Liberal Arts In Print - Fall 2024
Freedom Soldiers: The Emancipation of Black Soldiers in Civil War Camps, Courts, and Prisons
By Jonathan Lande, Assistant Professor of History (Oxford University Press)
The first book on Black deserters in the U.S. Civil War, Freedom Soldiers highlights the voices of African American men who escaped slavery to join the Union Army and their personal reasons for taking leave from military service. Lande incorporates evidence from the trials of deserters in the military justice system and includes data showing the number of Black men who enlisted and were convicted for desertion, as well as where they were incarcerated.
Trading Power: West Germany’s Rise to Global Influence, 1963-1975
By William G. Gray, Associate Professor of History (Cambridge University Press)
Trading Power traces the successes and failures of a generation of German political leaders as the Bonn Republic emerged as a substantial force in European, Atlantic and world affairs. Here, Gray reinterprets West German foreign relations to reveal Germany as an active, influential participant in postwar international history while recentering the significance of foreign relations to show how they were an essential feature of postwar German history.
Ghostly Past, Capitalist Presence: A Social History of Fear in Colonial Bengal
By Tithi Bhattacharya, Associate Professor of History (Duke University Press)
In Ghostly Past, Capitalist Presence, Tithi Bhattacharya maps the role that Bengali ghosts and ghost stories played in constituting the modern Indian nation, and the religious ideas seeded therein, as it emerged in dialogue with European science. In so doing, Bhattacharya reveals how capitalism necessarily reshaped Bengal as part of the global colonial project.
The Color of Desire: The Queer Politics of Race in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1970
By Christopher Ewing, Assistant Professor of History (Cornell University Press)
The Color of Desire tells the story of how, in the aftermath of gay liberation, race played a crucial role in shaping the trajectory of queer, German politics. Focusing on the Federal Republic of Germany, Ewing charts both the entrenchment of racisms within white, queer scenes and the formation of new, antiracist movements that contested overlapping marginalizations.
None of the Above: Protest Voting in Latin American Democracies
By Mollie J. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science (University of Michigan Press)
Using evidence from presidential and gubernatorial elections in 18 Latin American democracies, None of the Above shows that most citizens cast blank or spoiled votes in presidential elections on purpose. Cohen draws on a broad range of methods and sources, incorporating data from electoral management bodies, nationally representative surveys, survey experiments, focus groups, semi-structured interviews and news sources.
Llamas Beyond the Andes: Untold Histories of Camelids in the Modern World
By Marcia Stephenson, Professor Emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Latin American Studies (University of Texas Press)
Camelids are vital to the cultures and economies of the Andes. Stephenson explores the myriad scientific, commercial and cultural interests that have attended camelids globally, making these animals a critical meeting point for diverse groups from the North and South.
Knight’s Gambit: The Restored Edition
By John N. Duvall, Margaret Church Distinguished Professor of English (Penguin Random House)
Knight’s Gambit is a collection of six stories written in the 1930s and 1940s that focus on the criminal investigations of Gavin Stevens, the county attorney of Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, where so many of his novels are set. These stories originally appeared in magazines, where editors made substantial changes to Faulkner’s manuscripts before publishing them. Some of these changes seem to have been intended to make the stories conform to prevailing styles, some were made for concision or propriety, and some to remove the regional “Southernness” of Faulkner’s tales. Duvall uncovered edited typescripts that revealed the deletions and changes and allowed him to restore these six stories to their original Faulknerian glory.
Exposed: The Hidden History of the Pelvic Exam
By Wendy Kline, Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine and Professor of History (Polity)
In Exposed, Kline uncovers the pelvic exam's fascinating—and often disturbing—history. From gynecological research on enslaved women's bodies to nonconsensual practice on anesthetized patients, the pelvic exam as we know it today carries the burden of its sordid past. Drawing on previously unpublished archival sources, along with interviews with patients, providers and activists, Kline traces key moments and movements in gynecological history, from the surgeons of the nineteenth century to the OB/GYNs of today.
Triangulum: An Epic of the Nine Worlds of Surya
By Subodhana Wijeyeratne, Assistant Professor of History (Rosarium Publishing)
Triangulum draws heavily on Indian cultural and historical narratives, particularly those rooted in Vedic and epic traditions. The novel reimagines elements from texts like the Mahabharata and Rig-Veda, infusing them into a sprawling cosmic landscape where ancient deities, alien worlds and human struggles collide. It explores themes of power, identity and transformation, set against a backdrop of worlds shaped by mythology and technology. By blending these mythological elements with speculative fiction, the work examines how ancient traditions can inform and challenge our understanding of humanity and the cosmos.
Group Communication: An Advanced Introduction
Edited by Tosten Reimer, Professor of Communication (Routledge)
This comprehensive textbook takes a particular look at recent advancements in the research on virtual teams, the role of technology in group communication and issues of diversity and inclusion, considering group communication in various situations including health and organizational contexts. It features theory-driven descriptions, an emphasis on empirical findings and reflections on research methods.
Writing Today, 5th Edition
By Richard Johnson-Sheehan, Professor of English (Pearson)
The 5th Edition of Writing Today reflects the emergence of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, including guidance on ethically using AI to assist with writing. Updates include enhanced coverage of citing sources, new readings and writing samples and a new Part 3 focused on transferring communication skills from college to the workplace.
Essays and Interviews on Contemporary American Poets, Poetry, and Pedagogy: A Thirty-Year Creative Reading Workshop
By Daniel Morris, Professor of English (Anthem Press)
Merging autobiography and literary criticism, Daniel Morris illustrates in sixteen essays how he learned to attend to avant-garde contemporary American poets whose aesthetic contributions were not part of his education. Essays address from multiple perspectives—prophetic, diasporic, ethical—the vexing problems and sublime potential of disseminating lyrics to an individual reader, in an environment in which e-poetry and digitalized poetics pose a crisis (understood as both opportunity and threat) to traditional page poetry.