Proving cause, effecting outcomes, and making the case for ‘curers’
Culture
The Dancing Plague of 1518
Five hundred years ago in July, a strange mania seized the city of Strasbourg. Citizens by the hundred became compelled to dance, seemingly for no reason — jigging trance-like for days, until unconsciousness or, in some cases, death. Ned Pennant-Rea on one of history's most bizarre events.
Five hundred years ago in July, a strange mania seized the city of Strasbourg. Citizens by the hundred became compelled to dance, seemingly for no reason — jigging trance-like for days, until unconsciousness or, in some cases, death. Ned Pennant-Rea on one of history’s most bizarre events.
From the Human to the Planetary
Speculative futures of care
Speculative futures of care
The Poetry of Victorian Science
In 1848, the mineralogist, pioneer of photography, and amateur poet Robert Hunt published The Poetry of Science, a hugely ambitious work that aimed to offer a survey of scientific knowledge while also communicating the metaphysical, moral, and aesthetic aspects of science to the general reader.
In 1848, the mineralogist, pioneer of photography, and amateur poet Robert Hunt published The Poetry of Science, a hugely ambitious work that aimed to offer a survey of scientific knowledge while also communicating the metaphysical, moral, and aesthetic aspects of science to the general reader.
Algorithmic Futures
The life and death of Google Flu Trends
The life and death of Google Flu Trends
Rambling Reflections. On Summers in Switzerland and Sheffield
In the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Philipp Moritz — from the peace of Lake Biel to the rugged Peaks — Seán Williams considers the connection between walking and writing.
In the footsteps of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Philipp Moritz — from the peace of Lake Biel to the rugged Peaks — Seán Williams considers the connection between walking and writing.
Health as Growth
Bananas, humanitarian biotech, and human-plant histories in Uganda
Bananas, humanitarian biotech, and human-plant histories in Uganda
‘Let Us Calculate!’ Leibniz, Llull, and the Computational Imagination
Three hundred years after the death of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and seven hundred years after the death of Ramon Llull, Jonathan Gray looks at how their early visions of computation and the “combinatorial art” speak to our own age of data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
Three hundred years after the death of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and seven hundred years after the death of Ramon Llull, Jonathan Gray looks at how their early visions of computation and the “combinatorial art” speak to our own age of data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence.
Global Health Futures?
Reckoning with a pandemic bond
Reckoning with a pandemic bond
Loos, Lewdness, and Literature. Tales from the Boghouse
In the early 1730s, a mysterious editor (known only as "Hurlothrumbo") committed to print a remarkable anthology: transcriptions of the graffiti from England's public latrines.
In the early 1730s, a mysterious editor (known only as “Hurlothrumbo”) committed to print a remarkable anthology: transcriptions of the graffiti from England’s public latrines.
The Msm Category as Bureaucratic Technology
Reflections on paperwork and project time in performance-based aid economies
Reflections on paperwork and project time in performance-based aid economies
‘For the Sake of the Prospect’ Experiencing the World From Above in the Late 18th Century
The first essay in a two-part series in which Lily Ford explores how balloon flight transformed our ideas of landscape. We begin with a look at the unique set of images included in Thomas Baldwin's Airopaidia (1786) — the first "real" overhead aerial views.
The first essay in a two-part series in which Lily Ford explores how balloon flight transformed our ideas of landscape. We begin with a look at the unique set of images included in Thomas Baldwin’s Airopaidia (1786) — the first “real” overhead aerial views.
From Severed Heads to Ready-Made Meals
Jé Wilson charts the migration of the Lustucru figure through the French cultural imagination — from misogynistic blacksmith bent on curbing female empowerment, to child-stealing bogeyman, to jolly purveyor of packaged pasta.
Jé Wilson charts the migration of the Lustucru figure through the French cultural imagination — from misogynistic blacksmith bent on curbing female empowerment, to child-stealing bogeyman, to jolly purveyor of packaged pasta.
“When is a Bear a Frog?”: Objects Have Meaning, Why Museum Acquisition Matters
Alongside their original meanings and histories of acquisition, it is also important to show the ways that material culture acted within the cultures that collected it.
Alongside their original meanings and histories of acquisition, it is also important to show the ways that material culture acted within the cultures that collected it.
Epistemic Prejudice and Geographies of Innovation
Health disparities and unrecognized interventions in Mississippi
Health disparities and unrecognized interventions in Mississippi
Art, Taxidermy and Notebooks: The University Art Gallery As Site Of Cross-Disciplinary Exploration
The first set of objects came from the permanent collection of art and formed the central focus of the exhibition in the art gallery.
The first set of objects came from the permanent collection of art and formed the central focus of the exhibition in the art gallery.