Rembrandt at 350: Light and Shadow in the Modern World

Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. Perhaps there was a sting of jealous amazement at work here, as Rembrandt notoriously bankrupted in the 1650s and thus worked in grinding poverty for his final decade. The winning and losing of fortune: this is the topsy-turvy, boom-and-bust world of global capital.

Modern Shamanism in Turkey

Murat Sahir The Republic of Turkey was a unique project of modernity. As a secular western state, the Turkish Republic embodied many contradictions, but over time Islam became the inescapable unifying factor of the multi-ethnic nation-state. Today, a clear majority of the Turkish population finds a sense of identity and community in the religion of […]

Lale to Me: Tulip to You

Alizeh Ahmad Irony abounds in that the tulip, so wrapped up in Dutch identity, belongs to a people and a set of beliefs that the Dutch seem to find repulsive in today’s political climate.

Muslim Women Resist: How Mona Haydar Counters Difference through Rap

Lamiae Aidi Through the lens of media as a form of pedagogy that shapes people’s identities and personas, the music video is a response to stereotypes of a subcategory of Muslim women that is represented as a problematic difference. It reminds women to voice their choice, it reiterates the same message as World Hijab Day.

The Ghost of Roy Orbison Goes on Tour

Peter Lehman He seemed to be defined by an absence, which then materialized as a dark, quiet persona who always kept his eyes covered in public, inviting people to project their thoughts, fears and melancholy onto him.