Category: Uncategorized

The Devlin Award

Every year, the Core Curriculum awards two students with the James Patrick Devlin Memorial Award, in memory of one of the founding members of the Core who inspired students and colleagues alike. It is presented on the basis of the excellence of a first-year Core essay, as recommended to a committee of Core professors by […]

The Triumphs and Challenges of Chinese Students in American Universities

More often than not, American students entering college feel a sense of anxiety and anticipation as they confront a way of life that is seemingly novel to them. However, this anxiety is diminished by the things that are not novel, namely the language, culture, and mannerisms that remain consistent throughout America. Some students though take […]

A Tour of Ancient Athens, or the Ups and Downs of Core

As any student who’s been on our Summer Study in Greece program can testify, visiting Athens at any time is a life changing experience. But it would be a dream to see it at the height of its glory, and luckily artist Dimitris Tsalkanis made that dream come true. Tsalkanis spent 13 years making a […]

A Multimedia Experience: Attar’s “Conference of the Birds”

In Fall 2019, Sassan Tabatabai convened a workshop for Digital/Multimedia Expression, in which students created a multimedia online edition of excerpts from The Conference of the Birds. This edition consists of student-created images and collages that strive to retell Attar’s story in a remediated fashion, in an effort to breathe new life into an ancient […]

Shakespeare Work Sold for a lot of Money! (clickbait)

Can you put a price on wisdom? Or is life-altering wisdom simply priceless? Recently, one of our alumna, Cat Dossett, sent us a video describing how Shakespeare’s first folio of comedies, histories, and tragedies was estimated to be worth between four and six million dollars. Enjoy: Beyond being a collectors item, how much is this […]

This May Not End Well

As scholars and human beings, we know that all good things must come to an end. That end may be triumphant, exciting, and incredibly satisfying, or… Not. In her recent BU Today article, our very own Director of the Core Kyna Hamill ponders what makes for a satisfying ending, and why it may matter so […]

Quixote Nuevo

Come see one of literature’s greatest heroes come back to life! This ambitious play Quixote Nuevo follows Don Quixote transported to a border town in modern-day Texas, once again searching for his long-lost love. Core will be attending two showings: 12/4 at 7:30 PM; 12/7 at 2:00 PM. Come see Professor Hamill for more details!

Reacting to the Past

Have you ever been swept up with revolutionary fervor at the thought of ousting the ancien regime and replacing it with a new, egalitarian, Jacobin order? Probably not, but hear us out. Using a novel pedagogical technique called Reacting to the Past, developed at Barnard, professors at BU have been bringing the past to life […]

Ajax, Hecuba, and Vietnam

The image above is taken from a stage adaptation of the Iliad, now performing at ArtsEmerson. A group of Core students is venturing downtown to see this production, titled An Iliad, putting us in mind here on campus about the enduring relevance of this ancient text. Do our modern times still reflect that old world? […]

On the Relevance of Ancient Authors

In the first-year humanities, Core students study works primarily written by people who have been dead for two thousand years or more. It is only natural to wonder whether those peoples ideas are still relevant who cares what Thucydides said? Well, we care what Thucydides said, and we think you should too. Nowadays, its hard […]