Untangling Knots at the Institute for Advanced Study

Jonathan Davis-Secord, Elizabeth and J. Richardson Dilworth Fellow in the School of Historical Studies (2024), explains how his time at the Institute for Advanced Study enabled him to unravel the complexities of his research on Old English language and literature.

Institute Instances is a collection of 1–2 minute video snapshots of scholars, administrators, and visitors to the Institute for Advanced Study answering a question (or two) about their work at IAS. Viewed individually, these clips allow audiences to get to know the people who are, in the words of Founding IAS Director Abraham Flexner, "pushing beyond the present limits of human knowledge" through advancements in science and the humanities. Taken together, these "instances" of Institute life are designed to show how everyone can play a role in actualizing discovery, and to celebrate a community devoted to excellence in scholarship.