Category Archives: War, Culture, and Society

Ritual and Violence

Posted on February 25, 2012 by briansandberg

The French Wars of Religion are featured in a new special issue of Past & Present, which reexamines Natalie Zemon Davis’s concept of “rites of violence” 40 years after her landmark article. The issue is entitled “Ritual and Violence: Natalie … Continue reading →

Posted in European Wars of Religion, French History, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Religious Violence, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Act of Valor: Entertainment or Propaganda?

Posted on February 25, 2012 by briansandberg

The new film, Act of Valor, depicts Navy SEALs in action against smugglers and terrorists. The film openly touts its active-duty SEALs who act as the protagonists in the film, alongside plenty of military hardware and vehicles. The filmmakers reportedly … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Film, History in the Media, Terrorism, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

The Global War on Terror Revisited

Posted on February 24, 2012 by briansandberg

The so-called “Global War on Terror”—once omnipresent on cable news networks—seems to have receded from view.  Is the war over?  How do we think about the past 11 years of warfare in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond? Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Violence, Strategy and International Politics, Terrorism, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Historical Films at the Oscars

Posted on February 24, 2012 by briansandberg

Historical films are in the running for Oscars at the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. Each year, films portraying historical subjects figure significantly in the Oscar nominations, but there seem to be an exceptionally large number of historical films this year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Film, History in the Media, War in Film | Leave a comment

ACDIS Summer Workshop on Global Security

Posted on February 22, 2012 by briansandberg

The Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security (ACDIS) at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana announces a one-week summer workshop in global security. Targeted at rising sophomores or advanced undergraduates, the workshop aims (1) to inform students about key … Continue reading →

Posted in Conferences, Grants and Fellowships, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

The “American Century” is Over

Posted on February 21, 2012 by briansandberg

Professor Andrew J. Bacevich of Boston University has become one of the strongest critical voices in military history and strategic studies today. Bacevich is known for his work on American militarism and his criticism of United States military strategy in … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Culture, State Development Theory, Strategy and International Politics, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Napoleonland

Posted on February 18, 2012 by briansandberg

Ready for a Napoleonic theme park?  Here comes Napoleonland…. Yves Jago, a French politician in the Parti Radical, is proposing a project to build a historical theme park to celebrate the life and legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte.  The theme park … Continue reading →

Posted in European History, European Union, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History in the Media, War, Culture, and Society | 1 Comment

English Translations of the Iliad

Posted on January 25, 2012 by briansandberg

Homer’s The Iliad has been translated and re-translated into English numerous times.  Willis G. Reiger, director of the University of Illinois Press, points out that “according to The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation, the Iliad is among the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Conflict, Empires and Imperialism, European History, History in the Media, History of the Book, Mediterranean World, Noble Culture and History of Elites, War, Culture, and Society, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

Commemorating Frederick the Great

Posted on January 25, 2012 by briansandberg

Germans are commemorating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Frederick II “the Great”, king of Prussia in the mid-eighteenth century. Frederick the Great is known above all for his generalship in a series of wars against the Habsburgs over … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Modern Europe, European History, History in the Media, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

New Diplomatic History and Neorealism

Posted on January 13, 2012 by briansandberg

Historians of the “new” Diplomatic History tend to clash with Political Science approaches to International Relations, and especially with Neorealists—who often depict states as “billiard balls” acting against each other on a global pool table. Paul W. Schroeder, a prominent … Continue reading →

Posted in European History, Globalization, Political Culture, State Development Theory, War, Culture, and Society | Tagged , , | Leave a comment