Posts by Laura Morris

Franz Boas (1858-1942) , often referred to as the "Father of Modern Anthropology," was a prominent German scholar who emigrated to the United States in 1885 and taught at Columbia University from 1896 until his retirement in 1936. It was under his influence that Columbia established its Department of Anthropology in 1902 and that the four fields concept of anthropology — integrating the disciplines of cultural/social anthropology, linguistics, biological anthropology, and archaeology — became widely accepted within American academia. Boas championed the concept of cultural relativism through his teaching and research, distancing himself from many of his 

Handmade quilts from Gee's Bend, Alabama are now well known and admired across the country, even internationally. Their vibrant, improvisational minimalist designs are often compared to the paintings of Mark Rothko and (early) Frank Stella. In 2002 The New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman described the quilts as "some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced." They have been the focus of touring museum exhibitions, including one held at New York's Whitney Museum in 2002-2003, and reproductions of the quilts in the form of coffee table monographs, postcards and calendars abound.