A feverish expectation of the end of the world seems an unlikely accompaniment to middle-class respectability. But it was precisely her interest in millennial thinking that led Jane Shaw to a group of
The "refugee crisis" and the recent rise of anti-immigration parties across Europe has prompted widespread debates about migration, integration, and security on the continent. But the perspectives and
How does our colonial past echo through today's global politics? How have former empire-builders sought vindication or atonement, and formerly colonised states reversal or retribution? This ground-bre
In 1945, French political prisoners returning from the concentration camps of Germany coined the phrase ‘the concentrationary universe’ to describe the camps as a terrible political experiment in the
Gardens of the Gods reveals the symbolic language of garden design, exploring the gardens of China with their moon gates and immortal rocks, the Zen gardens of Japan, and the paradise gardens of Islam
Geoarchaeology is traditionally concerned with reconstructing the environmental aspects of past societies using the methods of the earth sciences. Once a purely technical subject, the field has been s
The cultural impact of mystically-inspired Sufi architecture on nineteenth-century Punjab greatly outweighed that of art institutions set up by colonial administrators, such as the Mayo School of Arts
Beirut is the cultural, commercial and economic hub of Lebanon. But to what extent has the city affected and shaped the formation and perceptions of Lebanese national identity? Ghenwa Hayek here explo
Yemen’s inhospitable mountain ranges and fiercely independent people have kept all but the most determined invader at bay; and even the Ottomans, when they entered the region in the 16th century, were
In July 2011, South Sudan was granted independence and became the world's newest country. Yet just two-and-a-half years after this momentous decision, the country was in the grips of renewed civil war
From 1924 to 1946 the Republic of Turkey was in effect ruled as an authoritarian single-party regime. During these years the state embarked upon an extensive reform programme of modernisation and nati
Cities are imagined not just as utopias, but also as ruins. In literature, film, art and popular culture, urban landscapes have been submerged by floods, razed by alien invaders, abandoned by fearful
The 1970s was an enormously creative period for experimental film. Its innovations and debates have had far-reaching and long-lasting influence, with a resurgence of interest in the decade revealed by
Video games are a defining part of mass visual culture. Today, more than half of all American households own a dedicated game console and gaming industry profits trump those of the film industry world
The Palestine Exploration Fund, established in 1865, is the oldest organization created specifically for the study of the Levant. It helped to spur evangelical tourism to the region in the late 19th a
Pakistan today stands at a critical juncture in its short history of existence. While much has been written about Pakistan, little is known about Communism or left-leaning politics in the country post
The US in the 1950s and 1960s wanted to prevent a new communist regime in the Western hemisphere at any cost. Under President Eisenhower the US pursued a policy of support for dictators, the economic
The uprisings which spread across the Middle East and North Africa in late 2010 and 2011 irrevocably altered the way in which the region is now perceived. But in spite of the numerous similarities in
Kira Muratova is a respected and original contemporary film director, yet her earliest works were not welcomed when they were first shown at the beginning of Brezhnev's ""period of stagnatio
