The Roman Empire and Cleanliness
During my Sex, Gender and Culture course, I learned from my professor that the American and the Japanese cultures are equal in how they admire cleanliness. I am an American, and yes, I like to wash twice daily, shave, use anti-perspirant on my underarms and I like perfume and I always wash my hands after I use the… Read on
A Night in the 1940s
My husband and I have a lot of friends who do historical re-enactments and we went along to a 1940s-themed party in Shoreditch, London. It would have been more fun had people behaved less like debauched people from the noughties and more like people in the 1940s (i.e. My research and interviews with people who lived in the… Read on
Handel’s Zadok the Priest
This fine piece by George Friedrich Handel is an enormously impressive work. Since 1727, this piece has been used not only for coronations of English monarchs but for weddings and other major occasions. The composition utilizes not only strings, but a full orchestra and chorus (and sometimes an organ). The result is a sublime example of Baroque musical… Read on
The Leakey Family
Andrea Zuvich July 2006 The Leakey family has had an enormous effect upon the anthropological community with its vast amounts of research and fossil evidence found in Africa. The prominent members of this family include Louis and his wife, Mary Leakey, and their son Richard, his wife Meave, and their daughter Louise. These five extraordinary people have helped… Read on
Veronica Franco: The Hidden Treasure of Venezia
Andrea Zuvich 26th April 2004 In the portrait by Tintoretto entitled: “Portrait of Woman – Veronica Franco,” one can hardly mistake the soft, sensual flesh that surrounds those two intelligent-looking eyes. The painting’s muse was indeed as intelligent and poetic as she was beautiful and fascinating. She was, arguably, the most talented of the courtesan-poets of her time,… Read on
Thoughts on Christianity
June 3, 2005 Andrea Zuvich Christianity can be compared with many, many, many, religions that preceded it, and in comparing it; one will find an assortment of similar and copied characteristics from those religions into Christianity. You ask if the pagan roots of so many Christian holidays and practices have a negative impact on Christianity. My answer would… Read on
How Chivalry in the Middle Ages Inspired Victorian England
Andrea Zuvich 11-24-03 You know him, that devastatingly handsome knight-in-shining-armour. The way the golden rays of the summer sun caress each lock of his hair, the way his eyes cut into your very soul the way his glinting sword can cut through flesh, and the majesty he exudes upon his fantastically decorated noble steed. Ah, yes, the golden… Read on