Ng (Humanities)

Ng House, located in the Gerhard Casper Quad housing complex, is a living-learning community dedicated to the humanities as ways of thinking, making, and connecting. Through creative practice, cultural exchange, and lively conversation, students from all fields explore the human condition and discover how the humanities enrich innovation, leadership, and life at Stanford.

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More About Ng

The house features a welcoming lounge and kitchen where residents can cook, socialize, and host many of the community’s events and conversations. Reading nooks and small workspaces on every floor encourage study, reflection, and informal discussion, while shared facilities include a reading room, music practice room, and creative workspace. Our Visiting Scholar suite allows faculty and other guests to spend time in residence and share their research and creative work with students in our informal residential setting.

Meet the Ng Resident Fellow

Resident Fellows, or RFs, are Stanford faculty and senior administrative staff who live in apartments or cottages adjacent to student residences and serve as leaders for their communities. Michael Shanks is an archaeologist and professor of Classics.

Michael’s fascination with the landscapes of prehistoric Europe and the cities of classical antiquity shapes his interest in a wide range of archaeological questions—from long-term historical change to design, innovation, and cultural heritage, and the ways the past continues to shape contemporary identities.

Michael grew up in the industrial north of England and, as a FLI (first-generation, low-income) student, went on to secure doctorates from Cambridge University (UK) and the University of

Gothenburg (Sweden), as well as an honorary doctorate from Roskilde University in Denmark, a pioneer of student-centered learning in European higher education. At Stanford he has run studios in the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design and teaches in the programs Writing and Rhetoric, Science Technology and Society, Urban Studies, Classics, and Archaeology. His writing and research have made him one of the most influential archaeological thinkers of his generation.

Michael advised the Mayor of Rotterdam on economic and cultural policy for ten years, codirected Stanford Humanities Lab, and was faculty director of the Revs Program at Stanford, promoting the study of the archaeology of the automobile as a key component of contemporary car design (his lab contributed research for a Chrysler concept car, and he continues to collaborate with Toyota Group). He has long worked at the intersection of the humanities, design, and the arts, holding that archaeologists do not simply discover the past but work creatively with its remains, caring about the past with a view to the future.

This perspective informs his work in theatre/archaeology—a series of creative projects linking archaeology, visual media, and performance. These include site-specific works in the forests of rural Wales, guided walks through contested landscapes in Europe, and digital mapping projects exploring cultural and technological change in California.

About the Humanities Theme

Opened in the fall of 2015, Ng House is a lively center for humanities activity on campus (including Art, Art History, Classics, Digital Humanities, English, History, Literatures, Languages, Linguistics, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Theater and Performance Studies, and related interdisciplinary programs). It is home to all students who share a passion for exploring the human experience through scholarship, creativity, and conversation.

With its welcoming shared spaces, Ng House provides an environment where students can engage the humanities not only through study but also through creative practice, discussion, and collaborative projects. Pre-assignment to Ng House will be considered for students who demonstrate active love for the arts and humanities and a desire to engage thoughtfully with each other and the wider world by exploring the human experience in all its richness.

Life in Ng House revolves around shared intellectual and creative practices. Residents organize reading groups, film screenings, language circles, cooking nights, music sessions, and visiting-scholar conversations. The house also supports student-led creative projects and workshops through its developing Creator Space, a flexible studio environment in the basement and music room.

The mission of Ng House is to create a living-learning community where the humanities are explored through conversation, creativity, and shared experience. We foster informed inquiry, intellectual curiosity, and collaborative making through student-led workshops, discussions, performances, and cultural activities. Ng House connects students with scholars, artists, and organizations across Stanford and beyond, supporting a vibrant culture of creative humanities in everyday residential life.

Active and documented participation in student-run and/or house run workshops and activities that embody the Ng House mission. These can be conceived, organized and run by residents or the leadership team. Fulfilling this requirement carries one unit of credit for students who enroll in Classics 50, our Ng House course.
Participation in house events, such as guest conversations, on-calls, and local trips.
Commitment to creating a vibrant and engaged community at Ng House under its Humanities-centered mission and vision.