Tap Into Your Inner Dancer!
In honor of National Tap Dance Day (May 25) Oxford is celebrating with Constance Valis Hill, author of Tap Dancing America. In this excerpt Hill shares a contemporary tap dance scene full of rich choreography.
Writing Emerald Cities
Joan Fitzgerald is Professor and Director of the Law, Policy and Society Program at Northeastern University. Her new book, Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development, is a refreshing look at how American cities are leading the way toward greener, cleaner, and more sustainable forms of economic development. Emerald Cities is very readable and Marco Trbovich of the Huffington Post wrote, “Fitzgerald combines the academic discipline of an urban planner with the rigors of shoe-leather journalism in crafting a book that documents where real progress is being made….” In the original post below Fitzgerald shares how she found the fine balance between “academic discipline” and “shoe-leather journalism”.
Plunder and the Musée Napoléon
Wayne Sandholtz, author of Prohibiting Plunder, examines the Napoleonic practice of seizing art from conquered territories and the appointing a specialist for this very purpose.
On Ants
An excerpt from The Lives of Ants.
Bridges, and What They Can Teach Us
Professor David Blockely on the lessons he believes the wider world can learn from bridge-building.
Two Heads Are Not Always Better Than One: Labour’s Poster attacking David Cameron
James Hall, author of The Sinister Side, on the left-right symbolism in one of the Labour Party’s new election posters.
The Role of the Stage
An excerpt from Paul Woodruff’s book The Necessity of Theater.
Ursula von Rydingsvard
An excerpt about Ursula von Rydingsvard.
On High Art
John Carey has been at various points in his life a soldier, a barman, a television critic, a beekeeper, a printmaker, and a professor of literature at Oxford. He is the Chief Book Reviewer for The Sunday Times in London. His book, What Good are the Arts? offers a delightfully skeptical look at the claims […]
Editing and Framing in Robert Bresson’s Films
An excerpt from Robert Bresson: A Passion for Film.
The Origins of Tintin
An excerpt from Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin.
The Blue Dress
Place of the Year 2009
15 years ago Albie Sachs was appointed by Nelson Mandela to South Africa’s first Constitutional Court. Here he talks about one of the most important buildings in the post-apartheid era and the artwork that makes its visitors pause.
What is Art?
Roger Scruton argues that there are universal standards by which to judge art.
Why Republicans Shouldn’t “dance”
Jennifer Fisher looks at Tom DeLay’s appearance on “Dancing with the Stars”.
The Peak-Performance Myth
How can you perform your best?
Humorous Quotations
Quotes to bring a smile to your face.