After yet another school shooting in the U.S.A., surviving students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Texas, are calling for gun control. Their calls have already sparked plans for action such as a national march and two planned school walkouts. On 14 February, a 19-year-old former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School … Continue reading “Students Demand Gun Control”
Despite the breath-taking effects, at its heart The Shape of Water is a good old-fashioned monster story. Two hundred years after the publication of Frankenstein, it’s the tale of shunned outsiders who show more humanity than the “normal” humans. Guillermo del Toro’s latest film is set in 1962 Cold War America. The military have captured … Continue reading “The Shape of Monsters”
On 26 January every year, ceremonies are held all over Australia to welcome new citizens as part of Australia Day celebrations. But the 2018 national day was overshadowed by debates about citizenship, and about finding a date for Australia Day that is less offensive to Aboriginal people. Citizenship was a major issue in the Australian … Continue reading “Australian Identity Crisis”
In this era of fake news, Stephen Spielberg’s latest film looks back at the true story of the Pentagon Papers. Publishing news of this leaked government report put investigative journalists and newspaper publishers at real risk of prosecution. And yet, against the odds, they went ahead and set the scene for the Watergate scandal. The … Continue reading “Publishing the Pentagon Papers”
The lead role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri fits Frances McDormand like a glove. The story of a fierce, unconventional woman touched by tragedy in small town America, it’s honest and brave, like its star. McDormand has made a career on stage and on screen of inhabiting the kind of characters that stay with … Continue reading “Three Billboards and a Mother’s Fury”
A few years ago I was contemplating the idea of taking students across the globe for an Aussie experience, but it seemed out of reach: too far, too expensive, inconceivable… Until one day, in 2011, as I was looking for a new exchange for my school with an Anglophone country, I decided I would dare … Continue reading “An Incredible Australian Exchange”
Since the Harvey Weinstein scandal was revealed by The New York Times on 5 October, the movement to denounce sexual harassment has swept across America and the world. Spreading far beyond Hollywood, women from all walks of life have spoken out saying #MeToo, #YoTambien or #balancetonporc. The New York Times investigation detailed numerous accusations of … Continue reading “From #MeToo to “Oprah for President””
Hamilton, a hip-hop musical about one of America’s Founding Fathers, is one of the most unlikely Broadway hits ever. It is finally arriving on this side of the pond, playing to sold-out houses in London’s West End. Hamilton is the brainchild of Lin Manuel Miranda, singer, dancer and author of In the Heights, his first … Continue reading “Hamilton Musical Arrives in London”
Michael Morpurgo is best known around the world as the author of War Horse, which has been very successfully adapted for stage and screen. However the English author has written more than 150 books for children and teens. An exhibition at the Museum of Childhood in London presents many of his creations, and gives fascinating … Continue reading “A Writer’s World: Michael Morpurgo”
Les dernières avancées en neurosciences cognitives, autant qu’en anthropologie et histoire de l’humain, nous renseignent sur la relation entre le geste de la main droite et la gestuelle articulatoire par le biais de l’aire de Broca (production de la parole). En analysant l’histoire de l’évolution du cortex humain, on comprend comment la parole s’est jointe … Continue reading “Didactique ou neurodidactique de l’anglais oral ?”
