Culture and Arts

Joan L. Cannon writes: POETRY is a big word, in both denotation and connotation. Hours of classroom time and reams of thesis papers have been wasted in the attempt to analyze, categorize, classify, and define it. Rhyme, rhythm, diction, subject ... since before written language, from nonsense through ritual and history, folk songs, epics, in all languages, the list of schools and variations in form is too long to contemplate. However many attempts are made, full agreement is not likely. more »

It's difficult in this age to imagine the courage needed to pursue a path to women voting. But the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institute are highlighting a number of those paths: Suffragists, Farmerettes and Naval Officers more »

With graceful eyelashes, long flaxen hair and serene expression, the "Beauty of Xiaohe" seems to have just softly fallen to sleep — yet she last closed her eyes nearly 4,000 years ago. She was found in 2003, one of hundreds of spectacularly preserved mummies buried in China's vast Tarim Basin more »

Coontz set out to write about a generation of intelligent, well-educated women who had been marginalized by their own society. She wanted to understand how being confined to the home had undermined their sense of self and self-worth, until Friedan told them about "the problem that has no name." more »