Refashioning Bodies, Men, and Communities in Late Imperial Istanbul
A revision of the history of modern sports in late Ottoman Istanbul, showing how Muslims, Christians, and Jews created a shared sports culture that was simultaneously global, imperial, and local. The history of sports in Turkey is deeply contested. Over the decades, journalists, pundits, non-professional historians, and everyday people have ......
The story of the Star Film Ranch and its pioneering crew, who created the first "authentic" Westerns filmed in Texas. In 1910, the MEliEs Star Film Company of Manhattan set up a moving-picture studio outside San Antonio, the first in Texas. Determined to make the most authentic Westerns possible, the company filmed there for a little over a ......
A History of the Latin American Political Thriller
An exploration of the political thriller genre and its context in Latin American politics and entertainment. For the past five decades, a distinctive type of political thriller has been steadily developing in Latin America. Precarious Secrets is a panoramic overview of the genre in the hands of renowned writers and filmmakers from Argentina, ......
Morality and Social Violence Among the Precolonial Maya
An exploration of war, violence, and sacrifice in precolonial Maya culture and its importance in religious practices. As the Gods Kill delivers new insights into warfare, weaponry, violence, and human sacrifice among the ancient Maya. While attending to the particularity of a singular historical context, anthropologist and archaeologist Andrew ......
An examination of male screen sex appeal and the ways that race, ethnicity, and national origin combine with performance tools and film and television style to aid or inhibit actors' circulation on an increasingly global stage. Sex appeal is complicated, especially for screen actors. Looking good is not enough. Charisma and charm have to ......
Before they were written down, the poems attributed to Homer were performed orally, usually by rhapsodes (singers/reciters) who might have traveled from city to city or enjoyed a position in a wealthy household. Even after the Iliad and the Odyssey were committed to writing, rhapsodes performed the poems at festivals, often competing against each ......
Sicily has been the fulcrum of the Mediterranean throughout history. The island's central geographical position and its status as ancient Rome's first overseas province make it key to understanding the development of the Roman Empire. Yet Sicily's crucial role in the empire has been largely overlooked by scholars of classical antiquity, apart from ......
A richly detailed history of daily life for colonial Spanish soldiers surviving on the eighteenth-century Texas Gulf Coast. In 1775, Spanish King Carlos III ordered the capture of American pelicans for his wildlife park in Madrid. The command went to the only Spanish fort on the Texas coast-Presidio Nuestra SeNora de Loreto de la BahIa in ......
Extractivism, War, and Visuality in Northern Kurdistan
Focuses on contemporary art and media to examine the role of visuals in environmental violence and war in Northern Kurdistan. Extractivism-exploiting the earth for resources-has long driven racial capitalism and colonialism. And yet, how does extractivism operate in a world where ecological and humanitarian sensibilities are unprecedentedly ......
