To the Bloody End 

December 04, 2023

Dorian Cole, WPAMC '24 A state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory…Specifically, at the present time, the right to use physical force is ascribed to other institutions or to individuals only to the extent to which the state permits it. The state is considered the sole source of the ‘right’ to use violence.Max Weber, “Politics as a ...

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Iconography, Identity, and an Inkwell: Reflections on the English Parish Church

November 27, 2023

Kelly Pedigo, WPAMC '24 Situated among hundreds of objects in Winterthur’s Shop Lane, surrounded by things for which I had no name until a curator introduced them to me (porringers and posset pots spring to mind), sits a perfect little English country church. This object has secrets too; with gentle coaxing its roof hinges open and it squeakily reveals itself to be an inkstand. But why is its form so legible and evocative that I can name it in a ...

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Put a Cork in It: Classical Ruins and Ecological Time at the Soane Museum

November 20, 2023

Taylor Rossini, WPAMC '24 An entire classical city resides inside London’s John Soane Museum. One of the final additions to Soane’s collection, the breathtaking Model Room contains a display of architectural facsimiles depicting some of the most famous monuments of the ancient world alongside some of Soane’s own designs. Most impressive of all is a sprawling topographical model of the Roman city of Pompeii, only recently rediscovered in 1748 and ...

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Fancy a Cuppa? Crafting British Identity at Afternoon Tea

November 13, 2023

Lyric Lott, WPAMC '24 From the bustling streets of London to the misty villages of the Lake District, it is hard to overlook the ubiquitous presence of afternoon tea as a traveler in England. Afternoon tea is known throughout the world as a British pastime, an oft-upheld and celebrated custom in the eyes of Brits and anglophiles alike. It’s so ubiquitous, in fact, that 244 National Trust sites around the United Kingdom serve it in their cafes.1 But ...

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