As more people become interested in learning American Sign Language, there have been a number of individuals who have begun to create websites that offer free resources related to this language. Dr. Bill Vicars is one such individual, and his site contains resources for students, teachers, parents, and your garden-variety web surfer. In the section designed for students, visitors can use the...

In their quest to increase their visibility and general accessibility, a number of academic journals are going online. In some cases, they are just starting online in the first place. One journal of note that is just starting online is AmeriQuests, which is defined as "a forum for writing and research about real and metaphorical quests towards "America", defined as either an absolute but an...

'Baby bump', 'Man cave' make banned words list http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/story/2011-12-30/banned-words-list/52287668/1 Don't let these words occupy your vocabulary in 2012 http://goo.gl/cW3jb Lake Superior State University: Banished Words List http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php Word Warriors' 2012 Top 10 http://www.wordwarriors.wayne.edu/2011/ A Dictionary of the...

One might expect that the area around the Sierra Nevada Mountains might be an elegant and obvious choice for the noted photographer Ansel Adams to feature in his work, particularly given his fondness for documenting various aspects of the natural world. But, in the fall of 1943, Adams came to this area, not to document the surrounding landscape, but rather the lives of the Japanese-Americans who...

While some may think the extent of Caribbean literature is limited to the works of Derek Walcott, the website for this journal housed at the University of Miami may help visitors to expand their horizons. Anthurium is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original works by Caribbean writers and scholars, and appears only in a digital online edition. Started in the fall of 2003, the journal has...

Based at the Louisiana State University, the Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore was started in 1974, and it remains the most comprehensive repository of recorded and transcribed materials in French in Louisiana. This digital collection from the Louisiana Digital Library project allows visitors to listen and learn about various ballads, folktales, and jokes in French, Creole, and English. Some...

This Web exhibition from the Smithsonian Museum of African Art goes a long way towards explaining why the name Tuareg carried such mythic weight that Volkswagen chose it for their Sports Utility Vehicle. The Tuareg are a semi-nomadic people who once controlled the caravan trade routes across the Sahara Desert. The introductory page of the site explains that the Tuareg "have fascinated scholars and...

The Annenberg Foundation, that giant of media and philanthropy, has a wonderful website that aims to "advance the Foundation's goal of encouraging the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge." Available here are videos, along with companion web and print materials, to improve the teaching methods of K-12 teachers. One of the latest series is "Art through Time: A Global...

U.N. asked to investigate violence in Western Sahara http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/16/AR2010111602813.html?hpid=moreheadlines BBC: Q&A: Western Sahara clashes http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11712267 Morocco defends raid on Sahrawi camp http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11763092 BBC: We Are...

This website from the Asia Society is actually two exhibitions in one: Traces of the Calligrapher and Writing the Word of God: Calligraphy and the Qur'an. The former focuses on the men and women who have practiced calligraphy, or beautiful writing, the most esteemed of the Islamic visual arts, while the latter provides a few samples of their craft. In the opening section, "Tools and Materials",...