Hijras (transgender) dance as they get ready backstage before the Hijra talent show, part of the first ever event called Hijra Pride 2014, on November 10, 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Gender in the History Classroom

High school teachers sometimes struggle to teach about ways different societies have conceptualized gender. Here’s a look at a few practical approaches.
Table top view of Indian food on table.

How do South Asian Americans Remember Home Cooking?

Culinary discourse—whether in fiction, memoir, or cookbook—sets in motion an extended discussion about food, nostalgia, and national identity
An illustration of the case of Maria Elisabetha Beckensteinerin

Suicide by Proxy

In early Modern Europe, suicide was a sin to be punished with eternal damnation. Some women found an awful workaround: committing murder.
The President and Mrs. Kennedy attend a dinner May 11, 1962 in honor of Minister of State for Cultural Affairs of France, Andre Malroux, left.

Jackie’s French Connection

Jacqueline Kennedy, with her French ancestry and command of the language, was a not-so-secret American weapon in US-France relations in the early 1960s.
Low angle view of Ferris wheel against clear blue sky

The Big Wheel

The Ferris wheel may not have been a new idea, but the revolving structure offered fun—from the fairgrounds to the classroom.
Ezra Stiles, 1770

Yale’s Lost Indian Museum

The (now lost) collection of Native American artifacts at Yale College reveals the mechanics and high cost of the settler-colonialist nation-building project.
From the cover of Olivia by Dorothy Bussy

Olivia: An Oft-Overlooked Lesbian Novel

It took some fifteen years to bring Dorothy Strachey Bussy’s remarkable roman à clef to print, thanks to André Gide’s lukewarm reception.
Two Peranakan women at a tin factory in Pulau Singkep, Riau Islands.

Keeping the Baba-Nyonya Culture of Penang Alive

Identity consciousness among Malaysian Chinese Peranakans is on the rise as the Babas and Nyonyas seek to celebrate and preserve their unique heritage.
Rakhine farmers harvest in a rice paddy near Pa Rein village, Myauk Oo township on October 29, 2012 in Rakhine state, Myanmar.

The Challenges of Regulating Rice in Myanmar

The Myanmar government has regulated its agricultural and export industry through one specific crop: rice. What are the future prospects of the rice economy?
A study of facial expression and gesture, 1823

How Upper Lips Got Stiff

The truism that “boys don’t cry” is a Western social convention. Colonialism and imperialism made sure it spread East.