“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 […]

The Decadence of Delphi: The Oracle in the Second Century AD and Beyond

Examining the final years of Delphic consultation, this monograph argues that the sanctuary operated on two connected, yet distinct levels: the oracle, which was in decline, and the remaining religious, political and social elements at the site which continued to thrive. In contrast to Delphi, other oracular counterparts in Asia Minor, such as Claros and […]

Legacies of Dust: Land Use and Labor on the Colorado Plains

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the worst ecological disaster in American history. When the rains stopped and the land dried up, farmers and agricultural laborers on the southeastern Colorado plains were forced to adapt to new realities. The severity of the drought coupled with the economic devastation of the Great Depression compelled farmers […]