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Peek in the Stacks: international

The Guitar Foundation of America's International Concert Artist Competition

For guitarists, achieving recognition and fame through one’s unique ability to imagine, craft, and perform is a satisfying and rewarding experience that distinguishes the musician as exemplary. The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) holds the International Concert Artist Competition each year, awarding the lucky winner an extensive international tour, a cash prize, a recording contract...

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Pseudosciences of the 19th Century

Pseudoscience consists of a body of knowledge presented as being derived from scientific experiments and methods while simultaneously failing to present evidence of its veracity. Belief in various pseudoscientific ideas has been widespread in different historical periods, and even in the present day. The 19th century in particular saw a flourishing of pseudoscientific ideas, including spiritualist ideas ...

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Baedeker's Travel Guide for the United States

Baedeker's travel guides, produced by publisher Karl Baedeker and his descendants beginning in the 1830s, were hugely popular with European audiences travelling around neighboring European nations and the far-flung reaches of their colonial empires. Baedeker wanted travelers to find ....

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Passports of the Past: Encoding National Identities

Ours is a society anchored on identity--whether a screenname you use online, a driver's license with your name and physical description, a passport that allows you to come and go in particular countries, or the absence of any of the above. Passports and identification documents in the Old ...

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Corresponding Culture: Bringing American Culture to Shanghai Through Distance Learning

Today you might take a class online and correspond with a teacher and fellow students through an online learning management system like Canvas. Before the Internet, there were a number of ways that students connected with education, including printed correspondence courses sent through the mail. Correspondence courses served as an early form of distance education, and allowed for the flow of ideas and cultural norms...

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The David Trutt Gilbert and Sullivan Advertising Cards Digital Collection

Trade cards are small, rectangular cards that typically have promotional text on one side, and a decorative image on the other side. These cards first became popular in the late 17th century in major European cities, and became extremely popular in America beginning in the late 19th century. The increase in domestic products and the desire to advertise them led to the widespread printing and distribution of trade cards...

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Classical Guitar Building

Playing the classical guitar is an art that many people appreciate and enjoy. However, an often overlooked but equally important art form is the building of the guitar itself. The craft of making string instruments, or lutherie, requires extensive knowledge of the many properties of wood and the ability to utilize and manipulate...

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