Investigations
>
> Where
industry met art: the V&A's legacy to American culture
What
is a museum but a distillation of culture? The classical and indigenous
arts that were long the cornerstones of well-respected permanent
collections now compete with traveling retrospectives of Norman
Rockwell, Matisse, and Picasso, while Star Wars, Armani,
and Cartier exhibitions draw record crowds. Suburbanites in bright-white
sneakers follow the same audio tours as black-clad artsy types.
Museum cafés serve white-bean bruschetta and truffled tomato
soup alongside good old-fashioned sweets and teas. A postcard
hunt in the gift shop completes the experience.
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> This
land is broad-band
Almost
since its inception, the Internet has been lauded as an equalizing
force in the struggle between classes, the great democratizer,
a voice for the voiceless. Cass Sunstein, the Karl N. Llewellyn
professor of jurisprudence in the Law School, is as optimistic
as the next guy about the Internet's ability to change how we
communicate. But he warns of a dark side to the equation-while
the Internet may be the answer to our prayers as consumers, it
could cripple us as citizens.
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> Sex
sells a second time
When
Edward O. Laumann and Robert T. Michael published The Social
Organization of Sexuality (Chicago) in 1994, they conducted
about 100 interviews with the media. But they still weren't done
talking about sex. As soon as their latest book, Sex, Love,
and Health in America: Private Choices and Public Policies
(Chicago), hit bookstores in January, the media came calling again.
It's a familiar routine for the professorial pair.
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