Accius in Leiden

How did the work done, sometimes in extraordinary circumstances, by a few seventeenth-century Dutch scholars connected with Leiden University contribute to shaping the way in which we experience the fragments of the Roman poet Accius today? That is a story I propose to investigate in this blog post.

Mapping Gendered Agency in Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929)

Digital Humanities gives us tools to analyze stories. But what kind of insights do we really gain from them? In this blog, Lyna Meyrer will use the experimental modernist novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) to show what digital cartography reveals about this complex story of human relationships.

How to be troubled by a bridge over water

When humans alter the natural landscape, this often elicits strong human responses. In this blog, Kees Geluk discusses an ancient Greek poem on a harbour mole and compares it to modern environmental attitudes.

Who was Amsir? A Colonial Portrait by Jan Veth (1864-1925)

In the exhibition on Dutch artist Jan Veth, which recently opened at the Dordrechts Museum, Veth’s colonial work is made visible. In this blog Nick Tomberge uses Veth’s Portrait of Amsir (1922), on display at the exhibition, to discuss how the museum presents the colonial past to the general public.

“A Weasel is Wild. Who knows what he thinks?” A reading of Annie Dillard’s “Living like Weasels” (1982)

In this post, LUCAS lecturer Jessie Morgan-Owens revisits an essay that is a joy to teach: “Living like Weasels” by Annie Dillard (1982). This essay invites us to imagine life outside the binary of culture/nature, and asks, what would it be like to live only for necessity, like a weasel?

Would Murder Be More Sustainable if All That Meat Didn’t Go to Waste? A Look at Garbage in Sweeney Todd’s Story

When we carefully separate paper from plastic, we hope that our waste will find a second life. But in which bin does crime evidence go? Angel Perazzetta discusses a Victorian tale of murder, greed and cannibalism, where an unscrupulous barber grapples with a trash-related dilemma.

Can artifacts play? Yes, they can!

You may have heard phrases like "This game is a waste of time" or "It’s all about fantasy". Amanda Viveiros uncovers archaeological games as sites of knowledge so that when you hear those phrases again, you will be able to reply "games are learning tools, and right now, I'm playing and learning".

How would Jane Austen celebrate Christmas?

With Christmas just around the corner, LUCAS PhD candidate Fernanda Korovsky Moura looks back to holiday festivities in the Georgian era, and explores how Jane Austen (1775-1817) experienced and celebrated Christmas.

Mocking the Monarch: What Do Memes About Queen Elizabeth II Have In Common With Unruly Spectators of Renaissance Spectacle?