English, Harvard University

Who Owns ‘Human Nature’

‘Human nature’ used to be a prime topic of discussion among poets, novelists and political philosophers. These days, though, the only ones making authoritative pronouncements about the nature of ‘human nature’ are scientists. What should we make of this custody battle around the question of human nature? And what are its implications for the humanities?

Marjorie Garber is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and the Director of the Humanities Center at Harvard University. A renowned Shakespearean scholar, Garber’s research spans dramatic theory and performance, cultural studies, psychoanalysis and literature, gender and feminist theory, media studies, and visual culture. Among her many books are Academic Instincts (2001), Sex and Real Estate (2000), Symptoms of Culture (1998), Dog Love (1996), Vested Interests: Cross-Dressing and Cultural Anxiety (1992), and Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Casualty (1981). Garber is currently Chair of the CHCI, the international Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes.