The Question of Race in Beowulf
J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal scholarship on Beowulf centers a white male gaze. Toni Morrison focused on Grendel and his mother as raced and marginal figures.
Persuasive Cartography: An Interview with Map Collector PJ Mode
A collection of rare maps explores their power as visual messengers.
What The Great Gatsby Reveals About The Jazz Age
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel embraced jazz, while also falling prey to the racist caricatures associated with it.
The Wonderland Awaits: Researching The Good Echo
Author Shena McAuliffe describes how she used JSTOR to research her debut novel, The Good Echo.
Climate Change Turns Cute Birds into Brain-Eating Zombies
European great tits kill migratory pied flycatchers over nesting sites. The warming weather is to blame.
When the Park Ranger Was Not Your Friend
Early 20th century National Park Service Rangers were a notoriously rough-and-tumble lot.
Ten Poems about Travel
Poetry about all kinds of travel—from grand adventures to family vacations—by Elizabeth Bishop, Rita Dove, and more.
When Harriet Beecher Stowe and George Eliot Were Penpals
These 19th-century novelists might seem to have little in common. But for 11 years they wrote each other letters, forging an unusual literary friendship.
The Man Who Invented Modern Infection Control
He's hailed as the "father of infection control" and the "savior of mothers," but the truth about Ignaz Semmelweis is more complicated than that.