Whose words are they, anyway? Visiting 'Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens'

In this blog, Clodagh Murphy reflects on her recent visit to "Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens" at the British Library. The first exhibition to consider both queens jointly, "Elizabeth and Mary" tells their remarkable story through the queens’ ‘own words’.

Clodagh Murphy • January 20, 2022

Over my Dead Sheep’s Body!

As long as there have been taxes, people have tried to avoid them. Bob van Velthoven shows what a case of English window tax and an Ancient Greek anecdote can teach us about the preoccupation with paying as little tax as possible, and gives some tips on how to avoid taxes yourself this Christmas.

Bob van Velthoven • December 23, 2021

Make it New but Make it Old! Anchoring Innovation in Second-Century Celebrity Culture, Taylor Swift, and The Beatles

Modern artists are concerned with originality, while art in Antiquity was devoted to imitation, right? At least, that is how the story is often told. By looking at ancient and modern pop stars, this blog post shows that imitation and originality are not as irreconcilable as you would think.

Bram Demulder • December 09, 2021

Of Classics and Curricular Cobwebs: Towards the Development of Interdisciplinary Teaching in Dutch Gymnasia

One would expect interdisciplinary learning to be an essential component of the curricula in secondary schools in The Netherlands. Unfortunately, according to latest reports, it is not. In this blog post, Sandra Karten explains the advantages and challenges of interdisciplinary teaching.

Sandra Karten • November 24, 2021

Stoic Sage vs. Homo Economicus: the Battle for the Ages or…not?

Do Stoic ideas present an alternative to modern economic thinking? In this blog post, Aiste Celkyte explores the differences and surprising similarities between the Stoic sage and the homo economicus.

Aiste Celkyte • November 11, 2021

Squid Game and the Significance of Derivative Television

Quite some “Netflix Originals” are actually derivative. While often understood as a derogatory term, Evert Jan van Leeuwen argues how significant the derivative character of popular culture can be by exploring Squid Game’s close-intertextual relations to earlier deadly-gameshow stories.

Evert-Jan van Leeuwen • November 05, 2021

Art about Art: an introduction to Metapoetry in Antiquity

Quite a few popular TV shows, such as the irreverent sci-fi series Rick and Morty or the quirky sit-com Community, are, in part, appreciated due to the fact that their humour is often meta. What does it mean for something to be meta? And can classical literature be viewed through a meta-lens?

Ruben Poelstra • October 28, 2021

Challenging Assumptions - Looking & Seeing

Archival research is extremely rewarding, whether you find documents that corroborate a hypothesis or that contradict it. Yet, balancing between contradicting sources can be tricky. In this post, Andrea talks about documents that challenged her preconceptions about the social fabric of New Spain.

Andrea Reyes Elizondo • October 13, 2021

Neptune on the Amstel: Theatre as Public Diplomacy in the Early Modern Netherlands

In this blog, Dr Bram van Leuveren, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at LUCAS, examines the theatrical performances that Dutch city councils staged for English and French rulers and their diplomats between the 1570s and 1640s.

Bram van Leuveren • October 06, 2021