“Heroes loom large as exemplars of morality. They often embody virtues that we wish to express in our lives,” writes a research team led by psychologists Daryl Van Tongeren of Hope College and Jeffrey Green of Virginia Commonwealth University. Their findings suggests that subtle reminders of the superhero ethos can inspire us to emulate their selfless behavior.
Why Teacher Evaluations Hurt Students
Ultimately, the unearned arrogance encouraged by the heavy reliance on student evaluations helps produce passive, even contemptuous students who undermine the spirit of the class and lower its quality for everyone. All students deserve better.
Cognitive Scientists Explain Why Two Heads Are Better Than One
“One reason is that our senses are unreliable. Often, we have to make decisions on the basis of what we’ve just heard or seen. But these sensations can be noisy. How can we be sure of what it was we just heard or saw? Think of radar operators who have to hunt for weak signals and decide if this is an incoming missile or a flock of birds. The wrong decision could start World War Three.”
Vision Transfusion? Berkshire Museum Stops Hemorrhaging Art
Closing the barn door after its finest steeds have vanished, the Berkshire Museum today announced that “there will be no further sales” from its collection beyond the 22 works already sold.
Recent Listening: Harry Vetro’s Northern Ranger
A generation of Canadian musicians is coming to prominence in their youth and making substantial impressions. One is drummer Harry Vetro.
V&A Museum Will Now Let You Go Inside Its Trajan’s Column
“Once you step inside the cast of Trajan’s Column, it’s Victorian engineering meets ancient Rome,” says Angus Patterson, the V&A’s senior curator of metalwork. The museum purchased the plaster cast—one of a set made from a metal electrotype of a mould commissioned by Napoleon—in 1864. The cast, which fits together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, was built around a brick core. Wooden beams, acting as stabilisers, crisscross the column’s interior, and holes for the wood scaffolding that was erected inside the column during its construction can still be seen. Long used for storage, the column’s interior now contains benches, so visitors can contemplate this Victorian feat of engineering, as well as interpretative texts related to the cast and the ancient Roman monument.
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Adds New Artistic Partner, Richard Egarr
Egarr, a British harpsichordist and conductor, has been artistic director of the much-recorded period-instrument ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music since 2006. He begins his term as one of the SPCO’s rotating artistic partners next season.
Increasing Censorship Causing Worries For China’s Booming Art Market
Said one dealer who insisted on anonymity, “The last few years have not shown an opening in attitudes, but almost the opposite. … Every year, we have a few works rejected, but it is getting [to be] more and more — it makes me feel uncomfortable.”