The modern university is besieged by requests (or demands) to do many things—among them, to stimulate economic productivity, to foster social justice, and to provide training for lucrative careers. Tthe distinguished historian and classicist Christopher S. Celenza argues that a response to those demands should begin by asking a foundational question: What are the arts and sciences and why do they matter?

He will suggest some answers that arise from considering the history of the liberal arts, medieval and early modern universities, and the rise of the arts and sciences in the modern era. Celenza is a professor of history and classics at Johns Hopkins University, where he is also the James B. Knapp Dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. He has been the director of the American Academy in Rome and the dean of Georgetown College, and his scholarly work about the Renaissance has received many awards. An intellectual history, The Italian Renaissance and the Origins of the Modern Humanities, is his most recent book.

This talk is sponsored by the Program on Freedom and Free Societies, with thanks also to the generous support of Michael J. Millette ’87 and the Millette family as well as that of the Triad Foundation and other donors.

A video of this talk can be watched here.