Bay Area Renaissance Festival in Tampa Florida, 2011

Reasons for Re-Enacting at the Renaissance Faire

Why do we love donning period costumes and re-enacting our history through mock battles, pioneer villages, and Renaissance Faires?
Saint Jean de Brebeuf Confronts the Huron Indian Council

Making Scents of Jesuit Missionary Work

The use of sensory stimulants like incense gave Jesuits a common framework with the North American nations they encountered on missionary trips.
Colourful abstract world map with flowing data

The Jet Stream’s History, Cookbooks, and Feminist Fury

Well-researched stories from Nautilus, Black Perspectives, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.
An illustration of a thanksgiving table

Thanksgiving Stories

Turkey or Tofurkey? Stuffing or dressing? Whatever the controversy, these Thanksgiving stories will slake your appetite!
Posters urging people to report sex trafficking are seen at a metromover rail stop on November 06, 2019 in Miami, Florida.

The Anti-Sex-Trafficking Vigilantes Next Door

A fear of rampant sex-trafficking in American cities sparked a new wave of civilian vigilante activity in the early twenty-first century. 
A scene of anatomical dissection in the ancient world

The Anatomists of Ancient Alexandria

Cultural forces under the Ptolemaic dynasty briefly allowed scholars like Herophilus to practice dissection—and possibly vivisection—on human subjects.
A postcard for Wilshire Blvd, ca. 1930-1945

Gaylord Wilshire’s Boulevard of Marxist Dreams

One of the first American socialists to run for office, Wilshire was born rich and got richer before losing it all by self-publishing a socialist magazine.
A cluster of Azolla filiculoides plants.

Azolla filiculoides: Balancing Environmental Promise and Peril

One of the world’s tiniest fern species, Azolla filiculoides may be one of our greatest tools for lowering agricultural pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
IBM Model 72 Kana Selectric Typewriter

How IBM Took Europe

After World War II, IBM worked to influence the new balance of power by locating facilities for the production of its electric typewriter across Europe.
Cahokia

How Native Americans Guarded Their Societies Against Tyranny

Many Native American communities were consensus democracies that survived for generations because of careful attention to checking and balancing power.