavery

December 18, 2024

“In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World” at the National Museum of African American History and Culture prominently features Brown University research, scholarship and artifacts.

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Arts and Humanities

Elijah Golden: Embracing storytelling from the Grand Ole Opry stage to Brown’s classrooms

December 17, 2024

Brown University senior Elijah Golden pursues a varied academic and extracurricular life at Brown while also performing and touring with his family’s three-generation country music band.

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Arts and Humanities

'Blue Moon': Student exhibition of cyanotypes featuring NASA lunar images lands at Brown

November 12, 2024

A collection of silk and cotton prints created by Brown University students and community members is on display at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts through Nov. 16.

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Arts and Humanities

Student-led public art installation in Providence offers a new perspective on visual impairment

November 1, 2024

Following research, development and community collaboration, a team of Brown and RISD students unveiled “The Blind Urban Subject,” where passersby can experience the streetscape through common ocular conditions.

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Arts and Humanities

21st Century Orchestra festival at Brown to celebrate new orchestral music and performance

October 23, 2024

An open-to-the-public festival, from Oct. 24 to 27, will highlight Brown’s Lindemann Performing Arts Center as a premier site for orchestral music performance, experimentation and recording.

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Arts and Humanities

Exhibition at Brown’s Bell Gallery celebrates the vibrant, textured artwork of Franklin Williams

October 17, 2024

On view through Dec. 8, the new survey exhibition, “Franklin Williams: It’s About Love,” showcases the deeply personal paintings and sculptures the artist has created over the last six decades.

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Arts and Humanities

Gone but not forgotten: Beloved elm tree from Brown sees new life in the form of handcrafted art

October 2, 2024

Eiden Spilker and others from the Brown Design Workshop are repurposing wood from a treasured American elm into sculptures and keepsakes for the Brown community.

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Arts and Humanities

Artist Leo Villareal returns to Brown to reflect on his immersive campus light installation

September 28, 2024

The world-renowned artist and creator of “Infinite Composition” in Brown’s Lindemann Performing Arts Center shared insights on his creative process at a late-September Light in Art and Architecture Symposium.

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Arts and Humanities

Tuning up: Brown’s cutting-edge Lindemann Performing Arts Center marks its first year

September 28, 2024

As the one-of-kind, high-tech Lindemann Performing Arts Center turns one, artists are just starting to embrace the building’s limitless possibilities.

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Arts and Humanities

Renovated Andrews House reopens its doors as new humanities hub at Brown

September 24, 2024

A breathtaking renovation has transformed the historic building, which housed Brown’s Health Services for eight decades, into a modern, collaborative and flexible space to advance humanities scholarship.

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Arts and Humanities

Studying fossil extraction on Native lands and exploring the depths of untold histories

September 23, 2024

Supported by a Mellon Foundation grant, a Brown historian teamed up with a Lakotan scholar to illuminate overlooked histories of fossil extraction on Native American lands.

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Arts and Humanities

Prestigious grant to enable first major exhibition on 19th century painter Edward Mitchell Bannister

August 28, 2024

A National Endowment for the Humanities grant will enable Brown Professor Dietrich Neumann to develop a traveling exhibition on the long underrecognized African American painter.

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Arts and Humanities

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