The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship in Poetry was endowed in 1925 by C.C. Stillman (Harvard 1898). Incumbents are in residence through their tenure of the Chair, and deliver at least six lectures. The term "poetry" is interpreted in the broadest sense, including all poetic expression in language, music, or fine arts. Previous holders of the Chair include Gilbert Murray (1926-27), T.S. Eliot (1932-33), Igor Stravinsky (1939-40), Paul Hindemith (1949-50), Ben Shahn (1956-57), Leonard Bernstein (1972-73), Frank Stella (1982-84), John Cage (1988-89), and Luciano Berio (1992-93).

The Norton Lecturer in 2012 is artist William Kentridge.

Click here for more information about his lectures in March and April. You may also watch full recordings of the 2012 Norton Lectures as they become available.

2012 Norton Lectures Committee

Homi K. Bhabha
Director, the Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University

Thomas B.F. Cummins
Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Art, Harvard University

Maria Gough
Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. Professor of Modern Art, Harvard University

K. Michael Hays
Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory, Harvard University

Carrie Lambert-Beatty
John. L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University

Richard Moran
Brian D. Young Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University

Diana Sorensen
Dean, Division of Arts and Humanities

Märiet Westermann
Vice President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Selected past lectures: