• Why did Europeans begin to amass overseas empires during the sixteenth century, and what effects did this experience have on both the Europeans and conquered peoples? • What role did religion play in the European wars of the sixteenth century and the Thirty Years’ War of the seventeenth century? • How did the religious policy, the foreign policy, and the governments of Philip II of Spain and ...

Puppets, a kind of wooden figure whose movements are manipulated by artists, were frequently used in ancient Chinese singing and dancing activities dramas. The uniqueness substituting human beings for puppets has drawn tremendous attention from scholars. However, despite previous research on the long development process puppet dramas, considerable number details remain neglected, behind these l...

Although the use of plants for treating supernaturally caused illnesses (e.g., soul loss, evil wind, witchcraft) has been documented in the Ecuador highlands, so-called magical plants have received much less focused attention than plants used for treating naturalistic disorders. Drawing on interviews done in 2002 and 2003 with 116 curanderos residing in the Ecuador highlands, this paper examine...