Blogs
The Dark Side
[Writing] is an awareness that demands cynical optimism, uncompromising integrity, allegiance to only the work… and most of all, courage to explore the darkest places of oneself. –“Mortal Dreads” Harlan Ellison If it bleeds, it leads....The Last US Troops Leave Iraq: A Retrospective on Operation Iraqi Freedom
With little fanfare this weekend the last few thousand American troops in Iraq withdrew from their bases and traveled into neighboring Kuwait ending America’s most contentious war since Vietnam. After eight and half years of conflict that cost the US almost one...A Pitch for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Dear Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, You both have an affinity for Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, and the more involved I am in commemorating the 1912 Great Lawrence, MA, Textile Strike—aka the Bread & Roses Strike—the...Cut, Burn, Poison: A Bostonian Wages War in Rural Wisconsin
So I’m talking to a neighborhood guy in rural Wisconsin where my wife and I, besotted, purchased one hundred and twelve acres of lovely mixed pasture and woodland a few years ago. looking south on a portion of our land after mowing Our land is in a corner of...Civility Charter
The following is the current iteration of a “Civility Charter,” distilled from a public conversation at the newly formed Center for Civil Discourse at UMass Boston held on February 17: “Civility and American Democracy: A National Forum. The charter...Book Review: GOD'S JURY, THE INQUISITION AND THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD
With GOD’S JURY, Vanity Fair Editor at Large and former Mass Humanities board member Cullen Murphy has written a worthy successor to his widely praised ARE WE ROME? Like the earlier book, GOD’S JURY provides a learned yet accessible angle on the past while...What Happened to Civility?
American political discourse seems to be on a path to paralysis. Extremist rhetoric and demagoguery, half-truths and outright lies, and the politics of personal destruction permeate every level of public debate, from Congress to traditional media to the Internet. This...These Walls Do Talk
Although I grew up in and around New Bedford, Massachusetts, the first time I heard the name of whaling Captain Paul Cuffe was when I was a freshman in college. I was stunned to learn that there had been a 18th century whaling captain and sea merchant of African and...Forbes Library's Writer-in-Residence: Susan Stinson
Susan Stinson is a novelist, historical tour guide, writing coach, speaker and the writer-in-residence for the Forbes Library in Northampton. She has published three novels, and recently completed a fourth, “Spider in a Tree”, a historical novel about the...Extreme Sport: Jousting Then and Now
Nuremberg jousting armor, about 1500 Tournaments originated around the time of the First Crusade as a way for the newly emerged class of knights to practice their skills in mounted combat. Today, jousting has become a familiar feature of Renaissance fairs; the...Taken Captive on the Western Frontier: The Account of Titus King (1755-58)
On a recent weekend I attended a fascinating one-day symposium, Exploring the 1704 Raid, sponsored by Historic Deerfield Inc., that focused on the French and Native American attack on the frontier settlement of Deerfield. This event, in part funded by Mass Humanities,...Revealing Everyday Life in 18th-Century Massachusetts through Archaeology: Examples from Taylor's Fort in Charlemont
In contrast to many other types of archaeology, the historical archaeologist often has at his or her disposal a rich collection of written records such as letters, plots, and account books to add to their interpretation of a site. In some situations, there is little...Visualizing Art History: Experimental Animation and Its Mentor, Jules Engel
A dictionary begins when it no longer gives the meaning of words, but their tasks. — Georges Bataille It is most often the case when I refer to my work as experimental animation that I am met with the question, what is experimental animation? I am instantly...The Jacob's Pillow KNOW DANCE Project: Expanding Dance Audiences through Crowdsourced Video
The new documentary Never Stand Still was filmed at Jacob’s Pillow, a National Historic Landmark and home of America’s longest-running dance festival nestled in the majestic Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. Directed by Ron Honsa and narrated by Bill T....Oral History Imagined: An Artist Discusses Her Use of Animation in Nonfiction Filmmaking
I remember my grandmother sharing stories of her days growing up in Oklahoma, after her family emigrated from Lebanon. She described her family’s small house situated on the expansive Oklahoma plains during the dust bowl that swept the state. Each time she told...Discovering the Global Popular Romance Community: Launching the Popular Romance Project
When I tell people I’ve plunged into the world of popular romance fiction, they react in one of two ways: either they are wildly enthusiastic or they snicker. It’s telling. The readers and writers of romance novels interest me because I’m drawn to...Confronting Our Legacy: Slavery and Antislavery in the North
When Americans today think of slavery, many think of the antebellum South. Slavery, however, is part of New England history as well. Over the course of centuries, Americans living in the North have divorced themselves from the history of slavery in their communities....One Woman Made a Difference. So Can You.
True stories of hope, grit, empowerment, and positive change are rarely spotlighted in today’s celebrity-obsessed culture and character-bashing media. Why do we reward questionable behavior with our attention? Would we not nurture a more civil society if we...The Other Side of the Paper: Jonathan Edwards as Slave-Owner
The eighteenth century preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote on any paper he could find. In Northampton and later in Stockbridge, he made extensive notes on a version of the Bible with large, lined margins, writing alongside what was, for him, the direct word...The Day and Account Books of Elijah Williams: A Case Study of Mid-Eighteenth-Century Material Life in W. MA
Within the extensive collections of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library at Deerfield is a treasure trove of documentary evidence regarding the history of Western Massachusetts. Among the thousands of books, correspondences, diaries, and so forth are a...Not My History
I was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Likewise, my parents, their parents, and their parents’ parents were all born in the Mid-south region of the US (western Tennessee, northeastern Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, and the Missouri Bootheel). I spent my early years...Julien Hudson Exhibit at Worcester Art Museum: Selection of Paintings
Hudson, 1811−1844 American Portrait of a Man, Called a Self-Portrait 1839 oil on canvas Collections of the Louisiana State Museum, 07526B Long believed to be a self-portrait, this painting has been championed as one of the earliest such examples by an artist of...Julien Hudson: A History and a Mystery at the Worcester Art Museum
Julien Hudson died in his native city of New Orleans, in 1844, at age 33, under a cloud. After roughly ten years of a professional career as a portraitist, he seemingly had little to show for his efforts. He may, in all probability, have taken his own life, out of...The Peace Corps at Home and Abroad
The question that invariably came up when folks who didn’t know me well learned I was producing a radio documentary honoring the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps was, “were you in the Peace Corps?” or, more presumptuously, “where (or when)...Dusting Off Our Collective Memories: Confronting Lewis Hine's Photographs of Child Laborers
Running footsteps and shouting greet you on the stairs as you walk up to the Short Pay! All Out! Exhibit, even if you are all alone in the stairwell. You are making your way against a historic wave of women weavers, many of them recent immigrants from Poland. On...Mae Ngai Speaks on the Constructedness of Chinese Americana
In the middle of Lunar New Year’s celebrations, the Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE) held its second in a series of 20th anniversary lectures in late January. We invited Columbia University Lung Family Professor of Asian American Studies and...The Empty Heart Ones
Near the end of Mae Ngai’s The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America, there is a paragraph that describes the surviving daughter-in-law of the story’s patriarch returning to the family home and planting a garden. The...Are We Still Living in Britain's World?
If I had to select the most prominent takeaway from both working and going to grad school in Britain, it would have to be the impression that many English men and women consider the modern world very much their own. That the luxuries and conveniences of the present...The Newfound Fact of Fiction
When the real increasingly becomes the surreal, where does one turn for a dose of the truth? Maybe back to the original lie: literature. Six years ago, when it was revealed that James Frey’s memoir, A Million Little Pieces, had originally been submitted to...High School Story Slam a Hit!
Editor’s Note: The art of storytelling has worked its way into Mass Humanities’ understanding of what the humanities can encompass in a few ways over the past couple of years. In December ’11 and the December before that, Mass Humanities awarded the...Yes and
“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” –Albert Einstein It struck me as I was standing on the lip of the stage at the opening of TRUTH, the new folk opera about Sojourner Truth that we commissioned two years ago. There was a collective joy that all...The Dilemma of Film Music
The literature on the philosophy of music consists, by and large, of works that promote one of the two rather antithetical ideologies. First, there are the musical formalists who believe that the true target of our artistic admiration is the purely structural nature...Listening to Films
The first time I remember consciously thinking about the music in a movie was probably the fifteenth time I watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. As I recall, my older brother bought the VHS tape soon after it was released, and though there was some hesitation...Fiction and Misdirection
I’m a novelist. I want people to read fiction for the experience: for language, pleasure and love. I was shocked when I realized how many people I knew rarely read novels. For me, reading fiction is a nightly ritual, a regular transition from waking to sleep. I...What Every Student Needs to Know about History
When The Public Humanist asked me to write on “what every college student needs to know about history,” it looked like an easy assignment. Within seconds I had made a list. Every college student should know about: The origins and key ideas of the great...At a Theater Near You: The Massachusetts Summer Film Fests
Summertime is upon us! While most New Englanders head to the Cape, the North Shore or other beach destinations, we cinephiles take our summer escapes via the indoor adventures offered up on the silver screen during the annual summer film festival season. As Program...Line Art and Longing
There’s a passage in C.S. Lewis’s book about his late conversion to Christianity, Surprised by Joy, in which he describes an aesthetic experience from his childhood that exemplifies the core of his spiritual longings. He recalls looking at Beatrix...Start Them Young: The Importance of Quality Art for Children
The death of author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, as well as Hayley Wood’s perceptive essay on illustrations in children’s books, reminded me of a visit to the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge. My son was about 3 at the time and it was one of those...Obama: Not a Prophet, but a Good President
Many Americans, including this author, were ecstatic that Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential election. As the 2012 election campaign moves into high gear, it is time to evaluate his time in office. If we were choosing a national prophet, Obama would be in trouble....Just War is a Deadly Lie
I, for one, am neither impressed nor reassured by President Obama’s personal study of and commitment to the writings of Augustine and Aquinas on just war to guide his own conscience and conduct of drone warfare and targeted assassinations. In a few words here, I...Olympic Arts
During the first half of the twentieth century, the Olympic Games included competition not only in sports but also in the Fine Arts, just as the ancient Olympic Games did. I confess that when I first learned this, I thought what a great Monty Python sketch might be...Typical Politics
You should see my type closet. It’s pretty big. I have sporty type and strappy type. Workhorse type and formal type. As a graphic designer, I’m constantly trying on new typefaces, falling in and out of love with typefaces, and wondering if this typeface...The American Revolution: When a Radio Station, Politics and Rock and Roll Changed Everything
For those who lived in Boston in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the underground, free-form radio station WBCN-FM was the soundtrack of their lives. In the days before Facebook and Twitter, before the internet and GPS, and even before you could listen to rock music on...Will Iran Really Nuke Israel if it Develops Nuclear Weapons?
