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Scholars at the Library Reflect on the Historical and Personal Significance of the Huexotzinco Codex (1531)

Posted by: Dan Turello

On October 3 and 4, 2022, in a conference room on the 6th floor of the Library of Congress’ Madison Building, a group of scholars from Mexico and the United States poured over the facsimile pictures of the Huexotzinco Codex, which dates back to 1531 and is held in the Library’s Manuscript Division. The scholars …

Image of Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright at Library's Kluge Center and the Daniel K. Inouye Institute event

The Kluge Center Remembers Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright

Posted by: Dan Turello

In 2015, the Inaugural Daniel K. Inouye Lecture featured Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. We highlight it here again, in memory of two dedicated patriots and public servants who exemplified the spirit of dialogue across partisan divides. For more on the legacy of Madeleine Albright, read this post on the Library of Congress blog.

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

What Makes Americans American? Why Origin Stories Require Negotiation

Posted by: Dan Turello

Origin stories are never simple, and this is as true for countries as it is for individuals, ideas, and cultures. That the term “nation-state,” which designates one of the primary building blocks of modern geopolitical order, is a compound word speaks to this complexity, and there are many reasons why scholars are unable to fully …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

The Mexican Revolution and its Lasting Legacy on American Art and Culture

Posted by: Dan Turello

This is a guest post by Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado. He is Professor of Spanish, Latin American Studies, and Film and Media Studies and Jarvis Thurston and Mona Van Duyn Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. He plans to be in residence at the Kluge Center during the summer of 2021 …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Covid-19 and the Racial Justice Movement: An Interview with Ruth Faden

Posted by: Dan Turello

Library of Congress Scholars Council member Ruth Faden is the founder of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Dr. Faden’s scholarship focuses on justice theory and its power to identify and find ways to mitigate structural injustices in public policy and social life. Currently, her work is concentrated almost exclusively on structural injustice and …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

The John W. Kluge Prize: Recognizing an Impact on Public Life

Posted by: Dan Turello

As James English describes in his 2005 book, The Economy of Prestige, like so much in our cultural history, the practice of awarding prizes can be traced back to the Greeks, who, in addition to creating the Olympics, introduced drama and arts competitions as early as the 6th century B.C E.. Since then, prizes across …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Carl Elliott Answers Five Questions About COVID-19 and the Ethics of Medical Research

Posted by: Dan Turello

Carl Elliott is Professor in the Center for Bioethics and the Department of Pediatrics, and an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. He is the recipient of a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar Award. Elliott is the …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Part Two: Ken Pomeranz Answers Five Questions About China’s Early Economy

Posted by: Dan Turello

This is part two of a two-part interview. Read the first part here. DT: We’ve covered philosophical traditions, and some key texts about commerce. What about banking and currency? What were the media of exchange? How did they develop over time? One thing that is striking, especially to somebody who is familiar with monetary history …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Ken Pomeranz Answers Five Questions About China’s Early Economy

Posted by: Dan Turello

Kenneth Pomeranz is a University Professor of History at the University of Chicago. His work focuses on China, and on comparative and world history. He has researched and written about social, economic, and environmental history, as well as state formation, imperialism, religion, gender, and other topics. As the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of …