Angry housewife

The Many Lives of the Angry Housewife

The housewife novel is having a comeback, continuing the tradition of exploring domesticity and self-hood in fiction. 
Award-winning artist Betye Saar, shown here setting up her "Tangled Roots" exhibit at the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park campus of Penn State in 1996.

The Assemblage Sculptures of Betye Saar

Artist Betye Saar subverts, reclaims, and draws on both public and personal spaces. Her work remains as relevant today as it did when it was first created. 
Book of love

Who Wrote the Book of Love?

Did the troubadours write the book of love, or just a kind of love poetry? 
A box of antique jewelry.

What Love Tokens Can Tell Us About Poor Women in Early Modern England

Poor English women imbued everyday objects with an emotional power that they gave and received. These were known as love tokens. 
Stop trying to make fetch happen

The Linguistics of Mass Persuasion: How Politicians Make “Fetch” Happen (Part I)

Inspired by the Gretchen famous line in the film Mean Girls, Chi Luu explores how politicians mobilize language to sway public opinion.
Illustration of a girl reading.

#1000BlackGirlBooks and the Importance of Diversity in Children’s Literature

The importance of diversity in children's literature, especially for young children of color. 
Pine forrest [sic], Summit Station, Catawissa R.R. Photo by John Moran

When Photography Wasn’t Art

Today, photography is commonly accepted as a fine art. But through much of the 19th century, it was an art world outcast.
A rainbow flag

Queering the Christian Experience

The queer theology of Marcella Althaus-Reid calls into question our understandings of gender, sexuality, power, and our desire for God.
February 2013 cover of The New Republic with President Obama on the cover

How The New Republic Tried to Find Its Audience

In its early days, The New Republic tried many creative ways to rejuvenate its waning readership. Some were more successful than others. 
On July 17, 1955, Argonne's BORAX III reactor provided all the electricity for Arco, Idaho, the first time any community's electricity was provided entirely by nuclear energy.

What Did Idaho Have to Do With the Cold War?

The real life history behind the 1961 nuclear accident fictionalized in Andria Williams' The Longest Night.