Seventy scholars–all past, current or future residents of the Kluge Center–converged on Capitol Hill on June 11th for a day-long festival of scholarship to celebrate 15 years of The John W. Kluge Center. #ScholarFest featured more than 30 “lightning conversations” throughout the morning, followed by an afternoon panel on freedom of expression and why it …
By 12:30pm of last Thursday’s #ScholarFest, 62 scholars had participated in 31 conversations on topics that included cognition and database design, the term “ghetto” and its role in the formation of Jewish and African-American identities, the universal declaration of human rights, the contemporary relevance of the Cold War, marriage law, life beyond earth and ISIS. …
Over the past fifteen years the Kluge Center has been fortunate to host several distinguished foreign policy scholars and practitioners through our Kissinger Program. Fifteen scholars have held the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, conducting research in the Library’s collections and engaging in dialogue with policymakers and the public. Several …
Scholars today think and write about a myriad of pressing issues confronting humanity. For me, one of the most exciting aspects of this week’s #ScholarFest is to gain insight into what’s on the minds of some of the world’s top scholars, and the questions they’re examining through their research. Thursday’s “lightning conversations” –10-minute dialogues between …
May has been one of the busiest months I can remember at the Center. Preparations for the Kluge Center’s 15th anniversary celebration, #ScholarFest, are nearing completion. Summer lectures are being planned, meetings are being arranged, and the Center is “sprucing-up” its environs as we prepare to welcome hundreds of summer visitors. During all of this …
Scientific discoveries have always had the potential to be contentious, and this has been especially true in phases of transition, when new areas of knowledge have been glimpsed but not yet fully explored, classified, or agreed upon. It is during these transitions that thick debates often ensue. Discoveries can sometimes be threatening because new evidence …
The following is a guest post by Dongfang Shao, Chief of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress. The 2014 Tang Prize in Sinology was awarded to Yü Ying-shih. The Tang Prize Committee hailed Yü for “his mastery of and insight into Chinese intellectual, political, and cultural history with an emphasis on his profound …
It’s Wednesday, and in the Kluge Center that means lunch. In a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of the Center, scholars and staff gather each Wednesday for a brown-bag lunch that fosters collegiality and a lively exchange of ideas. Romila Thapar was the first person to suggest we meet regularly over lunch, …
The following is a guest post by David McLaughlin, Ph.D. candidate at University of Cambridge and a British Research Council Fellow at The John W. Kluge Center. On a recent fieldwork visit to New York City I called in at the Mysterious Bookshop in Tribeca. The shop is a regular attraction for Sherlockians, as devotees …