The Princess Brides of the Malay Annals
Narratives about women as gift objects in classical literature show the power dynamics of trade and diplomacy in the early modern Malay world.
Imperial Humo(u)r
Imperialism, experienced as both royal subject and new colonizer, has been a key element in the development, continuity, and disruption of American humor.
The Spiritual Side of Calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is a personal art that draws on Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism as well as spiritual practices that date to the second century CE.
The History of Peer Review Is More Interesting Than You Think
The term “peer review” was coined in the 1970s, but the referee principle is usually assumed to be as old as the scientific enterprise itself. (It isn’t.)
History’s Footnotes
The addition of footnotes to texts by historians began long before their supposed inventor, Leopold von Ranke, started using them (poorly, as it turns out).
Revolutionary Writing in Carlos Bulosan’s America
Bulosan’s fiction reflects an awareness of the inequality between the Philippines and the US and connects that relationship to his own class experience.
Heritage Bilinguals and the Second-Language Classroom
So-called heritage learners are forcing educators to rethink and reframe their approaches to teaching second languages in the classroom.
The Joy of Burglary
In the early 1900s, a fictional “gentleman burglar” named Raffles fascinated British readers, reflecting popular ideas about crime, class, and justice.
Sui Sin Far, the Chinese Canadian-American Sentimentalist
The short story collection Mrs. Spring Fragrance should be read in the context of nineteenth-century sentimentalism, which was shaped by Christian morality.
Finding Lucretia Howe Newman Coleman
Once a powerful voice in the Black press, Coleman all but disappeared from the literary landscape of the American Midwest after her death in 1948.