Contesting American Citizenship… in 1784
The Longchamps Affair shows how early Americans struggled to define citizenship amid conflicting laws and revolutionary values.
A Brief History of Men Showing Leg
The story of the modern suit begins with tight pants, as men’s legs became markers of class, civility, and sexuality.
Samurai and Guerrillas: The First Official Japanese Visit
The first Japanese delegation to the US captivated crowds and confounded expectations, as the press cast its samurai as “effeminate.”
The Book That Became The Iron Giant
Before it was a cult classic, the Warner Bros. film began as a 1968 children’s novel by Ted Hughes, though the book and movie tell notably different tales.
Za’atar: From Ancient Texts to Modern Conflict
More than an herb, za’atar shapes, narrates, and anchors identity and political dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean and Sinai Peninsula.
The Pagan Heart of Florence + The Machine
Welch’s new album continues the band's long-running dialogue with magic, myth, and modern witchcraft.
When the Dust Settles in Colonial Manchurian Writing
Takagi Kyōzō makes heavy use of natural imagery to decry the miserable status of the settler colonist population in Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
The Hidden Aesthetics of Early Astrophotography
Behind the transformative star photographs of the 1880s lay a complex collaboration between astronomers and engravers.
Medieval Friendships: No Girls Allowed
Medieval European elites inherited the classical concept of friendship as something possible only for men. Christine de Pizan and Margery Kempe beg to differ.
The Committed Officers of Argentina’s Dirty War
The viciousness of Argentina’s Dirty War resulted not only from orders from above but from ideological buy-in at the ground level.