Leiden Arts in Society Blog

When did humanity first begin to create the sensation of being in virtual reality? Kicking off a new week on the blog, Miguel Mira reflects on the history of VR, considering Oliver Grau’s theory on the immersive qualities of the Villa dei Misteri all the way to Morton Heilig’s Sensorama machine:

The History of VR – An Ancient Pursuit When did humanity first begin to create the sensation of being in VR? Miguel Mira reflects on the history of the medium, considering Oliver Grau’s theory on the immersive qualities of the Villa dei Misteri all the way to Morton Heilig’s Sensorama machine.

Been meaning to get organised? Or wondering how to fill a new notebook? This week on the blog, Leiden PhD candidate Holly Riach explores organisational strategies in early modern manuscript compilations:

“I’ve got a blank space, baby”: Untangling Organizational Strategies in Early Modern Manuscript Compilations How do you organize the texts you copy into blank notebooks? In this blog, Holly Riach reflects on the manuscripts she consulted at the Huntington Library, California, and explores what a blank page can tell us about the production and organization of textual collections in early modern England.

What kind of insights can we gain from tools offered by digital humanities? In this blog, Lyna Meyrer uses the experimental modernist novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) to show what digital cartography reveals about this complex story of human relationships:

Mapping Gendered Agency in Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) Digital Humanities gives us tools to analyze stories. But what kind of insights do we really gain from them? In this blog, Lyna Meyrer will use the experimental modernist novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (1929) to show what digital cartography reveals about this complex story of human relationships.

When humans alter the natural landscape, this often elicits strong human responses. Now on the blog, Kees Geluk discusses an ancient Greek poem on a harbour mole and compares it to modern environmental attitudes:

How to be troubled by a bridge over water When humans alter the natural landscape, this often elicits strong human responses. In this blog, Kees Geluk discusses an ancient Greek poem on a harbour mole and compares it to modern environmental attitudes.

Now on the blog, Nick Tomberge examines Jan Veth's Portrait of Amsir (1922), currently on display at the Dordrechts Museum's exhibition 'Jan Veth's Eye', to consider how the museum presents the colonial past to the general public:

Who was Amsir? A Colonial Portrait by Jan Veth (1864-1925) In the exhibition on Dutch artist Jan Veth, which recently opened at the Dordrechts Museum, Veth’s colonial work is made visible. In this blog Nick Tomberge uses Veth’s Portrait of Amsir (1922), on display at the exhibition, to discuss how the museum presents the colonial past to the general pub...

On the blog now, LUCAS lecturer Jessie Morgan-Owens revisits Annie Dillard's essay “Living like Weasels” (1982). This essay invites us to imagine life outside the binary of culture/nature, and asks, what would it be like to live only for necessity, like a weasel?

“A Weasel is Wild. Who knows what he thinks?” A reading of Annie Dillard’s “Living like Weasels” (1982) In this post, LUCAS lecturer Jessie Morgan-Owens revisits an essay that is a joy to teach: “Living like Weasels” by Annie Dillard (1982). This essay invites us to imagine life outside the binary of culture/nature, and asks, what would it be like to live only for necessity, like a weasel?

Recently on the blog, Angel Perazzetta examines the disposal of waste in The String of Pearls, in which an unscrupulous barber grapples with a trash-related dilemma:

Would Murder Be More Sustainable if All That Meat Didn’t Go to Waste? A Look at Garbage in Sweeney Todd’s Story When we carefully separate paper from plastic, we hope that our waste will find a second life. But in which bin does crime evidence go? Angel Perazzetta discusses a Victorian tale of murder, greed and cannibalism, where an unscrupulous barber grapples with a trash-related dilemma.

Recently on the blog, Amanda Viveiros explores archaeological video games as sites of knowledge:

Can artifacts play? Yes, they can! You may have heard phrases like "This game is a waste of time" or "It’s all about fantasy". Amanda Viveiros uncovers archaeological games as sites of knowledge so that when you hear those phrases again, you will be able to reply "games are learning tools, and right now, I'm playing and learning".

Recently on the LUCAS blog, Bram van Leuveren explores what memes about Queen Elizabeth II have in common with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century spectators mocking their ruling elite:

Mocking the Monarch: What Do Memes About Queen Elizabeth II Have In Common With Unruly Spectators of Renaissance Spectacle? Peasants celebrate the religious holiday of Twelfth Night at a Flemish tavern while dressed up as ‘king’ and ‘courtiers’ (David Teniers the Younger, 1630). National Gallery of Art, London, accession number 1972.10.1. Mocking the Monarch: What Do Memes About Queen Elizabeth II Have In Common ...

In this weeks blog, PhD candidate Mitchell van Vuren asks: Does being active on a streaming platform count as an actual hobby now?

“My hobby is Netflix, so what?” – Stranger Things and platformized fandom You might have seen it around on someone’s Tinder profile or overheard it in a nearby train conversation: “My hobby is Netflix.” Does being active on a streaming platform count as an actual hobby now? Mitchell van Vuren argues that it is – most of us might have already become a ‘Netflix fa...

