What Is Serendipity?
We often credit unexpected events to serendipity. But who amongst us knows The Three Princes of Serendip, the tale from which the word derives?
Race and American Pop Culture in Zainichi Stories
A close reading of the 1996 novel GO suggests zainichi identity is in dialogue with multiple national cultures, including American.
Daniel Burnham in the Philippines
Building on his success as an architect and planner in Chicago, Daniel Burnham took American values and aesthetics to the new US colony of the Philippines.
Tyler S. Sprague on the Intersection of Structure and Design
An interview with Tyler S. Sprague, a historian of the built environment whose work depends on multidisciplinarity and a deep knowledge of structure and materials.
German Song in America
In the late 1800s, German American singing festivals united German immigrant communities and brought new kinds of cultural activities to the United States.
Celebrating the Fourth of July
Take a moment to contemplate the history and complexity of Independence Day, American Style.
How a Postwar German Literary Classic Helped Eclipse Painter Emil Nolde’s Relationship to Nazism
While Nolde was one of the many victims of the Third Reich’s repressive responses to “degenerate art,” he was also one of Nazism’s great admirers.
Queer Representation in Pre-Code Hollywood
Before the establishment of the Hollywood Production Code in the 1930s, filmmakers deployed gender and sexuality stereotypes for glamour, humor, and drama alike.
How Hungary’s Hard Rock Became Hard Right
Punk and hard rock—or at least extremist, right-wing versions of them—are alive and well in post-Cold War Hungary.