Posts by Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis

Madeleine Muzdakis is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met and a historian of early modern Britain & the Atlantic world. She holds a BA in History and Mathematics from Brown University and an MA in European & Russian Studies from Yale University. Madeleine has worked in archives and museums for years with a particular focus on photography and arts education. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys hiking, film photography, and studying law while cuddling with her cat Georgia.

March 26, 2024

Enormous Solar Farm Will Replace Former Coal Plant in Pennsylvania

Energy is necessary for moving forward, for both society and individual communities. These days, a shift to clean energy and renewable resources is critical to averting the oncoming climate catastrophe. President Biden has poured money and time into promoting clean energy and related jobs, while startups have leapt at the opportunity to craft a profitable and green way forward.

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March 23, 2024

Vast Archive of Rare Japanese Textbooks Now Online To Explore for Free

What did your school textbooks look like? Chances are they were old, ripped, and written in. Their computer-printed images were certainly not fine art, especially with other students' layering doodles over the years. However, textbooks do not always have to be boring; they can be works of art. An online archive of historic Japanese textbooks from the 19th and 20th centuries—hosted by the National Institute for Educational Policy Research—exemplifies the textbook as an art form.

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March 19, 2024

Vatican Museums Open Ancient Roman Necropolis of ‘Via Triumphalis’ to the Public

Vatican City is a unique place. As both a country and the headquarters of the Catholic Church, the city is encircled by the wider landscape of Rome, Italy. In the walled city itself, monumental architecture from medieval and Renaissance creators sits atop a wealth of ancient history that has been discovered over the years as new construction projects break ground.

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March 15, 2024

Monet’s Painting of the Seine River Sells at Auction for $18.5 Million

The world-renowned painter Claude Monet is famous today, and during his time among his Impressionist peers, for his fascination with natural scenes. Perhaps best known for painting the water lilies at his home at Giverny, he also found beauty in other parts of nature and architecture, including haystacks, cathedrals, and seascapes. Among Monet's paintings, the Seine River makes frequent appearances.

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