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LUCAS Explains

In the video series LUCAS Explains, young researchers tell about current societal and cultural topics from a historical or fresh point of view. The subjects range from diversity to national identity and from inclusiveness to migration. The videos stretch the history from the Classics to the present and from Europe to Asia. LUCAS Explains is published every other Tuesday. LUCAS Explains is a video series of Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society and SOON media Amsterdam.

Blogs

LUCAS Explains #11: How would you complain about the weather if you woke up in the Middle Ages?

With the arrival of autumn, the weather has become rainier. Complaining about such bad weather seems to be a Dutch tradition. How would you have complained about it, though, if you had lived in the year 900? Sander Stolk explains how you can find out using newly available digital tooling.

Sander Stolk • October 13, 2020

LUCAS Explains #10: Why is it so important to us to feel comfortable in our own skin?

In this time of social distancing, physical contact, and therefore our skin, has become the subject of discussion on a global scale. Has the skin always been this important in the social life of human beings? And in what ways? Glyn examines these questions for Greek antiquity.

Glyn Muitjens • September 29, 2020

LUCAS Explains #9: How come French people all have to know 350 year old poems by heart written for a king?

Summer is over and it is time for children to go back to school, where we expect them to gain basic knowledge and skills. But what makes one book more important than another when creating a national curriculum? Céline rethinks the role of one of the most popular books in the French education.

Céline Zaepffel • September 15, 2020

LUCAS Explains #8: Stop Staring. How can we change the way disabled bodies fit into the world by changing how we look at them?

When we come across bodies we are unfamiliar with, they may shock us, amaze us, and make us curious what they are like. But different forms of looking, like staring, can have consequences regarding how people are or aren’t included in society.

Andries Hiskes • July 14, 2020

LUCAS Explains #7: How can we use an age-old text to understand the case of child refugees Lili & Howick?

Remember how unfair it felt when you heard that child refugees Lili and Howick had to go back to their mother’s home country Armenia? In this vlog, Merel Oudshoorn explores how a different system of law might have allowed them to stay.

Merel Oudshoorn • June 30, 2020

LUCAS Explains #6: Why would you rather see a 3D printed copy of the Goldfinch than the original?

Being in (partial) lockdown since March, it has become hard if not impossible to bathe in the ‘aura’ that original artworks radiate. Liselore Tissen explains how a 3D printed copy of the Goldfinch can bring you even closer to your beloved authentic artwork than ever before.

Liselore Tissen • June 16, 2020

LUCAS Explains #5: Why face the dead? About finding meaning in life.

In these challenging times of the corona virus, a lot of people are afraid to lose their loved ones. In fact, the virus exposes the oldest fear of humankind, our fear of death. This fear has always inspired literary writers to create visits to the world of the dead. Amaranth Feuth explains why.

Amaranth Feuth • April 28, 2020

LUCAS Explains #4: How to break the glass ceiling?

Throughout history, women have been at the forefront of solving crises. Joan of Arc fought the English, Greta Thunberg fights climate change. But what allows some women to raise their voices while others are silenced?

Lieke Smits • April 14, 2020

LUCAS Explains #3: Why does apple pie with whipped cream affect your museum experience?

What makes art taste good? By serving cake, museums might help you along. Why does apple pie with whipped cream affect your museum experience? Nynke Feenstra explains how a museum visit is part of a complex interplay of experiences that transcend the time and place of your visit.

Nynke Feenstra • March 10, 2020