Reading “The Book of Nature”
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the natural world was viewed as a Christian parable, helping humans to give divine meaning to plants, animals, and the heavens.
Nate Salsbury’s Black America
The 1895 show purported to show a genuine Southern Black community and demonstrate Black cultural progress in America, from enslavement to citizenship.
Can Intellectual Humility Save Us from Ourselves?
Intellectual humility is defined as a willingness to admit you’re wrong. It could be just the idea for our self-righteous times.
Doing Math with Intellectual Humility
Math class is an opportunity to teach students both how to use conjecture to arrive at knowledge and how to learn from the logic of peers.
Exporting Chinese Acrobats
Chinese acrobats have been impressing circus-goers at shows like Cirque du Soleil since the 1980s. How did these gymnastic marvels make their way to the West?
That Time Thor and Loki Cross-Dressed
Why the Old Norse gods disguised themselves as a bride and bridesmaid before visiting Thrymr, king of Jötunheima.
Americanism, Exoticism, and the “Chop Suey” Circuit
Asian American artists who performed for primarily white audiences in the 1930s and ’40s both challenged and solidified racial boundaries in the United States.
Why We Love/Hate Brutalist Architecture
Developed in response to the post-World War II housing crisis, the once celebrated Brutalism quickly became an aesthetic only an architect could love.
Picturing Christina of Denmark
Christina of Milan, Duchess of Milan, used an unusual tool to avoid becoming one of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives—the royal portrait.
What Does It Take to Be Crowned Miss Vietnam USA?
Beauty pageants, a familiar part of post-war diasporic Vietnamese culture, help participants and viewers forge new identities amid forces of globalization.