Feature Channels: Arts and Entertainment

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An Italian computer engineer has solved a 150-year-old literary mystery found in a rare edition of Homer’s Odyssey at the University of Chicago Library. The 1504 Venetian edition contains handwritten annotations in a previously unknown script. In hopes of cracking the code, the Library’s Special Collections Research Center publicized a $1,000 prize for the first person to identify the script, provide evidence to support the conclusion and execute a translation of selected portions of the marginalia.

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“Heaven Is For Real” contends the current movie by that name. But which heaven? Several versions of heaven are depicted in art, literature, music and pop culture — many of which don’t mesh with faith doctrines, says pop culture critic Greg Garrett, Ph.D., of Baylor University.

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William Shakespeare is such a studied and celebrated writer that it might seem there could be nothing more to examine about his work. But scholars are still hard at it as Shakespeare’s 450th birthday approaches on April 23.

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Clint Eastwood's more recent films reflect not only an extraordinary new level of artistic achievement, but also keen insight into and understanding of the nature of American society and its search for meaning and purpose, according to English professor and film expert Sam B. Girgus.

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Case Western Reserve University music educator Lisa Huisman Koops realized during the daily 20-minute commute to her daughter’s preschool that the family vehicle might be an ideal—and overlooked—place to develop a child’s awareness and interest in music. The family car, she thought, could provide an option for harried parents who say they lack time for such music appreciation.

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Researchers have analyzed 50 years’ worth of hit songs to identify key themes that marketing professionals can use to craft advertisements that will resonate with audiences.

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When it comes to Oscars and some other Hollywood movie awards, who your friends are affects whether you win, according to a new study.

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Astronomy Professor Expects New Generation to be Inspired by New ‘Cosmos’ Series—As He was by the Original

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Students and faculty from Indiana University's acclaimed IU Soul Revue are traveling to Memphis, Tenn., over spring break to work with talented local youths, including those at the Stax Music Academy, an educational program that continues the tradition of the historic record label.

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This semester, a Cézanne, Chagall, and a Dürer are among 90 original works of art hanging in student dorm rooms at Williams, each piece loaned to a student by the college's museum of art as part of its new Williams Art Loan for Living Spaces (WALLS) program.

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Walter Clark was a graduate student researching his dissertation when he stumbled upon a mystery that would haunt him for more than two decades: What happened to an unpublished opera written by Enrique Granados, one of Spain’s greatest composers, at the turn of the 20th century?

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Dallas Buyers Club captures the despair and frustration of the AIDS crisis but misses the mark on profits. In a video interview, Dr. Mike Saag, past pres. of the HIV Medical Assn & director of the Center for AIDS Research, gives a non-Hollywood review of the movie.

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The brains of jazz musicians engrossed in spontaneous, improvisational musical conversation showed robust activation of brain areas traditionally associated with spoken language and syntax, which are used to interpret the structure of phrases and sentences. But this musical conversation shut down brain areas linked to semantics — those that process the meaning of spoken language, according to results of a study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

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Chuck Ramirez’s contemporary still-life photograph, with its half-eaten breakfast tacos resting in glistening aluminum foil, cups of coffee and empty beer cans, tells a story of more than just a delicious morning meal. Through his work, Ramirez magnified the stuff of everyday life to reveal the history embedded in popular icons.

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