The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., houses one of the richest collections of materials related to William Shakespeare and fosters research, productions, and educational outreach. Why devote so much effort to works over 400 years old, by an author from another country?
If you’ve ever watched a movie and thought, This hero reminds me of a hero in another movie, you’re not alone. Author Joseph Campbell explored myths and stories about heroes from around the world and found that they have much in common; his work in turn inspired the creation of new movie heroes, including the heroes of the Star Wars series.
Although the story of Anne Frank has been told in a movie and two plays, a fresh version of her story was recently written and performed on stage in Amsterdam. The new play covers some of Anne’s life before the war and after the discovery of the Secret Annex.
In an effort to find out why certain pieces of art are successful, a Princeton professor designed a study that concluded that chance has a lot to do with it.
The Hudson River School was a group of distinctly American artists who painted landscapes in the mid-1800s. View the slideshow and consider how their depictions of nature reflected the ideas of the Transcendentalist writers of the same time period.
Everyone knows that ghosts aren’t real. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of ghost stories to go around. This site lists a few of those stories, describing tales sometimes told about the nation’s most famous ghosts.
Dragons are creatures of power in the tales of many cultures. In Asian legends, dragons are wise, protect people, and control the water of the earth.
In 2012, a group of people retraced the route of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales pilgrims in a four-day trek. Listen to the audio and watch the videos embedded throughout the article to hear the participants recite pieces from the work.
Over the course of his career, Nobel Prize-winning writer Eugene O’Neill used his struggles as inspiration for his moving plays. Read about his life in this biography.
The west African nation of Mali stretches from arid desert to lush tropics and is home to rich cultural traditions in music, architecture, and ancient scholarship. Recently, though, its renowned musicians have faced threats that have sent them into hiding or across the globe in search of freedom.
Through the years, African artists have crafted animal artifacts as symbols of specific ideas and traits. Explore the many links on this site to view some artifacts and to discover how the traits of various animals play a key role in African folktales.
The new Smithsonian exhibition, “Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation,” is meant to show the imprint Indian Americans have made in United States culture throughout the centuries. Take a look inside the exhibition.
The arrival of the horse in North America changed life for many American Indian groups. Learn about the amazing relationship between Native peoples and horses, and examine artifacts from throughout their history.
Georgia Douglas Johnson wrote a poem about taking a risk and soaring into the sky. Learn about the life of this important writer of poems, plays, and stories.
Software developers are seeking ways to connect people’s tablets and smartphones with what they are watching on television screens. But how useful is it?
This year, Anne Frank would have been 85 years old. Though her short life still reverberates through the world, it’s hard not to wonder what it would have been like if she had lived longer. This article looks at some of the ways Anne Frank affected the world around her, and offers some ideas about the woman she may have become.
Nina Simone was a popular pianist and jazz singer with an unmistakable voice. Some of her later songs are considered by many to be anthems of the civil rights movement. Read this brief introduction to Simone and listen to the two clips of her work.
The Prince and the Pauper was just one of many famous stories written by Mark Twain. Learn about the author’s life, the struggles he faced, and the tales that brought him worldwide fame.
You may not be an art expert, but you can tell when the perspective in a drawing or painting is wrong: the work may look off-balance or childish. Here’s a look at the techniques artists use to get the perspective right.
Comic book superheroes are evolving to reflect a more diverse audience. One famous character is being reintroduced a woman.
