Ferrari Humanities Symposia
In 2012, University of Rochester Trustee Bernard T. Ferrari ’70, ’74M (MD) and his wife, Linda Gaddis Ferrari, established the Ferrari Humanities Symposia to broaden the liberal education of the University’s undergraduates, enhance the experience of graduate students, and expand the connections of University faculty with other scholars from around the world.
The annual symposium features a public talk from a visiting scholar with expertise in humanistic thought from the 14th to 17th centuries. The visiting scholar also participates in other activities on campus designed to complement the lecture.
Both Dr. and Mrs. Ferrari have a long-standing appreciation of the arts, particularly paintings of the Italian Renaissance period. "The study of the humanities provides people with the ability to better appreciate beauty, and better appreciate life," said Dr. Ferrari, who explained that art helped to keep him grounded through his rigorous studies in science and medicine. Read more >
Previous Ferrari Humanities Symposia keynote presenters have been Anthony Grafton, Diarmaid MacCulloch, Stephen Greenblatt, Jane Tylus, Christopher Celenza, William Wallace, David Wallace, Stephen Campbell, and Paula Findlen.
Selection Committee:
- Peter Christensen, Associate Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Ani and Mark Gabrellian Director of the Humanities Center, Arthur Satz Professor of the Humanities, Department of Art and Art History
- Christopher Heuer, professor, Art & Art History
- Rosemary Kegl, Associate Professor, English
- Honey Meconi, Arthur Satz Professor for the Department of Music
- William Miller, Assistant Professor, English
- Joan Rubin, Professor, History
- Laura Smoller, Professor, History
Stephen Greenblatt at the Ferrari Symposium in 2014.