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HOT TYPE: New releases by Swarthmoreans
Christopher Lukas ’56
Carrying a Torch: And 24 Other Tales of Love, Lust & Loss
Stephen F. Austin State University Press
Through a series of short stories arranged in three sections — “Lust and Love,” “Love and Loss,” and “At Close of Day” — Carrying a Torch leads readers through a progression of the human experience: We lust for what we wish to have, and, in the process, discover love and loss. Lukas shows us how we make the journey in human, sensitive, personal terms.
Margaret K. Nelson ’66
Keeping Family Secrets: Shame and Silence in Memoirs from the 1950s
NYU Press 2022
All families have secrets, but the facts requiring secrecy change with time. Nowadays, a lesbian partnership, a “bastard” son, an aunt who is a prostitute, or a criminal grandfather might be of little or no consequence, but could have unraveled a family at an earlier moment in history. Nelson is interested in how families keep secrets when to do otherwise would risk eliciting not only embarrassment or discomfort, but profound shame and, in some cases, danger.
John McDowell ’69
Performing Environmentalisms: Expressive Culture and Ecological Change
University of Illinois Press
Performing Environmentalisms examines the existential challenge of the 21st century: improving the prospects for maintaining life on our planet. The contributors focus on the use of traditional artistic expression — storytelling and songs, crafted objects, and ceremonies and rituals — performed during the social turmoil provoked by environmental degradation and ecological collapse. Such expression reinforces the agency of human beings as they work to address ecological dilemmas.
Lewis Pyenson ’69
Three Bells: Thoughts at the End of Postmodernity
Fair Oaks Editions
Three experimental writings from the end of postmodernity constitute Three Bells — the first identifying a conservative current of thinking among theoretical physicists over the past 50 years; the second providing a new view of intellectual life in Argentina; and the third, a personal reckoning that addresses how the author has avoided the shifting sands of postmodernism. Pyenson’s work affirms that historians do best when they formulate their own methods and procedures.
Jocelyn Roberts Davis ’84
Insubordinate: 12 New Archetypes for Women Who Lead
Amplify Publishing
Davis, an international leadership expert, presents 12 female archetypes reimagined with stories of literary and everyday women who fought, cajoled, commanded, schemed, or blasted their way free of the chains that bound them. Each story alone presents a distinctly powerful approach to work and life. Taken together, they show us women’s full range of possibilities, providing a guide and inspiration for becoming our biggest, finest selves.
Dr. A. Jean Thomas ’87
The Open World, Hackbacks and Global Justice
Palgrave-Macmillan
Computer technology has advanced human civilization, but the freedom to interact with others in cyberspace has made individuals, communities, organizations, and governments more vulnerable to hackers. Many victims frustrated by the pace of law enforcement in cyberspace have chosen to retaliate against those who have stolen valuable data and damaged network operations. Consequently, political decision-makers are considering granting limited legal immunity to victims who decide to “hack back.” This book explores the current impasse that this situation creates for global regulators in the digital sphere.
Dr. Peter Grinspoon ’88
Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana
Prometheus Books
As marijuana goes mainstream, myths and misconceptions still dominate public debate. Grinspoon — a physician, cannabis expert, and son of the late Lester Grinspoon (a psychiatrist and academic who risked a Harvard career to challenge laws and beliefs about marijuana long before it was fashionable) — draws from scientific research, clinical practice, and personal experience to demystify marijuana and give users no-nonsense guidance on the risks and benefits of the drug that has been called everything from the devil’s lettuce to the key to world peace.
Christine “Tina” Shepardson ’94, Michael Penn, Scott Johnson, and Charles Stang
Invitation to Syriac Christianity
University of California Press
Despite their centrality to the history of Christianity in
the East, Syriac Christians have generally been excluded from modern accounts of the faith. Collecting foundational Syriac texts from the second to the 14th centuries, and co-edited by Shepardson and colleagues Michael Penn, Scott Johnson, and Charles Stang, this anthology provides unique access to one of the most intriguing, but least known, branches of the Christian tradition.
the East, Syriac Christians have generally been excluded from modern accounts of the faith. Collecting foundational Syriac texts from the second to the 14th centuries, and co-edited by Shepardson and colleagues Michael Penn, Scott Johnson, and Charles Stang, this anthology provides unique access to one of the most intriguing, but least known, branches of the Christian tradition.
Irene Oh ’95
What is Religious Ethics? An Introduction
Routledge
What is Religious Ethics? examines modern-day moral and social issues. It parses them through religious lenses derived from a variety of belief systems — including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Sikhism — while also importantly spotlighting Indigenous communities. This concise introduction to the field of religious ethics demonstrates the relevance of ethics based in religious traditions and describes how scholars of religious ethics think through moral problems.
Jessica Carew Kraft ’99
Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman’s Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems
Sourcebooks
An urban wife and mother, Carew Kraft left her career to learn about “rewilding” from people who reject the conveniences of civilization by using ancient tools and skills to survive. Weaving research with her own journey, Kraft tells the story of the potential benefits of rewilding and questions what it truly means to be a human in today’s world.
Shalini R. Ayyagari ’00
Musical Resilience: Performing Patronage in the Indian Thar Desert
Wesleyan University Press
Musical Resilience details how professional low-caste musicians from the Thar Desert borderland of Rajasthan, India, have reinvented their cultural and economic value in postcolonial India. Before India’s independence in 1947, the Manganiyar community of hereditary musicians were tied to traditional patrons over centuries and through hereditary ties. In postcolonial India, traditional patronage relations faded due to new political conditions, technological shifts, and cultural change.
Shiran Victoria Shen ’12
The Political Regulation Wave: A Case of How Local Incentives Systematically Shape Air Quality in China
Cambridge University Press
Shen examines political challenges of regulating air pollution in China, and to a lesser extent, Mexico. Shen describes how politicians demonstrate different levels of commitment to reducing air pollution, and the impact this has on pollution levels. She proposes that incentives and monitoring are not enough, and offers new solutions.
Megan Brown, Assistant Professor of History
The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community
Harvard University Press
What does Algeria’s history as a French colonial possession mean for the European Union boundaries today? Brown’s research demonstrates that the Europe’s boundaries are shaped as much by economics, history, and politics as they are by geography. The Seventh Member State asks, “If Algeria could be included in the European Economic Community after World War II, what (or who) defines ‘Europe’ and why does the prospect of extending the European Union’s membership to include Turkey or some Eastern European states cause so much debate today?”
The Bulletin receives numerous submissions of new publications from the talented Swarthmore community and can feature only a fraction of those submissions here. Please note that work represented in Hot Type does not necessarily reflect the views of the College.