In Mary Shelley’s novel, The Last Man, the protagonist—one of the few survivors of a plague—searches for meaning in a world of loss, concluding that, “there is but one solution to the intricate riddle of life; to improve ourselves, and contribute to the happiness of others.”

In 2022, as COVID-19 lingers on, the climate threat looms larger, and war returns to Europe, there seems to be no answer to when this era, defined by loss, will end. And many of us are finding that making sense of “the intricate riddle of life,” and extracting meaning out of adversity, is one of the things that art does best.

In this season of In These Times, we talk to scholars, musicians and poets, and other members of creative communities, to explore the link between making art and making meaning, and how creativity shines a light on the way out of adversity, past and present.

In this episode, Aaron Levy, a lecturer in English and Art History, talks about how the arts and humanities can serve as tools for life. Then, Dr. Levy is joined by Dr. Lindsay Hoy, a physician at the Perelman School of Medicine, to discuss a project that uses art to bring healing to the medical community.

Guests:

Aaron Levy, Senior Lecturer, English and History of Art
Director of the Penn Medicine Listening Lab, Co-Director of Rx/Museum, Inaugural Director of the Health Ecologies Lab and the Social Justice and Arts Integration Initiative in the School of Social Policy & Practice

Lyndsay Hoy, Assistant Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine and Co-Director of Rx/Museum

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Produced by Loraine Terrell 
Narrated by Alex Schein
Edited by Alex Schein 
Interviews by Loraine Terrell
Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
Illustration and logo by Marina Muun

In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first three seasons of In These Times: web.sas.upenn.edu/in-these-times

Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni: omnia.sas.upenn.edu