For students of the humanities…
In 1937, Pablo Picasso painted Guernica to illustrate his reaction to the Nazi bombing in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. This work is part of a long tradition of artists reacting to current events in general and war in particular. Visuals of this type often have a significant impact on their viewers and help... Continue Reading →
Musicians, artists, and other creators of the Humanities often respond to current events in their work. In this article, Newsweek discusses the internet's response to John Ondrasik's (Five for Fighting) song about the impact that the President of Ukraine is having on the world. link to "Can One Man Save the World" Song About Zelensky... Continue Reading →
The Encyclopedia Britannica's website provides information on a huge variety of topics. In this case, they provide information on the truth of the life of Saint Patrick. It's a more complicated story that one might expect. He is definitely involved in Ireland, but most of the rest of his life and accomplishments are shrouded in... Continue Reading →
In this article from 2017, ArtNet details the destruction (that was at that time still ongoing) of cultural heritage sites by ISIS. Stories like this show the destructive affect of war on art and culture (in addition to its painful consequences for people's lives and families). link to A Monumental Loss...
Duolingo offers both free and paid online language classes in numerous languages. As such, they know a great deal about how language works and what hidden messages it can contain. In this article from their blog, Duolingo explains the differences between the Ukrainian and Russian languages and talks about how language can be political. This... Continue Reading →
The British Library is an excellent source in general, and their Middle Ages project gives a good amount of information on the period--primarily though a look at a number of illuminated manuscripts. Links are provided to multiple articles, and you can view a number of interesting items (with descriptions from their collection. This is part... Continue Reading →
Wars destroy people's lives and homes, and they also destroy their art and culture. This article from Architectural Digest provides an insight into how the art world (both inside and out of Ukraine) has tried to respond. link to How the Art World is Responding to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Art allows people to express their feelings, to draw attention to causes, and to promote social justice. The artistic response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine showcases how those artistic aspects manifest within contemporary art. link to Artists Are Expressing Their Support for Ukraine in Emotional Illustrations
The brave men and women of Ukraine have been in the news in ways they never could have imagined over the last few days, but how much do you know about their culture? For those who are interested in finding out more about these brave people, this article gives an excellent overview of their rich... Continue Reading →
When we study the region of the ancient world known as Mesopotamia, we often focus only on a few major cultures: Sumer, Babylon, Akkad, Assyria, etc. However, there is evidence that there is more to the history of Mesopotamia. This article focusses on the evidence for the possible "Forgotten Kingdom" of Ebla. link to First... Continue Reading →
Ancient people produced many of the same things that we use in our modern world. Glass is one of those things, and the Romans were well known for the quality of their glass production. This article provides a wealth of information on the study of the practices of the Roman glass industry. link to Seeing... Continue Reading →
Arguably one of the most beautiful art forms, creating illuminated manuscripts was (and is) a time consuming labor of love. Unfortunately many Medieval and Renaissance books have been cut up so that the art could be collected by itself, but fortunately there are a number of complete volumes that still survive. In this article, the... Continue Reading →
Did you know that there were three Catholic martyrs named St. Valentine that are all honored with a feast day on February 14th? This article explains what we know (and what we don't) about each of these men who died for their faith and gave their name to a holiday dedicated to love. link to... Continue Reading →
When most people think about the process of making pottery, they think about a potter using a wheel. While that is a very common way to make a pot, the art of making slab pottery is ancient in its own right. This article gives a good overview of the art form, and it includes links... Continue Reading →
English Heritage is a English charity that takes care of a number of historic properties. They also have put together extensive learning resources, which can be accessed on the "Learn" section of their page. If you are interested in anything related to England or the British Isles, then I strongly suggest you check out their... Continue Reading →
Humanities Scholars 