Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
Hi, I'm Dr Andrew Mangham of the University of Reading's English Literature Department.
I specialise in literature and the history of science, crime, medicine, Victorian popular culture and attitudes to death, Charles Dickens, and tales of 'orrible violence, and I'd like you to Ask Me Anything about these on January 18th right here.
There are links to my books and research in the sidebar but I'm interested in having a wide-ranging discussion on all of these topics.
kind regards and see you in the new year!
It's so cold here! Ten below zero (Fahrenheit). As we're having a problem with the office heaters, I can't help but think longingly of how the woman who originally lived in this house (which is now a museum) would have dressed on a day like today - layers of petticoats, some of them made of wool flannel, with wool stockings, a wool dress, and a wool shawl.
This week, I carved out a second dress form. I was concerned that the waistline was too low, but then I measured the first, and it seems like that one might actually be too high. I need to go into the costume collection (but it's so cold in there!) and take some measurements.
Convenient topic. It came just in the nick of time.
Anyway, I was watching 2012's Lincoln and one actor asks sardonically when was the last time their party (Republicans) unanimously supported something. It got me curious. Was there ever a time when the entire US government supported something unanimously?
Bing/Google/Reddit didn't provide much help. I would go into articles/threads saying 'Congress' unanimously supported something only to find what was really meant was that the 'House' or 'Senate' unanimously supported something. Unfortunately, the closest I could get seems to be US declaration of war against Japan in 1941. Everyone supported it with the exception of one politician.
So I'll ask there: Has there ever been a vote which was unanimously supported by the House of Representatives, Senate, and by the President?
I got to check out the Harvard Semitic Museum recently. It's small, but still seemed like a nice little museum. The fact that admission is free is a good bonus as well. I particularly enjoyed the casts of Mesopotamian monuments.
What's the takeaway from this week's theme of Canada? What did you guys think were the most interesting questions?
Was wandering around Shanghai with a friend the other day, when I saw a statue in a little intersection-park and decided to go and investigate. Stunned to find that it was a bust of Alexander Pushkin, put up by the Russian community in Shanghai in the 1920s!
I don't know anything at all about the history of Russians in Shanghai, so this kind of piqued my interest.
So I just listening to a podcast, "Revisionist History" on the the failures of the US intelligence community to fully understand the VC's state of mind throughout the war and how the more Westernized backgrounds of the American-employed interrogators prevented them from truly grasping the level of determination the North had.
I just wanted to ask any SE Asian experts or Vietnamese about the major cultural differences between North/South/Central Vietnam culturally. I'm aware of a rift b.etween Buddhists and Catholics, but what else is there that influences Vietnamese culture groups?
Hey guys, I asked a couple of questions this week that didn't get a huge amount of attention so I tried to do some digging myself. I came across the book Salafi-Jihadism: The History of an Idea by Shiraz Maher. It was published very recently but does anyone have any idea if it is a solid book on the subject or if I should look elsewhere?
Plodding on, plodding on. Haven't made as much progress on my dissertation as I hoped to this week, but I should be done with the edits to my introduction by tomorrow, maybe Sunday at the latest, so at least I'm not behind schedule: