Modernity Archives | National Humanities Center

Modernity

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Freud and the Culture of Psychoanalysis: Studies in the Transition from Victorian Humanism to Modernity

By Steven Marcus (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 1980–81; 1981–82) Steven Marcus discusses Freud's famous cases "Dora" and "The Rat Man," as well as the Freud–Fliess correspondence, the Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, and the evolution of Freud's notion of the superego. Through his close reading of various of Freud's theoretical and clinical texts, he … Continued

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Islamic Modern: Religious Courts and Cultural Politics in Malaysia

By Michael G. Peletz (NHC Fellow, 1999–00) How do Islamic courts work? What sorts of cultural understandings inform judicial process and litigants’ strategies? How do women’s claims fare? Do these courts promote social tolerance? And how do states use them to consolidate power, build nations, and shape a modern citizenry? These are among the questions … Continued

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Moments of Modernity: Reconstructing Britain, 1945-1964

Edited by Chris Waters (NHC Fellow, 1996–97), Becky Conekin, and Frank Mort This work examines the two decades after World War II in terms of political and economic change, highlighting economic growth and modernisation; the rise of affluence; and the development of the welfare state and social stability. It also draws upon popular cultural changes.

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The Theological Origins of Modernity

By Michael Allen Gillespie (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) Exposing the religious roots of our ostensibly godless age, Michael Allen Gillespie reveals in this landmark study that modernity is much less secular than conventional wisdom suggests. Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not … Continued

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Robert D. Newman, “Humanities Moments and Modernity”

National Humanities Center President and Director Robert D. Newman was the featured guest at an event held January 14, 2016 at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC. Newman discussed the ways the humanities give meaning to our lives, shape historical events, and help address the most complex challenges of modernity.