‘Wabi’ and ‘sabi’ are Japanese words with long histories, but they are rarely used together in the way Western designers have come to use the term.
In advocates’ eyes, expanding access to a medically assisted death helps people protect their autonomy at a crucial time.
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Ramadan encourages acts of charity. This also poses a question for many Muslims as they consider what more could be done to feed the hungriest in the world, many of whom are in Gaza.
An embryologist uses a microscope to view an embryo, visible on a monitor.
AP Photo/Richard Drew, File
The first cherry blossom viewing was organized in Japan by Emperor Saga in 812 C.E. In the ensuing years, poetry on cherry blossoms came to have a special place in Japanese culture.
Seeing the light − at the movies.
igoriss/iStock via Getty Images
Plenty of movies have explicitly religious themes, but some of the most interesting examples of faith or transcendence on screen are much more subtle.
Christian Palestinian tattoo artist Walid Ayash draws a tattoo on the arm of a Coptic Egyptian pilgrim on April 28, 2016, at his studio in Bethlehem.
Thomas Coex /AFP via Getty Images
Though only a few of Scorsese’s films focus on religious stories, deeper questions about faith, doubt and living in a violent world tend to haunt his movies.
One of the earliest depictions of flying witches is in a 15th-century text entitled “Le champion des dames,” or “The Defender of Ladies.”
Martin Le Franc/W. Schild. Die Maleficia der Hexenleut' via Wikimedia Commons
The iconic image of a witch on a broomstick has apocryphal origins. But whether they could actually fly didn’t stop Christian society from persecuting them.
Best picture nominee ‘Past Lives’ was directed by South Korean-Canadian filmmaker Celine Song and has scenes in Korean and English.
A24/Everett Collection
Non-English language cinema – previously seen by niche audiences – is increasingly finding acceptance and recognition, reflecting the many demographic changes taking place within the academy.
A demonstration on Dec. 28, 2023, in Tel Aviv, organized by the peace group Standing Together, calls for a cease-fire.
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How the media talks about suffering on one side compared with the other can often reveal bias in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict coverage, writes a scholar of media bias and the Arab world.
Women’s wills and last testaments provide a more nuanced picture of life in the Middle Ages than medieval stereotypes allow, such as that depicted in “Death and the Prostitute” by Master of Philippe of Guelders.
Gallica/Bibliothèque nationale de France/Feminae
European women’s rights expanded in early medieval cities, though they were still limited. Last wills and testaments were some of the few documents women could dictate themselves.
This famous scene from the Bhagavad Gita, featuring the god Krishna with his cousin, Prince Arjuna, on a chariot heading into war.
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A scholar of South Asian religions explains how one lesson from the text, ‘nishkama karma’ – or acting without desire – may be useful for navigating the contemporary workplace.
A 2010 protest in Phoenix by faith groups against Arizona’s new immigration law.
AP Photo/Matt York, File
Religious beliefs can provide motivation, hope and endurance in the long and often discouraging task of mobilizing people for social change.
A bas-relief of Maimonides, sculpted by Brenda Putnam, hangs in the U.S. House of Representatives among statues of historical lawmakers.
Architect of the Capitol/Wikimedia
Randy L. Friedman, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Faith and reason are often treated as opposites. But some philosophers believe they can only strengthen each other, including the Jewish sage Maimonides, who wrote the famous ‘Guide to the Perplexed.’
The imam of the Khadija Mosque, in the Pankow district of Berlin, talks to visitors.
Fabian Sommer/picture alliance via Getty Images
Two scholars who study death rituals explain that the corpse is considered spiritually polluting in many religious traditions, while the Moon holds a sacred place.
An image of a reclining Lord Vishnu with the alvar poets arrayed below him.
The Nadar Press Ltd., Sivakasi, ca. 1920s. From the personal print collection of Archana Venkatesan and Layne Little