Following his recent trip to Israel key Mitt Romney advisor Dan Senor summed up the former Massachusetts’ governor’s position vis a vis Israel and Iranian nukes as follows “If Israel has to take action on its own, in order to stop Iran from...Whose Music is it Anyway? Reflections on Musical Authenticity
The concept of authenticity is held with great conviction in certain quarters of musicology, as it fulfills the purportedly necessary condition that performances be done as closely as possible to the way they were done in the time of the composition of a particular...On the Clemente Course and Breathing Room
“What are the top ten actions that Congress, state governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors, and others should take now to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education, and to achieve...Humanities and Economic Development
These remarks were first presented on July 17, 2012 at a regional forum on the humanities and civic life organized by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the six New England state humanities council. * * * * The most important role of the humanities in...Feminist Refresher: Susan B. Anthony's and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Friendship of Activism
Every book I write is a learning experience, an opportunity to gain new information, insights, and interpretations, with every book I discover fascinating people, places, events, and ideas. Here are three of my discoveries from my immersion in the lives of Elizabeth...Double Take Fringe Festival and Reclaimed Spaces
These days we hear a lot of talk out there about “place making” and “creative economies.” So what exactly is “place making?” I didn’t know either, though when I saw it happening I recognized it as deeply important and knew I...Announcing Upstart Publication Pioneer
Someone is going to have to bail us out. Preferably a lot of someones. Or we are not going to make it. Let me invite you to look in on a typical scene, which could be picked from any one of dozens of meetings I’ve sought out in recent months, sitting across a...A Family Scratches the Surface of Metz
My husband, son and I just returned from a two-week European trip, mostly in the Netherlands with a side journey to the city of Metz, capitol of the Lorraine province in Northeast France, very close to Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg. We were able to do this because...Burglary at the Cathedral
It was a spontaneous idea: climb the scaffolding against the north wall of the cathedral that was unvisited by residents and tourists, enter the cathedral, and take whatever could be easily grabbed. Tag the sculpted golden stones with an irreverent and cryptic...Reading Henry James
A couple of hundred pages into reading The Portrait of a Lady for the first time in at least twenty years, I worried that I was going to end up furious at Henry James, who wrote it. I really didn’t want to be mad at Henry James. That was not only because it...Women and Presidential Politics
Women have been front and center during this 2012 election campaign, but as objects, not subjects. Women have been talked about and at by the predominately male punditry and candidates for political office. Male voices and perspectives dominate discussions about...John Adams' Advice for the Nation
In the election of 1800, a good human being (a flawed person, as are we all) won; a good human being (also flawed) was savaged and lost. Both Federalists and Jeffersonians feared that the other party would destroy American democracy. But our democracy has survived. In...The American Antiquarian Society: America's Library of Record for 200 Years
Significant milestones are naturally a cause for celebration. But they are also an opportunity for reflection and reinvestment. This year, the American Antiquarian Society celebrates its bicentennial. For me our celebrations of this event renewed my own understanding...A Single Photograph
A single black and white photograph. The familiar New England scene depicts the center of Westhampton at the turn of the twentieth century. The white church and town hall, three tall trees and a little grassy knoll with a cast iron fountain and a bench. The fountain,...Wintering: A Meditation on the Poetry of Winter
“This is the easy time,” begins Sylvia Plath’s poem Wintering, “there is nothing doing,” but this is only half the story. “The smile of the snow is white,” Plath writes, but for the dreamer of inner space, great potency...A Sampling of American Protest Music
Editor’s Note: The Worcester Art Museum has a current exhibit of photographs, From Kennedy to Kent State, with accompanying programming supported by a grant from Mass Humanities. On December 20 at 6 pm, Dr. Robert J.S. Ross will present a talk on “Songs of...E-Edition
Best Of 2024
Readers Choice 2024
