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Q&A with the author of Performing Worlds at the Baroque Court of Christine of France
Read more: Q&A with the author of Performing Worlds at the Baroque Court of Christine of FranceThis interview explores how Christine of France used Baroque court spectacles to shape political authority, global imagination, and cultures of consumption.
Literary Representations of the Palestine/Israel Conflict After the Second Intifada: Q&A with Ned Curthoys and Isabelle Hesse
In this interview, Ned Curthoys and Isabelle Hesse, editors of Literary Representations of the Palestine/Israel Conflict After the Second Intifada, discuss their new book. Tell us a bit about your book. Our edited collection Literary Representations of the Palestine/Israel Conflict…
Introducing From Rumi to the Whirling Dervishes
by Walter Feldman Love is the Way and the Path of our Prophet. We are Love’s children, and Love is our Mother. Rumi These words echo down through the ages from when Mevlana (”Our Master”) Jalaluddin Rumi (d. 1273), first…
What are Tribes? Do They Still Matter?
by Scott Weiner What is a tribe? Social scientists have long been interested in tribes, but political science has struggled to talk about them. Tribes exist on every inhabited continent and are as foundational to many states as political parties,…
How ISIS Fights: New Books in National Security
In this great interview from New Books in National Security, Omar Ashour, author of How ISIS Fights: Military Tactics in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, talks to host Jeffrey Bristol about his work. They discuss the origin of Ashour’s study…
Five Essentials of Friday Preaching in Modern Turkey
by Elisabeth Özdalga The core of her new book Pulpit, Mosque and Nation, author Elisabeth Özdalga explores five key aspects of Turkey’s Friday preaching. 1. A Secular State Housing Thousands of Mosques and Pulpits Every Friday, millions of Muslims all…
Folk Songs as Communication, Resistance, Lament, and Entertainment Among Women in Northeastern Afghanistan
By Wolayat Tabasum Niroo In the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan, talented women sing folk songs to entertain each other in female-only gatherings on happy occasions. The songs are accompanied by a diara or daff, a colorful frame drum made of…
Architectural Matrices: Uncovering the History of the Ghurid Dynasty
Via Discovery & Inspiration, a podcast from the National Humanities Center In this short podcast from the National Humanities Center, Alka Patel, author of Iran to India, introduces her work on the Ghurid Dynasty, and what she means when she…
An Interview with Warwick Ball, author of The Eurasian Steppe
In this interview, author and archaeologist Warwick Ball discusses his travels and research that led to his new book, The Eurasian Steppe. Can you tell us a bit about The Eurasian Steppe? The book started life many years ago as…
The destruction of ‘un- Islamic’ edifices by ISIS and the Taliban
by Shivan Mahendrarajah The Taliban are back in power, ushering in renewed fears of destruction of cultural heritages. Their first time in office (1996–2001), the Taliban destroyed edifices on the basis that they were ‘un-Islamic’ and/or ‘beacons’ for polytheists (mushrikin).…