This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons.
Archaeology is in trouble. The U.K. government recently announced plans to cut its subsidy for English university teaching of the subject (along with many arts courses) by 50 percent because it is not part of the government’s “strategic priorities.”
This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons.
Fields of rust-colored soil, spindly cassava, small farms, and villages dot the landscape. Dust and smoke blur the mountains visible beyond massive Lake Malawi. Here, in tropical Africa, you can’t escape the signs of human presence.
In the first scene of the short coming-of-age film Jabal-la montagna, viewers see a young woman venturing out alone onto a desolate street in Palermo, Italy. The film traces the story of Giusy, who leaves her group home after feeling misunderstood by those around her. When she witnesses the mugging of an older man, Giusy feels compelled to intervene. After she successfully recovers the wallet, she runs after the man as he’s getting on a bus and returns it to him. The rest of the film focuses on Giusy as she befriends this man—who turns out to be a poet—and follows him to the outskirts of the city.