Hello and welcome to The Looking Glass, WBGS' very own Academic Blog. This year we are planning to breathe new life into this amazing blog as the Academic Head Boy team for 2025- 2026! However, at the Looking Glass we need your help to catapult this blog into it's GOLDEN AGE. We need your articles, your essays, your opinions and your finest work to MAKE THE LOOKING GLASS GREAT AGAIN! If you have read something interesting or watched something that sparked a thought on social media - WRITE ABOUT IT! If you entered a competition, however big or small - WRITE ABOUT IT! If you are interested in a specific field, issue or period - WRITE ABOUT IT! If you have produced artwork, a piece of music or creative writing - WE WILL PUBLISH IT! Your creative skills have been called to action - now we must muster to create, discover and explore. You are the creative minds of the future. The Plato's, the Newtons, the Angelo's, the Nietzsche's. This is your calling. This is Y...
IBRAHIM CHAUDRY The immediate international and government reaction after witnessing the devastating intentional destruction of cultural sites, libraries and ancient architecture by terrorism in Mosul and Palmyra throughout the last decade seems straight-forward and inevitable: outrage mixed with defiance. However, when assessing whether an attempt should be made to reconstruct Ancient Greek architecture, often damaged through Ottoman Empire weaponry, as was the case with the Parthenon in 1687, the response is significantly more complicated; the dilemma of satisfying the aesthetic appeal for tourists exploring beautiful architecture with the archival appeal for historians is difficult to overcome, all whilst trying to ensure revenue is maximised and costs minimised. The merits of any reconstruction project can only be judged on its initial purposes. Assuming that the process isn’t being undertaken to urgently prevent further damage to a sculpture or building, the three general aim...