School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 181-190 of 533 Results
-
Serena Shah
Ph.D. Student in History, admitted Autumn 2021
Stanford Stdnt Employee-Summer, History DepartmentBioI am a PhD candidate in U.S. History. I study the history of ideas and the production of knowledge in our major cultural institutions, especially universities and museums. I specialize in the history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
My dissertation, "American Orientalism and Liberal Education: Building Moral Responsibility in the Gilded Age," examines an early defense of liberal education mounted by scholars at elite research universities after the Civil War. These scholars, who called themselves "orientalists," invented the idea of “Western civilization" and argued that the origins of the West lay in the ancient Orient (the region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East). In an age of moral crisis, orientalists and academic leaders made the case that it was the role of the university to train the nation’s young people in an unbroken story of human progress, and to create responsible, informed citizens capable of participation in a functioning democracy.
I also study Americans' ideas about antiquity more broadly in the long nineteenth century. I am in the process of publishing a research article on Greek and Roman slave-naming practices and the classicism of American slavery. The study centers around a database of tens of thousands of slave names that I have compiled from archives across the American South. -
Cory Shain
Assistant Professor of Linguistics and, by courtesy, of Psychology
BioI lead the Laboratory for Computation & Language in Minds & Brains (CLiMB Lab). We try to figure out how our brains let us go so efficiently from sensation (e.g., speech, reading) to meaning, and we do this using a combination of neuroimaging, computer modeling, and behavioral experiments. See the lab website for details.
-
Michael Shanks
Professor of Classics
BioProfessor at Stanford University, Michael Shanks is one of the most original and influential of contemporary archaeologists. He has been at the forefront of archaeological thought and practice since the 1980s, pioneering new ways of understanding and explaining, engaging with Graeco-Roman antiquity and European prehistory, mobilizing remains of the past all around us — instigating changes in archaeology and how we all work with remains of the past. A specialist in long-term perspectives on design and creativity, innovation and social change, he explores connections across the sciences, humanities, and arts in research collaborations and outreach through and beyond the academy, tapping more than $32m of funding over the last 25 years.
Current projects
MS is currently completing four long-running and interrelated projects.
Archaeological history — building scenarios.
Greece and Rome: a new model of antiquity. With Gary Devore. A project concerned with how one might conceive of antiquity as a kind of archaeological prehistory, retold through speculative fabulation. Against conventional narrative is offered a model of ancient lifeworlds conveyed through 45 personae and scenarios. Estimated delivery end of 2026.
Archaeological sites — encountering location.
Against place: a border archaeology. Based on archaeological itineraries in the northern borders of England/Scotland, including prehistoric and Roman field research, this project explores border crossings, trespass and transgression in questioning the character of space and place, site and region. Estimated delivery 2027.
Archaeological praxis — performance design.
Theatre/Archaeology: performing remains. With Mike Pearson. This book sums up 30 years of collaboration with performance artist Mike Pearson. In five portfolios of case studies in performance design they set out a pragmatics and methodology of deep mapping contemporary antiquity and prehistory. Estimated delivery end of 2025.
Archaeological actuality — for the future.
Archaeologies of Nature in Art: from Landscape to Climate Breakdown. With Gabriella Giannachi. This project mobilizes an archaeology of arts practices, from prehistory to contemporary art, to offer action-oriented responses to climate change in a reframing of the concept of nature. Estimated delivery autumn 2025.
The following is part of his continuing exploration of Applied Archaeology — design foresight.
Project Athena: Innovation in and through Learning. With Aisin Corporation led by Kenji Suzuki and in collaboration with Kimihiko Iwamura. Developing learning community and competencies in creative pragmatics — designing and implementing a strategy of corporate culture change. Ongoing 2025 – 2026.