In our latest blog, Annelies Schulte Nordholt introduces you to 20th-century French author George Perec and her book: Georges Perec et ses lieux de mémoire (Brill, Leiden, 2022)

Georges Perec and his Sites of Memory Lieux, by the 20th-century French author Georges Perec, is an experimental collection of texts and photographs describing the author’s sites of memory. In this blog, Annelies Schulte Nordholt introduces you to Perec’s and to her own book Georges Perec et ses lieux de mémoire (Brill, Leiden, 202...

Kicking off the new semester with a brand new blog, LUCAS PhD candidate Miguel Mira explores videogame player input, particularly in the form of motion and its emergent centrality to virtual reality:

The Evolving Videogame Input – Motion as Means of Interaction Videogames dominate the entertainment industry because they necessitate interaction, transforming spectators into players. This interaction has assumed multiple forms. Miguel Mira explores how motion as a means of interaction seems to have found a home as an integral part of virtual reality.

This week on the blog, Glyn Muitjens debunks an internet myth about ancient medical superstar Galen: 'Off-Beat: Did Galen Really Pioneer Diagnostic Use of the Pulse?'

Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society

https://www.leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/off-beat-did-galen-really-pioneer-diagnostic-use-of-the-pulse

Off-Beat: Did Galen Really Pioneer Diagnostic Use of the Pulse? The internet presents a maelstrom of misinformation when it comes to ancient medicine. In this blog, Glyn debunks a claim about an important ancient medical author: Galen. He examines several older biological texts to refute that Galen was the first to use examination of the pulse in diagnosis.

This week on the blog, Carmen Van den Bergh sheds light on 'a little known Italian novel with German roots': Quartiere Vittoria (1936) by the Italian writer Ugo Dèttore. https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/quartiere-vittoria-a-little-known-italian-novel-with-german-roots

Quartiere Vittoria, a Little-Known Italian Novel with German Roots There are many novels in danger of being forgotten. In this blog, Carmen Van den Bergh sheds light on one of these endangered books: Quartiere Vittoria (1936) by the Italian writer Ugo Dèttore. Van den Bergh will re-vitalize this book by positioning it in the context of European Modernism.

In this week's blog, PhD Candidate for the NITE project Seger Kersbergen explores the centrality of the night for Cape Verdeans in Rotterdam, through music:
https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/after-dark-falls-the-night-as-a-space-time-of-migrant-community-building-reflection-and-resistance

After dark falls: the night as a space-time of migrant community building, reflection and resistance Even though we mostly sleep through it, the night is an important space-time for different communities to get together, to remember and share experiences. As a PhD Candidate for the NITE project, Seger Kersbergen rediscovers the centrality of the night for Cape Verdeans in Rotterdam through music.

This week on the blog, Francianne dos Santos Velho presents MUNGANGA (2022): a documentary she directed as part of the HERA funded research project Night spaces: migration, culture and IntegraTion in Europe (NITE), launching on the 20 May 2022: https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/munganga-a-documentary

MUNGANGA - a documentary Francianne dos Santos Velho shares her experiences as a research assistant in the HERA project Night Spaces: Migration, Culture and Integration in Europe. She directed the documentary MUNGANGA (2022), which connects with her PhD project on migrant workers in Brazil and the Netherlands.

New blog post! This week, Suzanne Adema explores how narrators assist the reader's interpretation of characters' emotions, in 'How Do we Know What Fictive Characters Feel? The Reader as ‘legilimens’ of Rowling’s Cho Chang and Vergil’s Dido': https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/how-do-we-know-what-fictive-characters-feel-the-reader-as-legilimens-of-rowlings-cho-chang-and-vergils-dido

How Do we Know What Fictive Characters Feel? The Reader as ‘legilimens’ of Rowling’s Cho Chang and Vergil’s Dido ‘One person can’t feel all this at once, they’d explode’. Hermione Granger is met with disbelief, after explaining a friend’s many emotions. Her snappy retort: ‘Just because you’ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon, doesn’t mean we all have’. But how (by Merlin’s beard) can s...

New blog alert! Looi van Kessel discusses his teaching project “Making Diversity and Inclusion Public”, a course that teaches students to organize public events around D&I topics, sponsored by the JEDI fund.

https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/making-diversity-and-inclusion-public-or-how-i-got-to-design-a-course-about-d-i-public-outreach

Making Diversity and Inclusion Public - Or, How I got to design a course about D&I public outreach Looi van Kessel is one of the recipients of a JEDI grant to promote diversity and inclusion in education. In this blog post he will discuss his plans for a course that teaches students to organize public events around D&I topics.

