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Academic Insights for the Thinking World
Jemison, Mae (17 Oct. 1956 –), astronaut and physician, was born Mae Carol Jemison in Decatur, Alabama, the daughter of Charlie Jemison, a carpenter and roofer, and Dorothy Jemison, a teacher whose maiden name is unknown. After living the first three and a half years of her life in Alabama near the Marshall Space Flight […]
by Philip Jenkins For observers of Washington politics who remember the 1970s, the sense of déjà vu becomes stronger daily. Liberals freely compare the Iraq conflict with the latter stages of the Vietnam War, while scandals involving corruption and illegal leaks threaten the highest ranks of the Republican Party. Domestic controversies focus on intelligence abuses […]
Professor Raymond Arsenault launched his book tour for Freedom Riders last evening at Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem. For the second leg tonight, beginning at 7:30 PM, Arsenault will be downtown at Barnes & Noble (6th Ave. & 8th St.). In addition to hearing Arsenault tell the Freedom Rides story, this might be a perfect opportunity […]
Hello everyone – I am very happy to be here today and to answer your questions, so, let’s get started! At a recent Harvard-sponsored debate between Noam Chomsky and Alan Dershowitz, a major point of contention emerged concerning the nature of the concessions offered by Israel to Arafat. Dershowitz held up a map, claiming the […]
Shlomo Ben-Ami, the former Foreign Minister of Israel and author of Scars of War, Wounds of Peace was in our office on Monday and he sat down with OUP Blog to take your questions on his book, which covers the Arab-Israeli conflict from its roots to the present day, including his eyewitness account of the […]
Jones, Quincy (14 Mar. 1933 –), jazz musician, composer, and record, television, and film producer, was born Quincy Delight Jones Jr. on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Sarah (maiden name unknown) and Quincy Jones Sr., a carpenter who worked for a black gangster ring that ran the Chicago ghetto. When Quincy […]
by Ed Gaustad This year of 2006 marks the tercentenary of Benjamin Franklin’s birth in Boston (January 17, 1706). And many groups have deemed this occasion as worthy of some notice or even celebration. The city of Philadelphia, for example, is giving major attention to Franklin, notably in its newly erected National Constitution Center, and […]
This is a fresh chutney that should be made just before it is required. It is difficult to give precise amounts for the ingredients in this sort of dish. It is best to keep tasting it and adjust the flavor as you make it. It tastes good with idlis (you can buy packet mixes from […]
by H. J. de Blij In the current dilemma arising from the Hamas election victory, it may be useful to recall a French experience. Following the war of independence fought by Algerian Arabs against their French colonial rulers, France acknowledged Algeria’s independence in July 1962, leaving in charge a government of which Paris approved. That […]
Coretta Scott King (27 Apr. 1927–30 January 2006) was born in Heiberger, near Marion, Alabama, the second of three children of Obadiah Scott and Bernice McMurry, who farmed their own land. Although Coretta and her siblings worked in the garden and fields, hoeing and picking cotton, the Scotts were relatively well off. Her father was […]
by Jill Quadagno Last year nearly a million more people were uninsured compared to the year before. The employer-based system that most people of working age have relied on since the 1950s is unraveling at the seams. Each year for more than a decade the percentage of employers offering health benefits has declined. The only […]
Oxford University Press mourns the passing of Wendy Wasserstein. LINK to her obituary in The New York Times.
Colin G. Calloway, author of Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of America reviews the PBS documentary “The War That Made America”: Looking back, it often seems difficult for modern-day Americans to see beyond the Revolution and understand the colonial era as much more than just a prelude to that nation-forming event. Until […]
You predicted earlier this week that Abbas would resign if Hamas won and he seems to have done just that today. What is your reaction to this? and Who is running the PA now? The results of the elections do not affect the status of President Abbas, although his own party was defeated. The key […]
Shlomo Ben-Ami is a former Foreign Minister of Israel and has been a key participant in many Arab-Israeli peace conferences, most notably the Camp David Summit in 2000. President Clinton says that his new book, Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy, “should be read by everyone who wants a just and lasting […]
An excerpt from Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Raymond Arsenault. Arsenault will soon be on tour, roughly following the route of the original Freedom Rides. Click here for a map of the Rides/his tour. On May 14, 1961, the two groups of Freedom Riders left Atlanta an hour apart. The […]