May 21, 2025
Princeton University's New Humanities Initiatives
Rachael DeLue
Chair of the Arts and Archeology Department at Princeton University
Princeton University's New Humanities Initiatives
Rachael DeLue
Chair of the Arts and Archeology Department at Princeton University
Rachael DeLue and George Bustin, introducer
Minutes of the 32nd Meeting of the 83rd Year
President George Bustin called the meeting to order at 10:15a.m. One hundred twenty-seven people were in attendance with three guests. The guests were Katherine Kish (hosted by Ralph Widner), Rich Lund (hosted by Cynthia Maltenfort) and Caroline Weintz (hosted by Walter Weintz).
Minutes from the previous meeting were read by Jim Hockenberry. The speaker for the next meeting (September 10) will be Joyce Carol Oates.
George Bustin introduced the speaker, Rachel DeLue, Christopher Binyan Sarofim ’86 Professor in American Art and Director of the Princeton Humanities Initiative. She graduated from Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins and is a specialist of American and European Art.
Professor DeLue began by showing a painting from the Princeton University Art Museum by George Innes, entitled “Home of the Heron” (1891) a painting in oil on canvas, which resides in the university’s Art Museum. Nineteenth century landscape painting is the most popular genre; she asked the question, “What do these paintings teach us about the culture?” She has written about Romare Bearden and Maria Sybilla Merian. She is interested in the history of human knowledge and asks what role pictures and images play.
Nineteenth century scientists decided that images were central to their work. Episodes in the history of science featured scientific visuals. Examples are Alexander Humboldt’s “Physical Tableau of the Andes” and Darwin’s Origin of the Species, which features a diagram illustrating the gist of his theory. Other examples are Joh James Audubon’s “American Flamingo” (1827-1838) and Etienne Trouvelot’s “Total Eclipse of the Sun” (1881-1882).
The American Museum of Natural History in New York looks at the intersection of art and science. Robert Smithson saw nature as a symbol of science, as in his “Spiral Jetty” (1970) in the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
Teaching in a humanities course brings together multiple disciplines, using the power of the humanities to help us think about the past.
Now the humanities are in crisis, but Professor DeLue believes that the future belongs to the humanities.
What are the humanities and why do they matter? Included are all literature and languages as well as philosophy, religion, classics, history, art history, film, and media studies as well as the fine and the performing arts. Research in the humanities expands our knowledge of the richness and diversity of human experience, both past and present. Advocating for the humanities entails advocating for all branches of research and education.
The Princeton Humanities Initiative is a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry and idea incubation. It brings people together to think critically and imaginatively about the human experience and fuels innovative research, teaching, and civic engagement to address the key challenges of our time.
How do we find a way to interpret basic facts, including mental health and social media? What does it mean to be a human? What does AI mean?
The Princeton Humanities Institute will be an idea incubator for storytelling on subjects such as climate change, what journalism should look like, art and well-being, and medical research. It will show the way to new models for research and teaching. Civic engagement will be an integral part of it, including partnerships and collaborations with other institutions, such as the Princeton Arts Council, and will seek to make an impact in Trenton.
The Princeton Humanities Institute will include a program in film and media, global interdisciplinary studies, a program in journalism, and a public collaboration theme.
Key notions:
Interdisciplinary, collaborative, connecting and amplifying, discovery-oriented, inclusive, strategic, consequential, flexible and nimble, boundary-pushing and field-defining, courageous, capacious.
There were several questions from the audience and the meeting adjourned at 11:35 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Miller
Minutes from the previous meeting were read by Jim Hockenberry. The speaker for the next meeting (September 10) will be Joyce Carol Oates.
George Bustin introduced the speaker, Rachel DeLue, Christopher Binyan Sarofim ’86 Professor in American Art and Director of the Princeton Humanities Initiative. She graduated from Swarthmore and Johns Hopkins and is a specialist of American and European Art.
Professor DeLue began by showing a painting from the Princeton University Art Museum by George Innes, entitled “Home of the Heron” (1891) a painting in oil on canvas, which resides in the university’s Art Museum. Nineteenth century landscape painting is the most popular genre; she asked the question, “What do these paintings teach us about the culture?” She has written about Romare Bearden and Maria Sybilla Merian. She is interested in the history of human knowledge and asks what role pictures and images play.
Nineteenth century scientists decided that images were central to their work. Episodes in the history of science featured scientific visuals. Examples are Alexander Humboldt’s “Physical Tableau of the Andes” and Darwin’s Origin of the Species, which features a diagram illustrating the gist of his theory. Other examples are Joh James Audubon’s “American Flamingo” (1827-1838) and Etienne Trouvelot’s “Total Eclipse of the Sun” (1881-1882).
The American Museum of Natural History in New York looks at the intersection of art and science. Robert Smithson saw nature as a symbol of science, as in his “Spiral Jetty” (1970) in the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
Teaching in a humanities course brings together multiple disciplines, using the power of the humanities to help us think about the past.
Now the humanities are in crisis, but Professor DeLue believes that the future belongs to the humanities.
What are the humanities and why do they matter? Included are all literature and languages as well as philosophy, religion, classics, history, art history, film, and media studies as well as the fine and the performing arts. Research in the humanities expands our knowledge of the richness and diversity of human experience, both past and present. Advocating for the humanities entails advocating for all branches of research and education.
The Princeton Humanities Initiative is a hub for interdisciplinary inquiry and idea incubation. It brings people together to think critically and imaginatively about the human experience and fuels innovative research, teaching, and civic engagement to address the key challenges of our time.
How do we find a way to interpret basic facts, including mental health and social media? What does it mean to be a human? What does AI mean?
The Princeton Humanities Institute will be an idea incubator for storytelling on subjects such as climate change, what journalism should look like, art and well-being, and medical research. It will show the way to new models for research and teaching. Civic engagement will be an integral part of it, including partnerships and collaborations with other institutions, such as the Princeton Arts Council, and will seek to make an impact in Trenton.
The Princeton Humanities Institute will include a program in film and media, global interdisciplinary studies, a program in journalism, and a public collaboration theme.
Key notions:
Interdisciplinary, collaborative, connecting and amplifying, discovery-oriented, inclusive, strategic, consequential, flexible and nimble, boundary-pushing and field-defining, courageous, capacious.
There were several questions from the audience and the meeting adjourned at 11:35 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ruth Miller