Category: Academic
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Eastern State Penitentiary and the Punishment of Isolation in Nineteenth-Century Penal Imprisonment
Written by Melissa Kane. Eastern State Penitentiary is probably best known for holding Al Capone. The prison has a longer history, playing a key role in the emergence of the so-called “Pennsylvania System” of punishment and reform.
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Spilling Over: Ovid’s Heroides and the Mythological Female Voice
Written by Hazel Atkinson. Ovid’s Heroides is one of his most understudied texts. It consists of fifteen “letter” poems written from the perspective of various female characters of Greek myth. How might the text alter our perceptions of Greek myth and writings about it?
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Argentine Women and Mass Political Participation in the Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth Centuries
Written by Hanna Derouin. Women’s increasing engagement in Argentine politics paradoxically emerged through traditional gender roles. From schooling to the figure of Eva Peron, Argentinian women used their positions as mothers and caregivers to establish themselves politically.
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Violence, Glue Sniffing, and Liberation: Global 1968 in Japan
Written by Jack Bennett. Shinjuku was the centre of national political struggles and counter-culture in late 1960s Japan. In the paradox of the collective embrace of individualism, a new revolutionary identity politics emerged.
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Richard Duke of York: The Almost King.
Written by Alex Smith. The Wars of the Roses are a well known marker of late medieval history, but how did they come to happen? The life of Richard, third Duke of York can offer insight into the years before civil war.
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Hellhound Blues at the Devil’s Crossroads: The Life and Legacy of Robert Johnson
Written by Megan Downie and Melissa Kane. The legend surrounding 1930s blues musician Robert Johnson has made his story somewhat of a myth. With a huge influence on musicians in the later twentieth century, what can be deciphered about Johnson’s life?
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The Curse of Oil
Written by Finlay Cormack. The history of oil is one steeped in colonial discourses and imperial ambitions. With continuing conflict arising from this commodity in the Middle East, how can we understand the influence of the global north in the origins of oil disputes?
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“Hell on wheels”: The Miserable History of the Edinburgh Trams project, 2001 to the Present
Written by Inge Erdal. Anyone who’s been living in Edinburgh for a while is familar with the central tram system. To the ire of many inhabitants, the project was plagued with problems for the start. What can it tell us about local governance, national projects, and the task of creating urban environments in the twenty-first…
Retrospect Journal 