I like their chicken salad. A lot. But every time I go into either of the two local stores it not only seems like I’m the only guy in there but, also, that everyone else seated eating or in line ordering is either a member of a sorority or wishes they were — it’s like there’s a code and I didn’t get the memo about the breezy little sundress. Continue reading “Your Turn: Delicious Ideologies”
Your Turn: Identifying a Book by its Cover
On Facebook this morning I saw two curiously juxtaposed posts on my newsfeed: the above (click the image to see the video), wisely cautioning us about the dangers of judging value based on appearances, and then the one below (click that image too), which strategically caters to this very tendency to achieve their goals — they give the dog a cute make-over and it is adopted. Continue reading “Your Turn: Identifying a Book by its Cover”
The Fountain of Youth
Photo credit: thevalueengineers.com
If you’ve traveled to an American shopping mall of any size, chances are good that you’ve happened across a store called “Forever 21,” which sells clothing and accessories geared towards (as the name suggests) the younger woman – or at least someone who wishes to look like how the store indicates a younger woman should appear. Continue reading “The Fountain of Youth”
Frames of Identity Revisited
While at a workshop in Bethlehem, PA, I stayed at The Historic Bethlehem Hotel, built in early 19th century – a very nice and quaint hotel. On the second day of my stay there I came across a photo shoot in the lobby and as you can see in the picture that I was able to snap, the multiple frames immediately caught my attention and reminded me of a blog I wrote a while back on the use of frames at a museum in Greece – devices that effectively reinforced the nation’s enduring identity. Continue reading “Frames of Identity Revisited”
Collaborations and Fabrications
A new project from Culture on the Edge is Working With Culture on the Edge (edited by Vaia Touna), a book series with Equinox Publishers.
The first volume, to appear next year, has recently been completed and submitted to the press — its description reads as follows: Continue reading “Collaborations and Fabrications”
Your Turn: Is the Beach Really Better?
“Your Turn” is a new, ongoing feature at Culture on the Edge, in which we just plant the seed by picking a ripe e.g. and then soliciting and responding to your analysis.
Maybe the beach really is better?
Recently, as I sat down on a beach near Nice, France, I took notice of two women in front of me. One was wearing the tiniest of French bikinis, the other, a full burka. Other than the sand — Nice’s beaches are quite pebbly — the scene looked a lot like the photo above and sent my mind spinning, a growing clarity or distillation of oh so many discussions and debates I’ve had here in the academy about women’s rights, liberation and the like began to emerge. The juxtaposing bodies, each “oppressed” or “subjugated” in their own ways via the burka or bikini (of course, depending on the social interests at stake), collided in front of me in the south of France, a country that has recently banned face-covering burkas from public altogether and the more basic headscarf from schools and other civic institutions and establishments back in 2004. Continue reading “Your Turn: Is the Beach Really Better?”
War of Words
I assume you’ve heard plenty of news from the Hamas/Israel conflict that’s happening right now, particularly the back and forth over the innocent civilians who are either being terrorized by rocket attacks into Israel or the innocent civilians being killed daily in Gaza. Or, to rephrase, maybe you’ve heard the arguments for why it is or is not improper to consider certain people as civilians, i.e., arguments for why so-called non-military targets are as legitimate as any and not just the unfortunate (or perhaps inevitable) “collateral damage” that comes with war. Continue reading “War of Words”
Your Turn: Writing a History of Chocolate
A few of my Facebook friends have shared a video, that, apart from the first reaction, “Oh Wow!”, really got me thinking about history-writing. Continue reading “Your Turn: Writing a History of Chocolate”
Isn’t It Ironic…, Don’t You Think?
Have you heard the one about the graffiti that was vandalized? Continue reading “Isn’t It Ironic…, Don’t You Think?”
Whose (and Who) Rules?
Gains in Iraq, over the past several weeks, made by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have resulted in some news stories concerning their desecration and/or destruction of a variety of historic artifacts (click the above graphic for one example or here or even here and here for the latest). These stories bring to mind the outrage in the media in Europe and North America over the Taliban destroying the large statues of the Buddha carved into the mountains of the Bamiyan province of central Afghanistan, back in March of 2001 (see the below before/after photo, or click the image below for more information).