New blog post! Leonie Henkes takes us to the wonderful world of animations, and explores why they tug at our heartstrings through the lens of affective narratology!



https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/affective-animation-how-disney-pixar-movies-make-us-cry

Affective Animation: How Disney Pixar Movies Make Us Cry ‘Did Up make you cry?’ is basically a rhetorical question. Whether it is a story about toys, robots, animals, monsters, or humans, Disney Pixar is amazingly good in leaving you in tears at the end of the movie. How does Pixar manage to make even adults cry their eyes out for animated characters?

New blog post up! Join Saniye Ince in her reflection on guilty pleasure and play as she explores neo-arabesk, a contemporary Turkish music genre, and its ties to the country’s food culture.



https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/%C3%A7i%C4%9F-k%C3%B6fte-and-ros%C3%A9-wine-neo-arabesk-mashups-guilty-pleasure-and-play

Çiğ Köfte and Rosé Wine: Neo-Arabesk Mashups, Guilty Pleasure, and Play Arabesk music ‘portrays a world of complex and turbulent emotions peopled by lovers doomed to solitude and a violent end’. Saniye Ince reflects on guilty pleasure and play, exploring neo-arabesk, a contemporary Turkish music genre, and its ties to the country’s food culture.

New blog! This week, Miguel Mira explores the innovative melding of both 3D and 2D techniques in contemporary animation, with focus on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Arcane (2021): https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/the-aesthetics-of-contemporary-animation-melding-2d-3d-techniques

The Aesthetics of Contemporary Animation: Melding 2D & 3D Techniques Since the first Toy Story (1995) much modern animation has been created utilising 3D techniques. In this blog, Miguel Mira explores how two recent animations, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Arcane (2021), utilise both 2D and 3D capabilities to generate a new aesthetic sensibility.

As it is sadly still impossible to visit museums in the Netherlands, let Clodagh Murphy, PhD candidate at LUCAS Leiden University, take you on a virtual tour of one! Join Clodagh as she explores the new exhibition at The British Library: 'Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens.'


https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/whose-words-are-they-anyway-visiting-elizabeth-and-mary-royal-cousins-rival-queens

Whose words are they, anyway? Visiting 'Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens' In this blog, Clodagh Murphy reflects on her recent visit to "Elizabeth and Mary: Royal Cousins, Rival Queens" at the British Library. The first exhibition to consider both queens jointly, "Elizabeth and Mary" tells their remarkable story through the queens’ ‘own words’.

New blog! As long as there have been taxes, people have tried to avoid them. Bob van Velthoven shows what a case of English window tax and an Ancient Greek anecdote can teach us about the preoccupation with paying as little tax as possible, and gives some tips on how to avoid taxes yourself this Christmas. Merry Christmas! https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/over-my-dead-sheeps-body

Over my Dead Sheep’s Body! As long as there have been taxes, people have tried to avoid them. Bob van Velthoven shows what a case of English window tax and an Ancient Greek anecdote can teach us about the preoccupation with paying as little tax as possible, and gives some tips on how to avoid taxes yourself this Christmas.

Modern artists are concerned with originality, while art in Antiquity was devoted to imitation, right? At least, that is how the story is often told. By looking at ancient and modern pop stars, Bram Demulder shows that imitation and originality are not as irreconcilable as you would think!

https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/make-it-new-but-make-it-old-anchoring-innovation-in-second-century-celebrity-culture-taylor-swift-and-the-beatles

Make it New but Make it Old! Anchoring Innovation in Second-Century Celebrity Culture, Taylor Swift, and The Beatles Modern artists are concerned with originality, while art in Antiquity was devoted to imitation, right? At least, that is how the story is often told. By looking at ancient and modern pop stars, this blog post shows that imitation and originality are not as irreconcilable as you would think.

New blog! You might expect interdisciplinary learning to be an essential component of the curricula in secondary schools in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, according to latest reports, it is not. In this blog post, Sandra Karten explains the advantages and challenges of interdisciplinary teaching.

https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/of-classics-and-curricular-cobwebs-towards-the-development-of-interdisciplinary-teaching-in-dutch-gymnasia

Do Stoic ideas present an alternative to modern economic thinking? In this blog post, Aiste Celkyte explores the differences and surprising similarities between the Stoic sage and the homo economicus.



https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/stoic-sage-vs-homo-economicus-the-battle-for-the-ages-or-not

Stoic Sage vs. Homo Economicus: the Battle for the Ages or…not? Do Stoic ideas present an alternative to the modern economic thinking? This blog post explores the differences and surprising similarities between the Stoic sage and the homo economicus.

Surprise! A new blog to start your weekend right: Evert-Jan van Leeuwen shows how the popular Squid Game takes its themes from earlier horror/scifi novels and movies! He argues the 'derivative' aspect of the show contributes to its relevance today!


https://leidenartsinsocietyblog.nl/articles/squid-game-and-the-significance-of-derivative-television

Squid Game and the Significance of Derivative Television Quite some “Netflix Originals” are actually derivative. While often understood as a derogatory term, Evert Jan van Leeuwen argues how significant the derivative character of popular culture can be by exploring Squid Game’s close-intertextual relations to earlier deadly-gameshow stories.

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