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Marcus Garvey Movement Owes Large Debt to Caribbean Expats, UCLA Historian Finds

By Guest PostAugust 20, 2011Culture, Politicsafrica for the africans, african americans, american race, back to africa movement, belize newspaper, black star line, british guiana, caribbean identity, caribbean movement, caribbean nationals, caribbean role, charismatic jamaica native, conventional wisdom, costa rica, duke university press, garvey movement and the caribbean, jamaica, marcus garvey, negroes, new york, political and cultural environment of the harlem renaissance, racial self help, robert a hill, the caribbean diaspora, united states, unity of the african diaspora, universal negro improvement association

Conventional wisdom has long held that Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, which advocated racial self-help and the unity of the African diaspora, grew out of the heady political and cultural environment of the Harlem Renaissance and benefited African Americans above all other black people. Any Caribbean role, according to this view, was separate and incidental to the primary legacy bequeathed to American race relations by the charismatic Jamaica native.

Now a UCLA historian argues the reverse in the first book of a multi-volume series on the Garvey movement and the Caribbean. From the UNIA’s organizational structure to its most valuable foot soldiers during its first half-decade, Garvey’s Caribbean links were indispensable to the movement’s success, and the region ultimately proved to be its most important theater, contends Robert A. Hill in “The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers: The Caribbean Diaspora 1910–1920.” (more…)

Roman Civilisation Travelled Further than History Books Tell Us

By Guest PostAugust 6, 2011Culture, Sciencearchaeologist, coin, danielle wootton, devon, earthwatch, excavation, history of the romans in britain, ioana oltean, largest roman settlement, metal detectorists, pas, portable antiquities scheme, quarry pits, roman cemetery, roman coins, roman invasion and occupation of devon, sam moorhead, south west peninsula of britain, university of exeter

A University of Exeter archaeologist’s research has uncovered the largest Roman settlement ever found in Devon. The discovery could force us to rewrite the history of the Romans in Britain.

The discovery of a large Roman Settlement in Devon was the result of a chance metal detecting coin find. Danielle Wootton, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and archaeologist at the University of Exeter was called on to investigate further. (more…)

“The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” Collection Donated to Ransom Center

By Guest PostAugust 3, 2011Culturebest choreography, broadway production, carlin glynn, carol hall, gilbert, harry ransom center at the university of texas at austin, helen adair, husband wife duo actress, jessie mae, larry l king, mona stangley, owner of a brothel, peter masterson, publicity photographs, pulitzer prize winning play, texas, the best little whorehouse in texas, the convict, the harry ransom center, the trip to bountiful, the university of texas at austin, the young man from atlanta, tony award

AUSTIN, Texas — The Harry Ransom Center, a humanities research library and museum at The University of Texas at Austin, has acquired a collection of materials from husband-wife duo actress Carlin Glynn and writer and director Peter Masterson relating to their careers and their work on the original Broadway production and film of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

The collection consists of eight document boxes of materials, half of which relate to the 1978 musical. The musical was directed by Masterson, who also co-authored the book with Larry L. King. Carol Hall wrote the lyrics for the musical. The stage musical starred Glynn as Mona Stangley, the owner of a brothel in the fictional town of Gilbert, Texas. The show ran for more than 1,500 performances on Broadway, toured extensively and was adapted to film in 1982. (more…)

Trend in Young Adults’ Dating Habits, Committed Relationships May Not Lead to Marriage, MU Researcher Finds

By Guest PostJuly 26, 2011Culturechanges in relationship, guidance of social norms, larry ganong, marriage, patterns in romantic relations, stayover relationships, stayovers, tyler jamison, university of missouri, young adults

*Trend may help explain decline in marriage rate, particularly among young adults*

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Changes in relationship formation and dissolution in the past 50 years have revealed new patterns in romantic relations among young adults. The U.S. Census indicates that young people are choosing to marry later and cohabitating more often than past generations. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that people in their 20s are redefining dating by engaging in “stayover relationships,” spending three or more nights together each week while maintaining the option of going to their own homes.

