Oh, the Humanities!

More than 7,000 researchers from around the world descended on U of T from May 25 to June 1 as part of the 2002 Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, co-hosted by Ryerson Polytechnic University. In addition to sessions dealing with everything from the role of technology in the humanities to new directions in American politics, U of T made a special effort to share the relevance of these disciplines with the wider community. Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison – who also received an honorary doctor of letters degree from U of T on May 28 – delivered a three-part lecture series entitled “The Foreigner’s Home: Meditations on Belonging;” playwright Tomson Highway and former Ontario premier Bob Rae gave keynote addresses on the educated citizen; and scholars examined Marco Polo and the cultural encounter of East and West in a three-day conference. One of the more popular public offerings was the Feldberg exhibition – a collection that includes work by some of the best artists in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, on display for the first time outside Berlin.