Caught in Partition’s Violent Fray
Published seventy-five year ago, Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar explores the devastation suffered by the women of India and Pakistan after political rupture.
The Lessons of Due Process in Julius Caesar
Shakespeare's tragedy offers a telling parable about the administration of justice—and rife mishandling thereof—in our day.
The First Canadian Novel
Often considered the first Canadian novel, The History of Emily Montague revealed its author’s true feelings about colonial Quebec.
The Long and Winding Island
New York’s Long Island has long served as a backdrop for social and political conflicts between the newly arrived and the established residents.
Enchanting Imposters
Johns Hopkins University’s Bibliotheca Fictiva Collection of Literary and Historical Forgery shows that humans have been creating fan fiction and fake news for millennia.
The Enduring Popularity of Harry Potter
How has the Harry Potter series remained so beloved across decades filled with young adult and fantasy novels?
Dissident Memoirs Across Rust-Iron Curtains
Soviet dissident memoirs, like their authors, had to cross the Iron Curtain—an iron curtain of meaning and interpretation.
The Enduring Value of Student Newspapers
More than curiosities, college papers are unique pedagogical tools that help undergraduates achieve media literacy.
What Was Behind Jonathan Swift’s Modest Proposal?
Swift’s savage animosity towards the Irish Protestant elites is front and center in his biting (perhaps literally) critique of the landlord class.
The Politics of Our AI Overlords
Fears of AI often focus on domination by algorithm-powered capitalism, but science fiction once used societies ruled by computers as analogs for communism.