Public Humanities Project: "Reading" the Sister Arts

Welcome to the homepage for the Public Humanities Project Reading the Sister Arts, funded in part by the Humanities Institute at Stony Brook, and made possible by the support of a Public Humanities Fellowship from the New York Council for the Humanities. This project brings together teachers and students at the secondary, undergraduate and graduate level to discuss in a public forum the many intersections between the ‘sister arts’ – poetry, painting, literature, theatre, opera, and more. Part art show, part archival treasure hunt, and part teaching resource, Reading the Sister Arts is a project about networking with teachers, students, and art lovers to re-imagine how we teach and understand the artistic and literary canon.

Reading the Sister Arts isn't only about literature - it is about how we read art, all of it. The term "sister arts" itself calls forward interpretive conundrums about gender in the context of art's relationships with other arts. The materials generated from this project will serve as a resource for students, scholars, teachers, and fans; whether you are here to teach, to learn, to browse, or to contribute, this project revolves around the many interests, perspectives, and curiosities of its public.

This project is spearheaded by a team of women leaders at Stony Brook University: Nancy Hoang, Nicole Garret, and Brandi So of Stony Brook University's English Department, Humanities Institute co-directors Lisa Diedrich and Victoria Hesford, and Humanities Institute Staff Ann Berrios and Olivia Mattis.