Marybeth Gasman explains poor faculty diversity June 08, 2022 The diversification of the academy will not be achieved under within the current academic environment. In this video, Marybeth Gasman explains what must change for equity to be achieved. Read More
Book Club Pick: The Golden Rhinoceros June 08, 2022 From the birth of Islam in the seventh century to the voyages of European exploration in the fifteenth, Africa was at the center of a vibrant exchange of goods and ideas. Read More
Bottom line up front June 02, 2022 Anyone receiving a bachelor’s or master’s degree has learned how to produce a lengthy paper on a complex topic. But that’s not the only writing skill needed in the workplace. Read More
Life-changing doubt, the Internet, and a crisis of authority June 01, 2022 Yisroel was an earnestly pious boy growing up Hasidic in Brooklyn, New York. With his side curls grazing his shoulders, thick plastic glasses, and big black velvet yarmulke, he looked like all the other boys in his yeshiva, where he studied the Torah and its commentaries from early in the morning until late at night. Read More
Listen in: Translating Myself and Others June 01, 2022 Translating Myself and Others is a collection of candid and disarmingly personal essays by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, who reflects on her emerging identity as a translator as well as a writer in two languages. Read More
Exploring London’s past through mudlarking May 24, 2022 For millennia, objects have found their way into the River Thames as it flows through London. Household rubbish has been dumped into it, personal possessions accidentally lost, cargoes spilt, offerings made to gods, and coins tossed in for luck. Read More
The Wordhord: Daily Life in Old English May 24, 2022 Old English is the language you think you know until you actually hear or see it. Unlike Shakespearean English or even Chaucer’s Middle English, Old English—the language of Beowulf—defies comprehension by untrained modern readers. Read More
Hal Weitzman on What’s the Matter with Delaware? May 24, 2022 The legal home to over a million companies, Delaware has more registered businesses than residents. Why do virtually all of the biggest corporations in the United States register there? Why do so many small companies choose to set up in Delaware rather than their home states? Read More
Aristotle on how to write a story May 18, 2022 Back when I was a first-year college student and thought I knew everything already, I remember my English composition professor telling us that Aristotle’s Poetics contained everything we needed to know about becoming great writers. Read More
Why some mistaken views catch on May 18, 2022 As I was walking back from university one day, a respectable-looking middle-aged man accosted me. He spun a good story: he was a doctor working in the local hospital, he had to rush to some urgent doctorly thing, but he’d lost his wallet, and he had no money for a cab ride. Read More
Jhumpa Lahiri: Where I find myself May 16, 2022 Having written my novel Dove mi trovo in Italian, I was the first to doubt that it could transform into English. Naturally it could be translated; any text can, with greater or lesser degrees of success. Read More
Feathered friends May 16, 2022 When we watch a big flock of starlings or shorebirds performing their swirling pre-roost aerobatics, the expression ‘safety in numbers’ might come to mind. In the air, moving together, each individual bird reduces its chances of being a target if a predator comes along. Read More
Goodbye, Europe May 12, 2022 Depending on how you look at it, the timing was either fortunate or ill-fated. The Fifth International Congress for the Unity of Science met at Harvard from 3–9 September 1939. Read More
Eric R. Eaton on Insectpedia May 12, 2022 Insectpedia is a beautifully illustrated, pocket-friendly encyclopedia that dispels many common myths about insects while offering new perspectives on the vital relationships we share with these incredible creatures. Read More
A guide to beachcombing May 12, 2022 Everything that the sea casts up onto the shore has a story to tell. Some objects give us glimpses into the lives of marine creatures living nearby, others speak of long-distance voyages and a life on the ocean waves, or tell us about our own lives and careless habits. Read More