‘…the outlandish claims that were frequently made for Potter made you wonder whether some of these people had ever read anything else.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Creationism Gaining Ground in the US
Jun 22nd, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Dini case, a conspicuous ‘debate’ in Tucson, a new ‘Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination’ in Ashcroft’s Justice Department.… Read the rest
Words Do Matter
Jun 22nd, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonUnder God, one man one vote, Muslim child – language does shape our consciousness.… Read the rest
Whiteness Studies
Jun 21st, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRace is a fiction, therefore everyone must learn to be completely obsessed by it. Eh?… Read the rest
A Recipe not a Blueprint
Jun 20th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMatt Ridley on the way genes and experience interact.… Read the rest
Say Anything and Say It Murkily
Jun 20th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA mash note to Alan Sokal in the Guardian.… Read the rest
A Debate on ‘Diversity’ in the Arts
Jun 19th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhether the arts should be judged on aesthetic grounds, or on ethnic representation.… Read the rest
Who Took What When?
Jun 19th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe reporter who investigated what happened at the Baghdad Museum says the waters are still being muddied.… Read the rest
Bristol Reaffirms Admissions Policy
Jun 19th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBristol University will continue to consider backgrounds as well as academic records.… Read the rest
A Psychologist’s Choice
Jun 18th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAuthoritarian cults that demand sensitivity or else, or hard-headed researchers who ask questions.… Read the rest
Atwood on Orwell
Jun 18th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHow quickly rebels can move to the other side.… Read the rest
Virginia Woolf Being Unpleasant
Jun 18th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWoolf’s early notebook reveals – surprise! – she had her flaws.… Read the rest
How We Do Love Female Victims
Jun 18th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonVirginia Woolf told jokes, including obscene ones, Doris Lessing points out.… Read the rest
A Rich and Moving Elegy
Jun 17th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonRichard Wollheim on Bernard Williams in The Independent.… Read the rest
Not New but Timely
Jun 17th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAn interview with Bernard Williams in the Guardian last November.… Read the rest
Grayling on Williams
Jun 16th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA.C. Grayling on Bernard Williams in The Financial Times.… Read the rest
Williams in The Times
Jun 15th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnother good obituary essay on Williams’ work and why it mattered.… Read the rest
Who Would Mate With Rational Economic Man?
Jun 15th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIs Feminist Economics less silly than it sounds?… Read the rest
Daniel Dennett Interview
Jun 15th, 2003 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe spectre of creeping exculpation, the discomfort of discontinuity, and more.… Read the rest
The Arts and Cultural Diversity
Jun 15th, 2003 | By Jatinder VermaImmigrant, ethnic minority, asylum-seeker – slivers of insinuation separate
the meanings of each term in contemporary Britain. Ethnic minority, black and
Asian, cultural diversity – clouds of obfuscation have distinguished contemporary
arts in Britain over the past 30 years.
That I draw an analogy between socio-political and artistic terminology is
not incidental: socio-political concerns have determined arts-funding policy
for the past three decades. Ever since, in fact, the publication of Naseem Khan’s
seminal report for the Arts Council in 1976, ‘The Arts Britain Ignores’. This
year sees the launch of yet another arts initiative, designed to heap attention
on ‘culturally diverse’ arts, aptly titled ‘decibel’ (noise). Why do we need
a showcase of ethnic arts? And what noise is decibel… Read the rest