Outside the white-latticed window of Massachusetts Hall, I witnessed the fall of the last ruddy leaf in November with my Oxford edition of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in hand. With Professor David Collings, I had my first “French pronunciation” class–The Ravages of Love, a first-year seminar through the English Department. Lost in his soothing voice, we… Read more »
The Presidential Portraits exhibition of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery houses presidential art ranging from a bust of Woodrow Wilson to a gold-framed photograph of Martin van Buren. Evoking emotional responses from warmth to awe, the Presidential Portraits claim to “tell the American story,” and the newest chapter about to be included is that of… Read more »
In May of next year, we will commemorate the fifty-year anniversary of the protests that erupted across the world in 1968. Perhaps the most well known of these movements was the one that took place in Paris, in which the Left Bank, for a month, was turned into something of a war zone—barricades, Molotov cocktails,… Read more »
What do H&M, Zara, Primark, Topshop, and Forever 21 all have in common? Flashy advertisements and constant sales, sure. The latest fashions, of course. Cheap clothes, most definitely. But behind all the carefully curated racks of polyester-blended fabric lurks an industry that is hardly in style. These stores are major suppliers of fast fashion. Fast… Read more »
Memoirs Regarded as “one of the greatest artists and colorists of his generation,” Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born on August 6, 1932, in Hammersmith, London. He knew early on that he would be a painter. It was a fitting aspiration for a child surrounded by countless sources of creativity and innovation: his family—illustrious Quakers… Read more »
You’re Stuck On A Deserted Island: Here Are The Three Things You Should Bring With You To Make Sure That You Survive For As Long As Possible There’s something glamorous about islands. At least, that’s what society has trained society to think. We equate a sunny island with happiness and success. Paradise. Everyone wants their… Read more »
Imagine you are sitting in a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon. You open your laptop and pull up a Word document, preparing to begin a history paper that is due the next day. Suddenly, a live video feed of President Donald Trump fills your screen. He is staring directly into your eyes. “Hello, good… Read more »
“So, what’s the story?” she asked me, with a tone between bemusement and condescension. I was floating somewhere off the coast of Dakar when a fellow American in my study abroad program began her questioning. She was, of course, waiting to hear my prepared meaningful justification for the large tattoo on my hip. At the… Read more »
What makes a TV show protagonist so special? Think of the most compelling show you know and imagine the protagonist. Yes, just like Alex Trebek, very good. Compelling protagonists are essential for attracting viewers to a TV show, and more importantly, bringing you back for more. They have to make you obsessed. They’re like the… Read more »
Disclaimers: Big data might save the world, but this exercise is entirely subjective. Any references from before 2008 come from covers of Us Weekly that we saw in the grocery store. Names that appear on the matrix might more accurately be associated with public perception of the individual rather than with their true character (e.g.,… Read more »