Word: backgrounders
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...slave state, and fought in the Civil War, however briefly, on the Confederate side. His father occasionally owned a slave, and some members of his family owned many more. But Twain emerged as a man whose racial attitudes were not what one might expect from someone of his background. Again and again, in the postwar years, he seemed compelled to tackle the challenge of race...
...there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality. His frequent assaults on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not. The shows were simply a form of entertainment popular all over the country in the 19th century, a part of the background against which he grew into his firm adult convictions...
...case at Oxford or Cambridge, where academics have a majority on both universities' executive bodies. Hood, a New Zealander with a background in business, is Oxford's first vice-chancellor to be chosen from outside the University. In late 2006, when he proposed giving lay members a slim majority on a new governing council responsible for non-academic matters, the idea was turned down by the Congregation, the parliament of Oxford dons. In the scramble to catch up with wealthier U.S. colleges, the dons' power could discourage potential benefactors. "A governing body dominated by academic members of a university," says...
...Coldplay's Viva La Vida and Rihanna's Umbrella played in the background as Faust mingled and talked with those present, pausing to shake hands and pose for pictures...
Last summer, Denzel Washington directed and starred in “The Great Debaters,” which featured scenes in Sanders Theatre and with Harvard’s campus in the background...