How Should German Teachers Approach Oktoberfest?
Americans have some pretty specific and limited stereotypes about German culture. The way teachers address topics like Oktoberfest can make a difference.
The Saltwater Railroad
Throughout the 19th century, enslaved people attempted to escape from the U.S. to the Bahamas, across what became known as the "Saltwater Railroad."
Progress Is Not the Same as Westernization
Jalal Al-e Ahmad, a political and literary writer in pre-revolutionary Iran, had ideas about how his country could modernize in its own, non-Western way.
The Dawn of WWII, According to the Chief of British Secret Intelligence
An original essay from 1939.
How Colonialism Shaped Body Shaming
When did heaviness and curviness in women become connected with the idea of "savagery"? It has a lot to do with 19th-century imperialist world views.
Was It Really a Mummy’s Curse?
A slew of mysterious deaths following the opening of King Tut's tomb prompted one epidemiologist to investigate.
The Lost City of Heracleion
Once a bustling metropolis, this long-lost Egyptian city flooded, sank, and was forgotten -- until archeologists rediscovered it.
Regrowing Germany’s Trees After WWII
The cities of Dresden and Hamburg saw their green spaces decimated by WWII, but each city grew back its trees in a very different way.
The Pirate-y Life of Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan’s voyage in search of the “Spice Islands” was marked by storms, sharks, and scurvy—plus multiple attempts at mutiny.
How Janet Flanner’s “High-Class Gossip” Changed America
The journalist's witty Paris Letters for the New Yorker helped establish Americans' feelings of superiority over Europe.