Category: Talking History

Talking History

Historia y Guerra en la Niebla: Historical Vagueness in Disney’s Encanto

Miguel Ángel Torres Yunda Encanto (2021) details the lives of the Madrigal family and the struggle to heal from generational trauma. From the beginning of Encanto, the film focuses on setting the location of Encanto as a Colombian town by displaying items such as arepas, sombreros vueltiaos, mochilas Wayuu, ajiaco soup, or with Colombia written on maps or painted on the side of a house. … Continue reading Historia y Guerra en la Niebla: Historical Vagueness in Disney’s Encanto

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Talking History

A Triangle of Impossibilities: The Israeli Lebanese Maritime Border

Rawan Chaker Globalization, advances in technology, and intensifying economic competition between states have amplified oceans’ importance in international affairs. Access to maritime spaces means access to natural resources and foreign direct investment. While clearly defined borders are one of the foundations for national sovereignty, these borders become much more ambiguous in maritime spaces. The unique cultural and geopolitical history of the Arab-Israeli conflict has produced … Continue reading A Triangle of Impossibilities: The Israeli Lebanese Maritime Border

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Talking History

Reckoning with the Past: Nazi-Looted Art Restitution in Austria

Kathleen Walsh In 2015, the Austrian Commission for Provenance Research announced that a painting by the famous Austrian artist Gustav Klimt had been restituted to the wrong family. The initial research confused two Klimt paintings that Nazis stole from Jewish families during World War II: “Apple Tree II” and “Roses Under the Trees.” While the heirs of Nora Stiasny–an Austrian Jewish art collector killed in … Continue reading Reckoning with the Past: Nazi-Looted Art Restitution in Austria

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Talking History

The NBA and the War on Drugs

Mariam Aiyad In July, the NBA dismissed the Toronto Raptors’ rookie guard Jalen Harris for violating the league’s Anti-Drug Program. While reports never specified which “drug of abuse” Harris tested positive for, it is notable that he was not accused of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to gain an unfair advantage over other players. The NBA targeted him for recreational usage. Harris’s dismissal does not reflect … Continue reading The NBA and the War on Drugs

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Talking History

Making Race, Minting Guineas: Why Four Countries Share a Name

John Ramming Chappell In September 2021, a military coup unseated Alpha Condé, Guinea’s president since 2010. The same month, the United States renewed efforts to capture Antonio Indjai, an ex-general and drug-trafficking suspect living in Guinea Bissau. Meanwhile, the U.S. government announced that $27 million seized from Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, would be used to buy COVID-19 vaccines for the … Continue reading Making Race, Minting Guineas: Why Four Countries Share a Name

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Talking History

Finish That Riff: A History of Musical Borrowing in Three Quarter Notes

Casey Donahue Tap your feet to the tempo of a brisk walk—about 110 beats-per-minute, depending on your gait. Now count out measures of four. Next, imagine the warm staccato thud of a bass guitar punctuating the first three quarter notes of each measure. If you loop that beat in your head, you may start to hear something familiar. What you hear is not a test, … Continue reading Finish That Riff: A History of Musical Borrowing in Three Quarter Notes

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Talking History

We Said, They Sed: Accents and When We Spell Them Out

Casey Donahue Accents are identities, and everybody’s got one.  With pinched vowels or dropped consonants, we give hints to each other about our home, heritage, class, gender, and age. But how would you spell your accent? Do your trademark pronunciations sound as the dictionary says they should? If not, do you ever spell your shibboleths differently, changing get to git or smart to smaht when … Continue reading We Said, They Sed: Accents and When We Spell Them Out

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Talking History

“Heed Their Words”: Using the WPA Slave Narratives to Address Challenging Sources

Victoria Lewis Rachel Sullivan walked up the steps of her front porch, kicked off her shoes, and plopped down in her rocker. In her eighties, she just didn’t get around like she used to. As she sat on the porch of that two-room house on Reynolds Street, Rachel could not help but reflect on her life: her early years on the plantation of Governor Pickens … Continue reading “Heed Their Words”: Using the WPA Slave Narratives to Address Challenging Sources

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Talking History

Quarantined in the Closet: The Effects of the Pandemic on Queer Youth

Joseph Scariano In February of 2020, Brown Medical School reported a declining rate of suicide among queer youth over the past two decades in Massachussets. While this study was limited to one state, it offered a look at a promising future where national queer youth suicide rates do not outpace their heterosexual peers. This hope was short-lived. Following the onset of COVID-19 and the mass … Continue reading Quarantined in the Closet: The Effects of the Pandemic on Queer Youth

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