Liberal Arts In The News - April 2026
Shakespeare gardens around the world honor the playwright—and hold their own storied history
Smithsonian Magazine
Todd Borlik, an assistant teaching professor for Cornerstone who studies Shakespeare’s connection to nature, says the global popularity of Shakespeare gardens reflects a natural human desire. “This desire for a horticultural oasis is as old as the myth of the Garden of Eden,” he says. “The Shakespearean garden seems in some ways to be a secular equivalent of that primal myth.”
Did AI just solve the mystery of one of El Greco's most enigmatic paintings?
Scientific American
Andrew Van Horn, a postdoctoral fellow in the anthropology department, serves as lead author in a study he says has “muddied the waters” on the multi-painter hypothesis for El Greco’s The Baptism of Christ. According to Van Horn, the study raises questions that warrant more investigation.
New Purdue center looks to grow cognitive science across campus
The Exponent
At the opening of Purdue’s Interdisciplinary Conference in Cognitive Science, faculty members in the philosophy department Daniel Kelly, Sarah Robins and post-doctoral fellow Danielle Williams outlined the ideas behind Purdue’s new Cognition, Agency and Intelligence Center. They explained why they believe the university is positioned to become a stronger home for cognitive science research.
AI backlash is coming for elections
The Verge
If voters aren't (yet) closely tuned into AI issues, why are industry leaders spending millions on campaigns? Daniel Schiff, an associate professor of political science, says it’s because there’s still more to be gained. “That public story is a little bit different from who actually has power,” he explains.
When Is enough really enough for entitled siblings? 13 times their requests go too far
The Queen Zone
One study led by J. Jill Suitor, a distinguished professor of sociology, found that maternal favoritism is a strong predictor of sibling tension, even in children in their 40s and 50s. An entitled sibling often expects their competent brother or sister to step in, essentially looking for a surrogate parent among their peers.
Worried about AI? Try AI swarms
Medium, New York Times
Kaylyn Jackson Schiff, an associate professor of political science and co-director of GRAIL, warns about AI “swarms” driving discourse on social media platforms. “People gearing up for the midterms should expect that they might see some of this content on their accounts, that it might be crafted to be particularly engaging or exciting to them,” she says.