“The ‘myth’ of language history: languages do not share a single history but different components evolve along different trajectories and at different rates.A large-scale study of Pacific languages reveals that forces driving grammatical change are different to those driving lexical change. Grammar changes more rapidly and is especially influenced by contact with unrelated languages, while words are more resistant to change.”
Tag: 10.02.17
New $330M Arts Complex Opens At Princeton University
“The recently completed … Lewis Center for the Arts complex is the largest single development in Princeton University history. Its 23 acres include a new train station, new restaurants, and three interconnected buildings housing state-of-the-art performance and rehearsal spaces. The centerpiece is the 139,000-square-foot building where all the disciplines rub against one another in an open plan – an orchestra rehearsal room is next to the black-box theater, which is next to a white cube exhibitions art gallery.”
The Indomitable Peter Brook
Brook understands what divides cultures. As he says in his book, “if in English we speak words, the French speak thoughts”. Yet he also sees common factors, especially in the universal search in actors for ever greater self-disclosure. “If we were transported back to the Elizabethan theatre,” he says, “I think we’d be shocked by the crudity and coarseness of what we saw.
Ryan Heffington’s Unlikely Injections Of Dance
“The OA” is just one of several unlikely projects from Heffington, who has emerged as one of the most in-demand choreographers in Hollywood. His eclectic resumé includes hit feature films, like this summer’s stylized action flick Baby Driver, elegantly wacky perfume ads and collaborations with numerous musicians, most notably the pop star Sia. His work on her 2014 music video “Chandelier”—one of YouTube’s most-watched videos—propelled him into a realm of visibility few dancemakers reach.
How The Proposed Trump Tax Cut Would Favor Collectors
Eliminating the estate tax—an especially onerous burden where bequeathing art is concerned—would undoubtedly be cause for rejoicing among the wealthiest buyers. “That would be very good for art collectors because art is one of the most difficult assets to plan with for estate-planning purposes. It’s the asset that, in many estates, has appreciated very much in value.”
What Is The ‘Ideal Direction’ That The Nobel Literature Judges Look For? (‘Ideal Direction’? Blame Alfred Nobel)
“The Swedish industrialist said he wanted the prize to recognize ‘the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.'” That direction has changed several times over the past 116 years, having gone to writers as wildly different as Sigmund Freud, Winston Churchill, Pearl S. Buck, Rabindranath Tagore, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Marquez, Doris Lessing, and Bob Dylan. Jim Heintz looks at what directions that ideal might be heading in this year.
Supreme Court To Decide If US Terrorism Victims Can Have Antiquities From Iran Seized As Compensation
The plaintiffs were injured in a 1997 attack by Hamas in Jerusalem and received a federal court ruling that the government of Iran, as a funder of Hamas, was liable for their injuries. In 2003, plaintiffs won a $71 million default judgment against Iran (which refused to participate in the case), and they tried to have seized Persian antiquities on loan to several US museums, including the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. As Martha Lufkin reports, the case now turns on the terrorism exception in sovereign-immunity law and on what qualifies as “commercial activity.”
Research: Brainstorming Is Better If You Tell An Embarrassing Story
“Candor led to greater creativity. Thus, we propose a new rule for brainstorming sessions: Tell a self-deprecating story before you start. As uncomfortable as this may seem, especially among colleagues you would typically want to impress, the result will be a broader range of creative ideas, which will surely impress them even more.”
What Hollywood Movie-Makers Are Learning From TV (And It’s Changing Movies)
These days, for many screenwriters, the studio system can feel like a small, small, small, small world. And Hollywood film writers — along with everyone else — have noticed a simultaneous boom in Peak TV. Which means that, for Hollywood screenwriters, even as studio slates shrink and become more attuned to event blockbusters, opportunity on the small screen abounds. “Premium cable and the entrance of Netflix and Amazon hastened this movement toward the idea that a TV series can be anything — and that kind of flexibility was unimaginable 15 years ago.”
It’s Popular To Bash Nation-States. But Here’s Why They’re Still Important
Among the intelligentsia, the nation-state finds few advocates. Most often, it is regarded as ineffectual – morally irrelevant, or even reactionary – in the face of the challenges posed by globalisation. Economists and centrist politicians tend to view globalism’s recent setbacks as regrettable, fuelled by populist and nativist politicians who managed to capitalise on the grievances of those who feel they have been left behind and deserted by the globalist elites. Last October, the British prime minister Theresa May ignited an outcry when she disparaged the idea of global citizenship. ‘If you believe you’re a citizen of the world,’ she said, ‘you’re a citizen of nowhere.’