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Abstract Expressionism ... academic freedom

Abstract Expressionism: broad movement in American painting that began in the late 1940s and became a dominant trend in Western painting during the 1950s. The most prominent American Abstract Expressionist painters were Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Mark Rothko. ...
abstract poem: a term coined by Edith Sitwell to describe a poem in which the words are chosen for their aural quality rather than specifically for their sense or meaning. An example from "Popular Song" in Sitwell's Facade (1923) ...
Abstraction-Creation: association of international painters and sculptors that from 1931 to 1936 promoted the principles of pure abstraction in art.
Absurd, Theatre of the: dramatic works of certain European and American dramatists of the 1950s and early '60s who agreed with the Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus's assessment, in his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" (1942), that the human situation is essentially absurd, devoid of ...
Abu: city, southwestern Rajasthan state, northwestern India. It is situated on the slopes of Mount Abu, an isolated feature of the Aravali Range. The city is a noted hill resort, and the Jaina temples at nearby Dilwara, built of white marble, ...
Abu 'Ali Mustafa: Palestinian nationalist who was a cofounder (1967) and secretary-general (2000-01) of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a radical faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Abu 'l-Fadl 'Allami: historian, military commander, secretary, and theologian to the Mughal emperor Akbar.
Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah: Islamic caliph (reigned 749-754), first of the 'Abbasid dynasty, which was to rule over eastern Islam for approximately the next 500 years. The 'Abbasids were descended from an uncle of Muhammad and were cousins to the ruling Umayyad dynasty. The ...
Abu al-'Atahiyah: first Arab poet of note to break with the conventions established by the pre-Islamic poets of the desert and to adopt a simpler and freer language of the village.
Abu al-Faraj al-Isbahani: literary scholar who composed an encyclopaedic and fundamental work on Arabic song, composers, poets, and musicians.
Abu al-Fida': Ayyubid dynasty historian and geographer who became a local sultan under the Mamluk empire.
Abu al-Ghazi Bahadur: khan (ruler) of Khiva and one of the most prominent historians in Chagatai Turkish literature.
Abu al-Hasan: one of the leading Mughal painters of the emperor Jahangir's atelier, honoured by the emperor with the title Nadir-uz-Zaman ("Wonder of the Age").
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali: Marinid sultan of Morocco (reigned 1331-51) who increased the territories of his dynasty and, for a brief time, created a united North African empire.
Abu al-Qasim: Islam's greatest medieval surgeon, whose comprehensive medical text, combining Middle Eastern and Greco-Roman classical teachings, shaped European surgical procedures until the Renaissance.
Abu Bakar: sultan of the Malay state of Johore (now part of Malaysia) from 1885 to 1895. He maintained independence from Britain and stimulated economic development in Johore at a time when most Southeast Asian states were being incorporated into European colonial ...
Abu Bakr: Muhammad's closest companion and adviser, who succeeded to the Prophet's political and administrative functions, thereby initiating the office of the caliphate.
Abu Dhabi: constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman). Though its international boundaries are disputed, it is unquestionably the largest of the country's seven constituent emirates with more than three-fourths of the area of the entire ...
Abu Dhabi: town, capital of Abu Dhabi emirate, one of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman), and the national capital of that federation. The town occupies most of a small triangular island of the same name, just off ...
Abu Hanifah: Muslim jurist and theologian whose systematization of Islamic legal doctrine was acknowledged as one of the four canonical schools of Islamic law. The school of Abu Hanifah acquired such prestige that its doctrines were applied by a majority of Muslim ...
Abu Jirab: ancient Egyptian site, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Abu Sir, between Saqqarah and Giza; it is known as the location of two 5th-dynasty (c. 2465-c. 2325 BC) sun temples. The first part of the 5th dynasty is recognized ...
Abu Kalijar al-Marzuban ibn Sultan ad-Dawlah: ruler of the Buyid dynasty from 1024, who for a brief spell reunited the Buyid territories in Iraq and Iran.
Abu Madi, Iliya: Arab poet and journalist who spent much of his life in the United States.
Abu Muslim: leader of a revolutionary movement in Khorasan who, while acting as an agent for the 'Abbasid family, was instrumental in the downfall of the Umayyad caliphate and in placing the 'Abbasids on the throne.
Abu Nidal: militant leader of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO), or Abu Nidal Group, a Palestinian organization that engaged in numerous acts of terrorism beginning in the mid-1970s.
Abu Nuwas: important poet of the early 'Abbasid period (750-835).
Abu Qir Bay: semicircular inlet of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between Abu Qir Point (southwest) and the mouth of the Rosetta Branch (northeast) of the Nile River delta, in Lower Egypt. The bay was the scene of the Battle of the Nile (1798), ...
Abu Rishah, 'Umar: Syrian poet and diplomat, noted for his early poetry, which broke with the traditions of Arab classicism.
