Articles for category: Blog

From Rushmore to Crazy Horse: Competing Visions of History in the Black Hills

From Rushmore to Crazy Horse: Competing Visions of History in the Black Hills

Annette Uy

There is a place where granite giants rise from the forest, their faces staring out across centuries and stirring the deepest questions about who we are and what stories we choose to remember. The Black Hills of South Dakota are a land of breathtaking beauty and fierce meaning, a region where two colossal monuments—Mount Rushmore ...

The Sculptor, the Klan, and the Presidents: Who Was Behind Mount Rushmore?

The Sculptor, the Klan, and the Presidents: Who Was Behind Mount Rushmore?

Annette Uy

High in the Black Hills of South Dakota, colossal faces stare out across the ages—silent, majestic, and controversial. The story of Mount Rushmore is more than chisels striking granite; it is a saga filled with ambition, contradictions, and the shadows of American history. Who were the people—and forces—behind this monument? The tale is both inspiring ...

What Irish Place Names Can Tell Us About the Land and Its Past

What Irish Place Names Can Tell Us About the Land and Its Past

Annette Uy

If stones could speak, Ireland’s place names would be their voice—a living memory etched across fields, rivers, and mountains. Picture yourself wandering through a misty glen, hearing names like Ballymore, Knocknarea, or Glenveagh. Each syllable is a breadcrumb, a clue to Ireland’s ancient landscapes, its people, and the forces that shaped both. These names aren’t ...

How Language Shapes Memory: Words That Don’t Translate

How Language Shapes Memory: Words That Don’t Translate

Annette Uy

Have you ever stumbled across a word from another language that felt like a key unlocking a memory you didn’t know you had? Imagine feeling a pang of nostalgia so specific, there is no English word for it. Or recalling a moment so vivid, you can only describe it in your mother tongue. The invisible ...

Sanskrit in Modern India: Dead Language or Cultural Powerhouse?

Sanskrit in Modern India: Dead Language or Cultural Powerhouse?

Annette Uy

Imagine unlocking a door that leads to ancient wisdom, cosmic chants, and the roots of a civilization that shaped the world. That’s the power Sanskrit still holds in India today. Some call it a relic, fossilized and forgotten, while others see it as a wellspring of knowledge, waiting to bloom anew. Is Sanskrit merely a ...

The Korean DMZ: A Border Fence That Accidentally Became a Wildlife Paradise

The Korean DMZ: A Border Fence That Accidentally Became a Wildlife Paradise

Annette Uy

Imagine a place so dangerous that for more than seventy years, almost no human has dared to step foot inside. Now, imagine that same place teeming with life—rare cranes gliding silently over wetlands, wildcats slinking through the underbrush, and plants blooming undisturbed. This isn’t a scene from a fantasy novel, but the astonishing reality of ...

World Heritage Day: The Fossil Sites That Changed Our Understanding of Life

World Heritage Day: Where Dinosaurs, Humans, and Volcanoes Share a Timeline

Trizzy Orozco

Imagine standing on a rugged cliff, the wind whipping past as you gaze at ancient lava fields, fossilized dinosaur footprints underfoot, and the distant outline of a prehistoric cave where humans once painted their first dreams on stone. These breathtaking places are not just geologic wonders or relics of the past—they are living chapters in ...

Why We Get Goosebumps: Ancient Reflexes in a Modern Body

Why We Get Goosebumps: Ancient Reflexes in a Modern Body

Annette Uy

Picture this: a sudden chill sweeps through the air, or haunting music sends shivers down your spine. Instantly, tiny bumps prickle your skin, standing hairs at attention like silent soldiers. We call them goosebumps—a strange, almost magical reaction that connects us to something primal, ancient, and mysterious. But why does this peculiar phenomenon happen? And ...

Jallianwala Bagh: Remembering a Massacre and Its Memorialization

Jallianwala Bagh: Remembering a Massacre and Its Memorialization

Annette Uy

The echo of gunshots, desperate cries, and a city frozen in horror—Jallianwala Bagh is more than just a patch of land in Amritsar, India. It is a haunting reminder of the power of remembrance and the unyielding spirit of a people who refused to be silenced. On a spring afternoon in 1919, the very soil ...