How Social Upheaval Gave Rise to the Picaresque Novel
How did the arcadian shepherd and chivalric knight-errant, centuries-old fixtures of European literature, give way to this witty rascal, the pícaro?
Gossip Girls (and Boys)
Researchers found that male and female adolescents may respond differently to gossip or other forms of social aggression.
Reclaiming Rice in Taiwan
After World War II, the US ramped up international food aid, both as a Cold War strategy and as a way to distribute surplus products.
Race-baiting the Last Big City Socialist
When business interests tried to use red-baiting to take down a socialist mayor of Milwaukee in the Fifties, it didn't work, so they used race-baiting instead.
The Paradoxical Pomegranate
Aphrodisiac and contraceptive, enflaming and cooling, the pomegranate was a balancing act, mediating between opposing states.
What Does Thanksgiving Look Like in Prison?
Our American Prison Newspapers collection provides a peek at Thanksgiving celebrations in prisons throughout the decades.
A Brief History of Literary Cats
There’s nothing like curling up with a good book and a soft cat. Even better is a book with a cat in it.
Separate Spheres On Narrow Boats: Victorians At Sea
On the North Atlantic, the ships were small and the trips were long, making it difficult to maintain the land-based social distinctions.
The Plagiarism Scandal That Ended Nella Larsen’s Career
Larsen's 1930 story "Sanctuary" had a similar plot to an earlier British story. So what? Perhaps the tale never really belonged to either writer.
How South Asian Temple Dancers Fought Moral Reform
Devadāsīs appealed to a longstanding tradition to argue that they had a legitimate position in their modernizing nation.