The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period

The Intensification and Reorientation of Sunni Jihad Ideology in the Crusader Period examines the important role of Ibn ʿAsākir, including his Forty Hadiths for Inciting Jihad, in the promotion of a renewed jihad ideology in twelfth-century Damascus as part of sultan Nūr al-Dīn’s agenda to revivify Sunnism and fight, under the banner of jihad, Crusader […]

“From Yao to Now: Daoism and the Imperialization of the China/Southeast Asia Borderlands” in Asian Ethnicity vol. 18

This article investigates the adoption of Daoist ritual among the Yao peoples in South China and mainland Southeast Asia. The Song Dynasty imperial court patronized new Daoist ritual traditions that harnessed martial deities such as the Thunder Gods. Although these traditions were mostly southern in origin, it is not until the Qing dynasty that we […]

“Medical and Scientific Understandings of Emotion” in A Cultural History of Emotions in the Medieval Age (350-1350)

Between 350 CE and 1300 CE, the many changes taking place, especially the Carolingian Renaissance and the emergence of universities, had a significant impact on medical and scientific (or natural philosophical) views of emotion. One of the most important trends over these centuries was an attempt to articulate the causes of emotions and their various […]

Colorado Powder Keg: Ski Resorts and the Environmental Movement

Downhill skiing is a vital economic engine for many communities in the Rocky Mountain states, attracting 20 million skier days per season. Colorado is by far the most popular destination, with more than two dozen major ski resorts creating a thriving industry that adds billions to the state’s coffers. But, many ask, at what cost […]

“Building an Ecclesiastical Real Estate Empire in Late Imperial China” in The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 104

This article examines the French Catholic missionaries’ property acquisitions in late imperial China. It traces the historical trajectory leading up to the construction of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Guangzhou and the purchase of real estate in the neighborhood surrounding it. It argues that while colonialism contributed greatly to the creation of a real estate […]

“The Toiling froy and the Speculating yidene: Discourses of Female Productivization in the Soviet Shtetl,” Jewish History vol. 33

Despite the fact that Jewish women statistically outnumbered men in the former market towns of the Soviet Union, the discourse of the “new Jew” in the 1920s and 1930s focused overwhelmingly on the Jewish male and was debated primarily by men. This article explores what the restructuring of the economic base of the shtetl meant […]

The Size of the Risk: Histories of Multiple Use in the Great Basin

The Great Basin, a stark and beautiful desert filled with sagebrush deserts and mountain ranges, is the epicenter for public lands conflicts. Arising out of the multiple, often incompatible uses created throughout the twentieth century, these struggles reveal the tension inherent within the multiple use concept, a management philosophy that promises equitable access to the […]

Bachelors and Bunnies: The Sexual Politics of Playboy

Even at the height of Playboy magazine’s popularity and influence, its readers tended to be a bit sheepish about it. “I only read it for the articles,” was the common refrain—and there’s some truth to it, as no one would deny that Playboy’s articles, interviews, and fiction have always been top-notch. But Carrie Pitzulo thinks […]