The second page of Austen's The History of England, with illustrations by Cassandra Austen

Jane Austen’s Mock History Book

Working with her sister, Cassandra, the teenaged Austen composed a satirical send-up of England's monarchs.
Bookshelves in a library with marble busts

Dark Academia’s Roots Lie in the Campus Novel

Revolving around student life, campus novels present a microcosm of the outside world, staged far from the humdrum of middle-class realities.
Photograph: French fashion designer Christian Dior sketches a dress at his salon in Paris, France, February 1948

Source: Getty

Christian Dior vs. Christian Dior

The designer’s impulse to convey his two selves to the public stemmed from a desire to be seen as genuine artist working in a world of artifice.
A dead whale being cleaned by whalers

So You Plan to Teach Moby Dick

The study of Melville’s novel is enhanced by contextualizing it with primary and secondary sources related to the American sperm whaling industry.
Dr. Rivers Frederick Perfoming Surgery at Flint-Goodridge Hospital

Introducing Our Visual Literacy Column, “Learning to Look”

Developing visual literacy skills unlocks a means of understanding and engaging with the world that cannot be replaced by any text.
Detail from Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez

Who Was the Little Girl in Las Meninas?

A Spanish princess who became a German queen, Margarita Teresa lived a life structured by Catholicism and cut short by consanguinity.
E.E. Cummings, 1920

Revisiting The Enormous Room

This year marks the centennial of the publication of E. E. Cummings’s novel based on his imprisonment in France during World War I. 
Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

Mary Sidney and the Voice of God

Philip Sidney’s attempt at translating the Psalms ended with his early death. Then, his sister took up the cause—and proved herself the superior poet.
Three women and five men gathered in a room which opens up to classical architecture, the group on the left is making music while the others are engaged in conversation; representing the continent of Europe.

Musical Myth-Busting: Teaching Music History with JSTOR Daily

Harnessing the power of quirk to engage students and inspire research in an online learning environment.

Our Obsession with Art Heists

A deeply ingrained interest in stolen objects and their recovery reflects our collective uncertainty over how we value art.