“Instead of following a clear path from courtship to marriage, individuals are choosing to engage in romantic ties on their own terms – without the guidance of social norms,” said Tyler Jamison, a researcher in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS). “There is a gap between the teen years and adulthood during which we don’t know much about the dating behaviors of young adults. Stayovers are the unique answer to what emerging adults are doing in their relationships.” (more…)

What is War Good for? Sparking Civilization, Suggest UCLA Archaeology findings from Peru

By Guest PostJuly 25, 2011Culture, Scienceabigail levine, andes highlands, anthropology, charles stanish, civilization, downfall of taraco, excavations in taraco, fifth century, first century, grassland pampas, iconographic evidence, mesoamerica, mesopotamia, neolithic site in armenia, political conflict, pottery and obsidian industry, predecessors to civilization, pukara, ramis river, regional trade, southern peru, titicaca basin, ucla study, war, warfare

Warfare, triggered by political conflict between the fifth century B.C. and the first century A.D., likely shaped the development of the first settlement that would classify as a civilization in the Titicaca basin of southern Peru, a new UCLA study suggests.

Charles Stanish, director of UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and Abigail Levine, a UCLA graduate student in anthropology, used archaeological evidence from the basin, home to a number of thriving and complex early societies during the first millennium B.C., to trace the evolution of two larger, dominant states in the region: Taraco, along the Ramis River, and Pukara, in the grassland pampas. (more…)

Exeter Academic Contributes to New TV Series on Islam

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2011Culture, Mediabbc, british citizenship, historical personality, islam, islamic intellectual history, Jerusalem, jordan, mecca, muslims, muslims in britain, prophet, rageh omaar, saudi arabia, syria, the life of muhammad, the uk, the usa, turkey, university of cambridge, university of exeter

*A University of Exeter academic, who is an expert on Islam, has contributed to the new television series ‘The Life of Muhammad’ currently being broadcast on BBC Two. The three-part documentary, presented by journalist Rageh Omaar, charts the story of the Prophet who, in little more than 20 years, changed the world forever.*

Professor Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter’s Associate Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, provided expert advice to the BBC team. He also appears in the series. (more…)

People often Talk About Politics on Blogs Geared Toward Other Topics

By Guest PostJuly 16, 2011Culture, Media, Politicsamericans, barcelona, blog posts, blogger, international conference on weblogs and social media, internet, national science foundation, paul resnick, personal diaries, political communication, political content, political discourse, political polarization, political websites, sean munson, university of michigan, Yahoo

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— A full 25 percent of blog posts about politics occur on sites that are primarily about something else, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan School of Information. And when authors post about politics, their readers reply and engage with the political content of the posts.

The researchers say they have uncovered a significant repository of political discourse that is largely being ignored. They will present their findings July 19 at the International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media in Barcelona. (more…)

Some Russians Still Live in The USSR

By PravdaJuly 9, 2011Culture, Politics666, antonina pronina, article 28, citizens, city of sverdlovsk, constitution of the russian federation, hammer and sickle, igor bukker, nostalgic, number of the beast, pravda, religious feelings, rubles, russian citizenship, russian federation, russian passport, soviet passport, soviet passport people, ussr, vladivostok

The Soviet passport stopped its existence seven years ago. Nevertheless, about 5,000 residents of the city of Sverdlovsk live in a non-existent country. They refuse to exchange their ID for a Russian passport. What is the reason behind such absurd situations? Do those people feel nostalgic about the erstwhile superpower or are they stuck-in-the-mud kind of people? What can be done about such citizens who can not even be referred to as citizens?

A local news agency says that many of those “Soviet passport people” ask officers of migration services to glue in new photos in their invalid passports. Some others decide not to exchange their Soviet passports for Russian ones in order not to pay the state duty of 1,000 rubles ($30). There are people who say that the new passport insults their religious feelings. (more…)

Category Archives: Culture