In the summer of 1704, Antonio Vallisneri (1661–1730), the preeminent Italian physician and natural philosopher of his time, traveled with a “daring soul” and “trembling feet” across the “silent horrors” of the northern Apennines: down the hills south of Reggio Emilia to northern Tuscany and the western edge of his native land, the Province of G…[Read more]

Theoretical discussion of law and narrative and their interaction in biblical historiography.

in: Nel nome di Lazzaro. Saggi di storia della scienza e delle istituzioni scientifiche tra il XVII e il XVIII secolo, edited by Centro Studi Lazzaro Spallanzani, Bologna, Edizioni Pendragon, 2014, pp. 207-220.

Um den verschiedenen Prinzipien offener Wissenschaftskommunikation – wie auch dem ganzen Konzept »open science« als solchem – gerecht zu werden, ist eine nachhaltige Disseminations- und Archivierungsstrategie für digitale Forschungsdaten zwingend nötig. Maßnahmen zur langanhaltenden Gewährleistung der freien Verfügbarkeit in Form von Parametern…[Read more]

A short paper about some preliminary results of the excavation seasons 2014 and 2015 at the roman rural site of Molino San Vincenzo in Tuscany.

Scholarship on the Pearl-poem has seen a significant jump in recent years, due largely to the influx of eco-critical readings throughout Medieval studies. Gillian Rudd’s recent book Greenery: Ecocritical Readings of Late Medieval English Literature explores a new and exciting reading of the poem’s natural environment, claiming that the rose met…[Read more]

Syllabus for an undergraduate course on Erving Goffman.

A syllabus for an undergraduate animal studies course.

Es bien conocido que la Relación sumaria de la Historia verdadera del Rey Don Pedro (PhiloBiblon BETA Texid 3377) es una de las obras de mayor complejidad analítica en toda la literatura hispánica de finales de la Edad Media y comienzo del Renacimiento. No solo en lo que concierne a su laberíntico entramado ecdótico, del que se han ocupado inve…[Read more]

Book review of The Republican Aventine and Rome’s Social Order, by Lisa Marie Mignone , 2016. Ann Arbor (MI): University of Michigan Press; ISBN 978-0-472-11988-2 hardback $70.00; 264pp., 12 figures, 2 tables

The scholarly approach to the Roman villa finds itself at something of a crossroads, particularly with respect to the villas of the Republican period in Italy. This chapter explains the archaeology of villas in Republican Italy, highlighting debates that center on questions related to the origins of villa architecture, the morphology of villas,…[Read more]

This chapter examines the underpinnings of Roman architecture by exploring some critical issues related to the architecture of central Italy primarily during the first half of the first millennium BCE. Four categories of buildings are considered, namely domestic architecture, civic architecture, defensive architecture, and sacred architecture. It…[Read more]

Since the summer of 2009, the ancient site of Gabii has been the focus of excavations conducted by the University of Michigan. Stratigraphic investigations near the urban core are revealing the complex sequence of occupation in this Latin city, which emerged in the Early Iron Age. The spatial distribution of intramural burials of the Orientalizing…[Read more]

The city of Gabii was one of the main centers of ancient Latium, yet very little of the settlement is known through archaeology. The site has been the focus of only sporadic exploration, and the available evidence for the urban history and development of the city is extremely fragmentary. New fieldwork has investigated the urban area with…[Read more]

An MA thesis discussing the role of vegetal offerings in Roman religion, and the shift in attitudes towards them in the first centuries CE

The promulgation of pollution control regulations governing factory farms has led to a striking new way of representing and intervening in the bodies of farmed animals: the body is being represented as a source of pollution, and various technological interventions, from genetic engineering to dietary changes, are being deployed to reduce pollution…[Read more]

This article examines Farm Sanctuary’s failed effort to save the Enviropigs. In the Spring of 2012, after losing the main source of funding for its Enviropig project, the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada, killed the last sixteen members of this line of transgenic pigs, despite Farm Sanctuary’s offer to place them in permanent homes. The…[Read more]

An examination of taxonomic bias in the field of animal studies.

Roadkill is disgusting. Many people just want it removed from the roads as quickly as possible, and they don’t care where it goes. In Pennsylvania, most of the deer carcasses that are collected from the roads end up in landfills. But is this a respectful way to treat the dead? And what about the vultures and other scavengers who would otherwise e…[Read more]

Review of the book “The Vesuvian Eruption of 1631: an Early Modern History” (by Alfonso Tortora)