Humanities

Nicholas Till on what it means to be moved by a piece of art after 30 years of critical practice

Richard J. Williams on how big data may transform how we live, travel and work in our towns

Thesis explores thumb-biting, ‘Spanish figs’ and other rude Elizabethan gestures

Book of the week: Deborah Longworth meanders with female writer-walkers getting their measure of the metropolis

Seeking a deep conversation between Scripture and the Bard’s works is a fool’s errand, argues Peter J. Smith

The fields have been far too shy in leaping to their own defence, argues paper

Academics working in English studies consider what Brexit means for their discipline

Dana Ruggiero on new ways of thinking about how to construct gaming experiences that allow people to help tackle intractable challenges

Explaining how skilled individuals deliver a peak performance is a thorny task, Jane O’Grady says

Book of the week: Fred Inglis delights in a grafting of art, lore and literature that logs our lives with natural wonders

This study reminds us of the radicalism of bringing the quotidian into art, writes Shahidha Bari

R. J. B. Bosworth traces the state’s long involvement in the production and sale of tobacco to its citizens

Martin Cohen on a philosophical study that eschews the root for the rhizome

Stefania Milan on the socio-legal complexities of digital redemption and digital reinvention

Grace Lees-Maffei on an effort to illuminate ‘the soul’ in design that highlights the potential of interdisciplinary encounters

Surviving a traumatic event isn’t a prerequisite for making great artworks, says K. E. Gover

Howard Segal on an optimistic visionary who never quite achieved the utopian communities he envisioned

As we continually wait for the next big thing, we are doomed to disappointment, finds Tara Brabazon

Jonathan Mirsky considers an exploration of the dynamics between two ancient rival nations

Book of the week: Meet the human computers in heels who juggled science and family, says Margaret A. Weitekamp

David Gewanter on a poet’s turning his telltale gaze to works of verse and makers of muddled readings and purveyors of ‘balonium’

Projecting their hopes and fears on to Israel has polarised Jews in the US, says William Kolbrener

Book of the week: Randy Malamud on two scholars’ exploration of a temple of Christian fundamentalist belief

Kaarina Hollo on a study comparing medieval manuscripts with evidence on the ground to illuminate life in Iron Age Ireland

A study confronts the theme of mortality during the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s passing

A literature module developed at Brunel University London has moved away from the traditional essay format and embraced the digital age

David Mayall reflects on the ‘war on humanities’, Brexit and graduate employability

Well-researched portraits of female pioneers and game gals capture the buzz around the Beeb as women entered the professions, says Sharon Wheeler

Moyra Haslett on what the Irish diaspora in mid-18th-century London reveals about the life and politics of one literary figure

Researchers in the liberal arts seem to have made it their mission to communicate in the most obscure fashion, says Zachary Foster

A study probing the state of a discipline raises the alarm on scholars selling out, says Martin Cohen

Jane Shaw on a brilliant study of independent churches in the US

Ivor Gaber welcomes a work that gives overdue attention to the risks that members of the press and those who help them too often face

Sites like Patreon and Kickstarter allow backers to fund independent scholars, but for now, the sums are small

Book of the week: Second-wave highs, Caitlin Moran and rape culture surface in a work of mixed genres, says Emma Rees

Stephen Halliday on a rogue whose smart manner helped him to profit in a deferential era

Six authors have been plucked from the crowd to discuss a topic few want to face, says Sunny Singh

Optimism and realism vie in a study telling us where we are, where we’re going and how best to get there, says Jon Turney

Willy Maley on the many ways of interpreting that thin strip of water between England and France

Shelley King on a comprehensive tour of magical worlds

The idea of barriers to work being benefits leaves Robert Eaglestone wondering if he missed the joke

New course in historical research follows decision to cut undergraduate fees a year early

Do changes to degree courses reflect a more pluralistic society or are they driven by a desire for more radical approaches?

Is the subject’s amalgam of a wide range of subject matter and methodologies a strength or a weakness? Five scholars have their say

Getting politicians to learn the lessons of history can sometimes require an indirect approach, Queen Mary event hears

In giving short shrift to the production of modern interpretations, classicists consign their work to narrow academic circles, says Emma Gee

Modern languages needs to become a broader interdisciplinary field unbound by national limits, argues Charles Burdett

Countries like Singapore are turning to broad-based education just as the US turns away from it, says Trisha Craig

Matthew Reisz talks to creative writers and artists about what it is like to be the subject of commentaries and theories

As 14 February approaches, Tim Worth looks at a couple of choice Collinses and remembers what Georgian ladies had to put up with

Scholars in the field have been challenged to move beyond literary theory and take on some of the most difficult questions of our times

Heated debate and hours of staff time are worth it if students get the courses they need, says Charles Bailyn

Researchers are finding powerful ways of resurrecting the elusive emotions of previous eras

We talk to the artist and academic about black artists’ vital role in Modernism and how to bring this to the attention of the public

Mike Marinetto thinks such a shift viable, while literary scholar Lennard Davis recounts his struggles to stick to the facts

Big data, Google Books and the Ngram database are wonderful aids to today’s intellectual problems, argues Frank Furedi

Simon Blackburn, Mariana Alessandri and John Kaag on why reports of Socrates’ impending demise are greatly exaggerated

I had assumed stories about campus political correctness might be overblown. But the experience of my friend is an example of how deeply it permeates universities

New publishing model aims to make research accessible to all without charging authors

Survey also finds that women do more work with the general public than male researchers