Abu Ruwaysh: ancient Egyptian site of a 4th-dynasty (c. 2575-c. 2465 BC) pyramid built by Redjedef, usually considered the third of the seven kings of that dynasty. The site is about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of the Pyramids of Giza (Al-Jizah) ...
Abu Shahrayn: mound in southern Iraq, site of the ancient Sumerian city of Eridu (q.v.).
Abu Simbel: site of two temples built by the Egyptian king Ramses II (reigned 1279-13 BC), now located in Aswan muhafazah (governorate), southern Egypt. In ancient times the area was at the southern frontier of pharaonic Egypt, facing Nubia. The four colossal ...
Abu Sir: ancient site between Al-Jizah (Giza) and Saqqarah, northern Egypt, where several 5th-dynasty (c. 2465-c. 2325 BC) kings built their pyramids. The pyramids were poorly constructed (in comparison with Egyptian monuments of similar types) and are now in a state of ...
Abu Tammam: poet and editor of an anthology of early Arabic poems known as the Hamasah.
Abu'l-Wafa': a distinguished Muslim astronomer and mathematician, who made important contributions to the development of trigonometry.
Abubakar, Abdusalam: Nigerian military leader, who served as head of state (1998-99).
Abuja: federal capital territory, central Nigeria, created in 1976. The territory is located north of the confluence of the Niger and Benue rivers. It is bordered by the states of Niger to the west and northwest, Kaduna to the northeast, Plateau ...
Abuja: city and capital of Nigeria. It lies in the central part of the Abuja federal capital territory (created 1976), approximately 300 miles (480 km) northeast of Lagos, the former capital (until 1991). During the 1980s the new capital city (designed ...
Abukuma-sammyaku: (Japanese: Abukuma Mountains), range in northern Honshu, Japan, extending for 106 miles (170 km) north to south and paralleling the Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture (ken), Tohoku Region (chiho). Its southern end extends into Ibaraki Prefecture of Kanto Region. The ...
Abuna River: headwater of the Amazon, rising in several streams, east of the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes. The navigable river flows for about 200 miles (320 km) northeast through rain forests, forming Bolivia's northern border with Brazil. It joins the Rio ...
Abutilon: genus of about 100 species of herbaceous plants and partly woody shrubs, of the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical and warm temperate areas. It includes several species used as houseplants and in gardens for their white to deep-orange, usually ...
Abydos: ancient Anatolian town located just northeast of the modern Turkish town of Canakkale on the east side of the Dardanelles (Hellespont). Probably originally a Thracian town, it was colonized about 670 BC by the Milesians. There Xerxes crossed the strait ...
Abydos: prominent sacred city and one of the most important archaeological sites of ancient Egypt. The site, located in the low desert west of the Nile near al-Balyana, was a royal necropolis of the first two dynasties and later a pilgrimage ...
abyssal hill: small, topographically well-defined submarine hill that may rise from several metres to several hundred metres above the abyssal seafloor, in water 3,000 to 6,000 m (10,000 to 20,000 feet) deep. Typical hills have diameters of several to several hundred metres. ...
abyssal plain: flat seafloor area at an abyssal depth (3,000 to 6,000 m [10,000 to 20,000 feet]), generally adjacent to a continent. These submarine surfaces vary in depth only from 10 to 100 cm per kilometre of horizontal distance. Irregular in outline ...
abyssal zone: portion of the ocean deeper than about 2,000 m (6,600 feet) and shallower than about 6,000 m (20,000 feet). The zone is defined mainly by its extremely uniform environmental conditions, as reflected in the distinct life forms inhabiting it. The ...
Abyssinian: breed of domestic cat, probably of Egyptian origin, that has been considered to approximate the sacred cat of ancient Egypt more closely than any other living cat. The Abyssinian is a lithe cat with relatively slender legs and a long, ...
Abzug, Bella: U.S. congresswoman (1971-77) and lawyer who founded several liberal political organizations for women and was a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War and a supporter of equal rights for women.
AC/DC: Australian heavy metal band whose theatrical, high-energy shows placed them among the most popular stadium performers of the 1980s. The principal members were Angus Young (b. March 31, 1955, Glasgow, Scot., ), Malcolm Young (b. Jan. 6, 1953, Glasgow, ), ...
acacia: any of about 800 species of trees and shrubs comprising a genus (Acacia) in the mimosa family (Mimosaceae) and native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, particularly Australia (there called wattles) and Africa. Acacias' distinctive leaves take the ...
Acacian Schism: (484-519), in Christian history, split between the patriarchate of Constantinople and the Roman See, caused by an edict by Byzantine patriarch Acacius that was deemed inadmissible by Pope Felix III.
academic freedom: the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference or restriction from law, institutional regulations, or public pressure. Its basic elements include the freedom of teachers to inquire into any subject that ...