The Institute Letter, Spring 2024

Explore how collaborative efforts have maximized mathematicians’ knowledge of minimal surfaces. Join a group of historians, theologians, and other scholars as they think together about the co-production of the Islamic, Christian, and Jewish traditions. Discover how real-life experiences of making and performing music have inspired research into a unique electronic instrument. Witness the ongoing legacy of Einstein’s theory of relativity and its influence on a medieval historian’s approach to a thorny problem. Dine out on our archivist’s insights into achieving intimacy, illumination, and understanding over dinner. Reflect on the School of Social Science’s special theme year; read the latest news of the IAS community; and see how a refreshed and robust set of artistic programming helps to build a community of discovery on campus.

"From our cherished teatime tradition to celebratory dinners, the Institute fosters its unique network of intimacy, illumination, and understanding by gathering its community around the table," writes archivist Caitlin Rizzo. "The Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center is home to a range of documents which speak to dining at IAS, from dinner menus to seating charts."