Introduction to Jewish Studies: A Reading List
The broad, ever-expanding field of Jewish Studies is united by texts, events, and figures that engage an established canon of ideas across disciplines.
Grenada: When the Cold War Got Spicy
The 1983 invasion of Grenada raised questions about the legitimacy of American reactions to a communist presence on the island.
Misunderstood Malthus
The English thinker whose name is synonymous with doom and gloom has lessons for today.
Defining “White Trash”
The term “white trash” once was used to disparage poor white people. In the Civil Rights era, its meaning shifted to support business-friendly racial politics.
A Multiculturalism of the Undead
Labeling the undead figures in non-European mythology, popular culture, and academia as “vampires” doesn’t make sense.
Underground Conquest: Cave Exploration and Nationalism
As cave exploration became more popular and speleology developed as an academic discipline, cave explorers were drawn into a problematic European nationalism.
From Neoliberalism to Trumpism
The neoliberal politics that developed in the 1970s created financial instability and fragmented cultural markets, helping to pave the way for Trumpism.
Eighteenth-Century Takes on Basic Income
Universal basic income has gotten some serious twenty-first-century play, but the idea is hardly new.
Demonizing Immigrants in the 1880s
American newspapers portrayed members of immigrant groups as potential anarchists, linking the ideology to other anxieties and stereotypes about foreigners.
Politicizing Intelligence: Nixon’s Man at the CIA
James R. Schlesinger was only head of the CIA for six months, but he nevertheless ranks as the least popular director in the agency’s history.