Category: Features
-
Mansa Musa: Reorienting Assumptions of African Development in Mali
Written by Amy Hendrie. According to present value, Mansa Musa, the fourteenth-century leader of the Mali Empire, was the richest man who has ever lived. Despite this, his name is largely missing from the Brittish curriculum. Amy Hendrie explores the life of legacy of the man at the head of West Africa’s largest empire.
-
Ageing in the Time of Osteology
Written by Etta Coleman. What can studying bone remains tell us about age in historical terms? Etta Coleman discusses the use of Osteology as means for assessing general aging in pre-modern societies, along with its varying challenges, both practical and conceptual.
-
The Identity Crisis of a Planet: Pluto’s Discovery and Reclassification
Written by Kat Jivkova. Writing the history behind Pluto’s “demotion” to a dwarf planet. Kat Jivkova examines the history of the discovery and classification of Pluto, an accident that provoked remarkable emotional reaction.
-
The Origins of Tattooing: A Brief Overview
Written by Etta Coleman. The art of tattooing has a long and nuanced history, intimately linked with the cultures who permanently inscribed ink into the flesh. Etta Coleman explores the origins of this art form and its global spread.
-
‘Fighting Bob’: Attempting an American Labour Party
Written by Sam Marks. US Politics remains, on average, shifted to the right when compared to European states. But, the 1924 presidential election has one often overlooked candidate who was the champion of the progressive movement. Sam Marks explores the significance of Robert M. ‘Fighting Bob’ La Follette.
-
Sacagawea: The Key to Success
Written by Amy Hendrie. How do you tell the story of someone entirely from external sources? Amy Hendrie engages with this troubling historiographical problem in relation to the Indigenous American figure of Sacagawea, an extraordinary woman who played the biggest part in the exploration of the territories of the Louisiana Purchase.
-
The Life of Squanto
Written by Amy Hendrie. The story of the first thanksgiving is told yearly in the US, and is widely known throughout the world. Amy Hendrie explores the figure of Squanto, or Tisquantum, pivotal to the story of this first thanksgiving.
-
Were The Reigns of Catherine de’ Medici and Mary I of England as violent as popular historic thought have allowed us to believe?
Written by Sophia Aiello. The reigns of both Catherine de’ Medici and Mary I have been largely defined by the extraordinary violence of their rules. However, exploring the position of contemporary religious dissenters can help shed light on their egregious reputations.
Retrospect Journal 