Opinion: Brexit and the importance of languages for Britain #2
07 October 2016In the second of a new series of comment pieces written by linguists at Cambridge, , Lecturer in Modern & Contemporary Chinese Literature and Culture, argues that Britain needs to improve its language skills to build trade relations and break through cultural divides.
Opinion: Brexit and the importance of languages for Britain
26 September 2016In the first of a new series of comment pieces written by linguists at Cambridge, Sarah Colvin,Ìý³§³¦³ó°ùö»å±ð°ùÌýProfessor of German andÌýHead of the Department of German and Dutch, argues that learning languages is key to understanding how people think and plays a major role inÌýsocial cohesion.
Opinion: Imposing an arbitrary national language would only divide Pakistan further
14 September 2016Arthur Dudney (Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies) discusses Pakistan's struggle over what language to use for government.
Flamenco: what happens when a grassroots musical genre becomes a marker of culture
18 August 2016What happens when a musical genre becomes an identifier for a region?Ìý In his book , Matthew Machin-Autenrieth unravels the cultural complexity and contested politics of an iconic art form.
Drowning in a paper sea: India’s welfare efforts failed by its peculiar bureaucracy
21 July 2016India’s sophisticated laws and progressive policies fail with startling regularity. A new study locates a possible reason as to why in the convoluted bureaucratic system of the Indian state and its obsession with paper
Opinion: Brexistentialism: Britain, the drop out nation in crisis, meets Jean-Paul Sartre
11 July 2016Andy Martin (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages) discusses existentialism and the EU referendum.
Bringing Berber empires into focus as contributors to Islamic culture
06 July 2016̽»¨Ö±²¥Almoravid and Almohad empires flourished in theÌýwestern Mediterranean of the 11th and 12th centuries. Despite controlling vast tracts of land, these Berber dynasties are little known in the English-speaking world. In her latest book, Dr Amira Bennison looks at the rise and fall of Berber empires that made a lasting contribution to the history of Islamic culture.
Living on the edge: succeeding in the slums
30 June 2016Cities exist in a state of constant flux: not always ‘smart’ and successful, they can be vulnerable, chaotic and seem on the edge of failure. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the shanty towns and slums. How can these informal settlements, and the wider city, be helped to succeed?
Ìý
Would you live in a city made of bone?
23 June 2016̽»¨Ö±²¥cities of today are built with concrete and steel – but some Cambridge researchers think that the cities of the future need to go back to nature if they are to support an ever-expanding population, while keeping carbon emissions under control.