Baking Vs. Roasting
We cook bread, meat, and vegetables much the same way: in our ovens. So why do we say we "bake" bread, but we "roast" meat and veggies?
Edward S. Curtis: Romance vs. Reality
In a famous 1910 photograph "In a Piegan Lodge," a small clock appears between two seated Native American men. In a later print, the clock is missing.
On Embracing Boredom
What does "boredom" even mean? As both a word and a concept, boredom is not a universal phenomenon but a historical construction specific to our times.
The Real Vampires of Europe
In general, a vampire is a malicious spirit or soul of the deceased who is not confined to the grave. Where did the idea come from?
The Origins of Human Speech: More Like a Raven or a Writing Desk?
Language is the cognitive faculty that separates humans from other animals, but interjections have often been equated with the primitive cries of animals.
Bonnie Nardi
Welcome to Ask a Professor, our series that offers an insider’s view of life in academia. This month we interviewed Bonnie Nardi.
Lise Dobrin and Language Documentation in Papua New Guinea
Q&A: Lise Dobrin, Associate Professor & Director of the Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics at the University of Virginia's Department of Anthropology.
The Cozy Linguistics of Hygge and Other “Untranslatable” Words
Why English speakers love "hygge" and other "untranslatable" words about emotional states.
Whatever Happened To Piltdown Man?
Piltdown Man was once considered the missing link between apes and humans. What happened?
How to Read the Bones Like a Scapulimancer
In Shang Dynasty China, fortune-telling with oracle bones was the key to political power.