Author: Terry Eagleton File Type: pdf

Author: David Quammen File Type: epub Amazon.com ReviewDavid Quammen is a naturalist, writer, and literary scholar who can turn from William Faulkner to theories of demographic stochasticity on a dime--or a comma. Natural Acts, a collection of Quammens columns by the same name from Outside magazine, highlights his many interests. In its pages, he touches on Malthusian population dynamics, the mating habits of butterflies and snakes, Tycho Brahes quest for the stars, magnolia trees, whales, and deserts--to name just a few of the matters that pass beneath his bemused gaze. This is humanely wrought science writing at its best. --Gregory McNameeFrom Publishers WeeklyQuammens collection of accessible science writing, much of which was originally published in Outside magazine, looks at subjects ranging from sex among the aphids to boredom among the crows. br 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Author: Abigail J. Stewart File Type: pdf How colleges and universities can live up to their ideals of diversity, and why inclusivity and excellence go hand in hand.Most colleges and universities embrace the ideals of diversity and inclusion, but many fall short, especially in the hiring, retention, and advancement of faculty who would more fully represent our diverse worldin particular women and people of color. In this book, Abigail Stewart and Virginia Valian argue that diversity and excellence go hand in hand and provide guidance for achieving both. Stewart and Valian, themselves senior academics, support their argument with comprehensive data from a range of disciplines. They show why merit is often overlooked they offer statistics and examples of individual experiences of exclusion, such as being left out of crucial meetings and they outline institutional practices that keep exclusion invisible, including reliance on proxies for excellence, such as prestige, that disadvantage outstanding candidates who are not members of the white male majority.Perhaps most important, Stewart and Valian provide practical advice for overcoming obstacles to inclusion. This advice is based on their experiences at their own universities, their consultations with faculty and administrators at many other institutions, and data on institutional change.Stewart and Valian offer recommendations for changing structures and practicesso that people become successful in waysthat benefit everyone.They describe better ways of searching for job candidates evaluating candidates for hiring, tenure, and promotion helping faculty succeed and broadening rewards and recognition.**ReviewAchieving a faculty which is both excellent and representative of the communities that they serve is one of the most important challenges currently facing U.S. universities. This marvelous book presents a comprehensive scholarly compendium of the reasons why this has been so difficult for universities, together with practical strategies for moving forward. These include distinct actions by senior administrators, chairs, individual faculty, search committees and the faculty candidates themselves.Robert Birgenau, Chancellor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley (Endorsement) As the academy, like every institution in our society, faces a perfect storm of our own making the agonizingly slow pace with which we have leveraged the full, increasingly diverse talent pool in our midst we need more than ever the can-do wisdom of those scholar-leaders who for decades have innovated to build an inclusive academy and here it is, a comprehensive, evidence-based guidepost that both unpacks how we got where we are as a status quo, and shows us a variety of new paths to take as individuals and as institutions, faculty and administrators committed to excellence. The principles Stewart and Valian articulate about the schemas that undergird the inequities we have come to see as natural, are profound, even as the steps they urge us to take in hiring and supporting and promoting and rewarding a diverse professoriate are every bit practical and within reach laying a powerful foundation for real institutional change that will last, to all our benefit. This is a must read for all who care, for both pragmatic and ethical reasons, about diversity and inclusion in these times of challenge and opportunity.Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Rutgers University - Newark (Endorsement) Valian & Stewarts book on building an inclusive academy is brave, given the contentious issues involved, and sorely needed, given the importance of the challenge. Their pragmatic, evidence-based examination of the many ways in which biases can creep into our hiring and evaluation systems will, and should, provide rich fodder for discussions throughout the academy, from faculty lounges to presidential cabinet meetings. Especially appreciated is their conviction that the changes needed are both structural and individual. This is not just a book addressed to administrators, it is addressed to all of us who want to play our part in achieving excellence and diversity in our fields of study and in our universities.Ana Mari Cauce, President, University of Washington (Endorsement) This important book comes at the right time for all of us working to promote inclusive excellence in higher education. The authors offer concrete steps to recruit, retain, and promote diverse and successful faculty, focusing on women and underrepresented minorities. Stewart and Valian powerfully show how academic leaders can change institutional culture and practices to create positive change and improve performance.Marvin Krislov, President, Pace University (Endorsement) About the Author Virginia Valian is Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author ofWhy So Slow The Advancement of Womenand coauthor ofAn Inclusive Academy Achieving Diversity and Excellence(both published by the MIT Press).

Author: Rick Honings File Type: pdf Although we have always been fascinated with famous people, the invention of modern celebrity culture dates to the nineteenth century. During Romanticism, literary authors occupied a prominent position among early stars. These changes not only had implications for the cultural role of the author, but also that of the public. A star exists by virtue of its audience, and as authors became public figures, the phenomenon of the fan and associated culture of fandom came into existence. Star Authors in the Age of Romanticism analyzes Dutch literary celebrity culture specifically while also examining its unique place in a growing body of international scholarship on the subject. This book examines the Dutch development of literary celebrity by focusing on five famous Dutch authors from the nineteenth century Willem Bilderdijk, Hendrik Tollens, Nicolaas Beets, Francois HaverSchmidt (alias Piet Paaltjens), and Eduard Douwes Dekker (better known as Multatuli). **