A History of Alexander the Great in World Culture

Alexander III of Macedon (356-323 BC) has for over 2000 years been one of the best recognized names from antiquity. He set about creating his own legend in his lifetime, and subsequent writers and political actors developed it. He acquired the surname 'Great' by the Roman period, and the Alexander Romance transmitted his legendary biography to every language of medieval Europe and the Middle East. As well as an adventurer who sought the secret of immortality and discussed the purpose of life with the naked sages of India, he became a model for military achievement as well as a religious prophet bringing Christianity (in the Crusades) and Islam (in the Qur'an and beyond) to the regions he conquered. This innovative and fascinating volume explores these and many other facets of his reception in various cultures around the world, right up to the present and his role in gay activism.

Business Education in the USA

The chapter explores drivers, dynamics, and developments of business education in American colleges and universities. A contemporary business education in the U.S. is historically rooted in medieval Europe. It has progressed through several developmental stages and four industrial revolutions. Critical drivers affect American universities and colleges, bringing about strategic disruptions, technological and pedagogical innovations, and exerting competitive pressures for change on higher education. They also create opportunities for the development and growth in the post-COVID prospective, which is likely to be different from previous patterns and trends. These factors of impact range from stagnant domestic and falling international student enrollments, high student loan debt burden, and skyrocketing college tuition to the devastating impacts of the COVID pandemic. In examination of implications of the 4IR and emerging socio-economic trends for B-schools, the chapter discusses developmental trends, outlook, and emerging instructional innovations.

Intercultural Dialogue in the Middle Ages: A Christian Cemetery in Pagan Vilnius

In Medieval Europe, Lithuania remained a pagan state the longest, officially accepting Catholic baptism only in 1387. But the country had already been influenced by Christian culture, Orthodox from the East and Catholic from the West, since the 11th century. It should be noted that this influence was not the same: Catholicism was mostly brought ‘by fire and sword’ in the role of the Teutonic Order while the spread of Orthodox Christianity could be more peaceful. It is frequently stressed that the Ruthenian Orthodox Christians were close neighbours of the pagan Lithuanians, settling in Lithuania as subjects of the grand dukes. While the Catholics needed to be invited, the Orthodox Christians from the Ruthenian lands were already subjects of the grand dukes. Thus, communities of both branches of Christianity: Eastern Orthodox and Western Catholic, had settled here and were interacting in a still pagan environment in pagan cities ruled by pagan dukes. This article, in seeking to present the circumstances of the settlement of one of the early Christian communities in Vilnius, the Orthodox one, and its development, examines this community through data from the burial site it left and the interpretation of those data.