Scholars John Gibson, Magdalena Ostas, and Hannah Kim discuss how art creates meaning, and how we play a role in that meaning-making. Continue reading

February 3, 2023
by Aesthetics for Birds
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February 3, 2023
by Aesthetics for Birds
5 Comments
Scholars John Gibson, Magdalena Ostas, and Hannah Kim discuss how art creates meaning, and how we play a role in that meaning-making. Continue reading
October 13, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Philosopher Sally Haslanger reflects on life through a poem by Wislawa Szymborska Continue reading
September 22, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 album has been met with controversy, even among general praise. Here, scholars across different disciplines examine and discuss it. Continue reading
September 15, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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An analysis of the intricacies of how alternative text is used to communicate fundamentally visual information in a linguistic mode. Continue reading
February 11, 2022
by Aesthetics for Birds
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In making art, we make ourselves into something beyond what our original authors may have intended. Continue reading
June 17, 2021
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Five supershort flash fictions by philosopher Ben Roth Continue reading
May 5, 2021
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Philosopher Errol Lord writes 100 words on Kathleen Graber’s poetry Continue reading
March 16, 2021
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Philosopher Mark Schroeder writes 100 words on Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 Continue reading
October 14, 2020
by Aesthetics for Birds
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Influential writer and literary critic James Wood is interviewed by Becca Rothfeld Continue reading
March 19, 2020
by Aesthetics for Birds
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What follows is a guest post by Patrick Fessenbecker. In a recent column in The New York Times, Ross Douthat contends that English professors aren’t having the right kind of arguments. Reflecting on the analysis of the decline of the humanities in a series of essays in the Chronicle of Higher Education over the last year, Douthat makes a familiar diagnosis: the problem is that we literature professors no longer believe in the real value of the objects we study. Engaging Simon During’s account of the decline of the humanities as a “second secularization” in particular, Douthat argues that secular attempts to defend the humanities will fail just as surely as secular attempts to defend religious ethics and norms did: it doesn’t work unless you really believe in the thing. Correspondingly, the debates literary scholars are having about how to expand the range of texts and subjects we teach are … Continue reading