Month: August 2022

Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed (1928)

The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement between the US and France to renounce war and seek settlement of disputes by peaceful means. It took its name from US Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand. Sixty other nations ultimately ratified the pact, but it made no provision for measures against aggressors and proved ineffective, especially given the practice of waging undeclared wars in the 1930s. What role did it play in the Nuremberg Trials? Discuss

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770)

Hegel was an influential German philosopher who developed the Hegelian dialectic, according to which a thesis, such as “being,” inevitably generates its antithesis, “not-being.” The interaction of the two forms a synthesis, “becoming,” which, in turn, becomes a new thesis that generates an antithesis, and so on. He used the dialectic to explain everything from nature to history, interpreting the French Revolution as a thesis that generated its antithesis, known as what period in French history? Discuss

Ravi Shankar

Shankar was a world-famous Indian sitarist and composer who popularized classical Indian music in the West. After studying with instrumentalist Ustad Allauddin Khan, Shankar founded the Kinnara School of Music in Bombay. George Harrison of the Beatles famously studied with him in 1965, and sitar then began to appear in rock music. Among Shankar’s many compositions are the scores for the films Gandhi and Charly. Shankar’s daughters are what two well-known musicians? Discuss

Tomatina

Regardless of which legend one believes, what began in 1945 as a few tossed tomatoes as a show of disdain has developed into full-fledged tomato warfare in Buñol, Valencia, Spain, on the last Wednesday in August. Residents prepare for the impending food fight by protecting their storefronts and homes with plastic and donning special clothing. Thousands of pounds of tomatoes are trucked into town and dropped off at the Plaza del Pueblo, and the light-hearted battle commences. After the cleanup, celebrants continue to enjoy the festival’s fireworks, parades, food, and music. Discuss

Julio Cortázar (1914)

Cortázar was an Argentinean novelist who gained recognition as one of the century’s major experimental writers. A permanent resident of France after 1951, his works reflect his interest in French Surrealism, psychoanalysis, photography, jazz, and revolutionary Latin American politics. His masterpiece, Rayuela—translated as Hopscotch—creates a world in which eroticism, humor, and play offer solace for life’s cruelty and despair. What is unique about the novel’s structure? Discuss

Kabuki

Kabuki, a popular form of Japanese drama, is known for its spectacular staging, elaborate costumes, and striking makeup in place of masks. It originated in 1603, when a woman named Izumo no Okuni began performing a new style of dance that became instantly popular. Rival troupes quickly formed, and kabuki evolved into an ensemble dance performed by women—a form much different from its modern incarnation in which men play all the roles. Why were women banned from the kabuki stage in 1629? Discuss