Podcasts@Boatwright

Dr. Louis Schwartz, Associate Professor of English, discusses his new book, Milton and Maternal Mortality, which focuses on how childbirth was associated with fear, suffering and death in early modern England.  This landmark study examines John Milton’s life and work, uncovering evidence of the poet’s engagement with maternal mortality and the dilemmas it presented. Drawing on both literary scholarship and up-to-date historical research, Dr. Schwartz provides important new readings of Milton’s poetry, as well as the medical practices and religious beliefs that surrounded the perils of childbirth during the seventeenth century.

Sharon Feldman, Professor of Spanish and Catalan Studies and Chair of the Department of Latin American and Iberian Studies discusses her new book, In the Eye of the Storm:  Contemporary Theater in Barcelona. Barcelona is presently experiencing the most dynamic period in its modern theater history. This book describes some of the crucial moments and back stories, as well as some of the theatre companies and playwrights, that have shaped the theatrical life of the city of Barcelona in the aftermath of the Franco dictatorship.

Dr. Kevin Kuswa, Director of Debate in the department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies, discusses “Blowback the Enemy T/here: Errors, Terrors, and the Rhetorical Agenda of WMDs”, a chapter in the recently published book, Entertaining Fear: Rhetoric and the Political Economy of Social Control. Dr. Kuswa has been teaching a class on terrorism and security since 2002, focusing on perhaps the most important social dynamic of our time, the rhetoric of fear. Kuswa’s chapter focuses on understanding the “logics and discourses through the trope of ‘blow-back,’” a phrase describing the ways a state’s aggressive military action can circle back to confront the state itself.

Dr. Mike Davison, Professor of Music, discusses his documentary film, Cuba: Rhythm in Motion.  This dynamic film captures the joy of making music in Cuba, an island that Dr. Davison has visited numerous times with his students.  The contrasting yet intertwined histories of Cuban and American music are traced and illustrated with extensive performance footage.  A DVD of Cuba: Rhythm in Motion is available in Parsons Music Library.

Dr. Joe Hoyle, Associate Professor of Accounting in the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business, discusses Introduction to Financial Accounting, a unique online textbook that incorporates many different learning and media techniques.  By offering introductory videos, embedded multiple-choice questions and real-life interviews with an investment manager, Hoyle and his co-author  include something for every student.  The book will be published by Flat World Knowledge in early 2010.

Dr. Craig Kinsley, Professor of Psychology, co-author of Clinical Neuroscience, discusses this unique textbook that integrates neurobiological mechanisms of general health into the coverage of mental disorders. By using this resource, instructors can easily integrate principles of neuroscience into clinical, developmental, behavioral, cognitive, and social psychology.  The second edition of Clinical Neuroscience will be published in early 2010.

Dr. Jan French, Assistant  Professor of Anthropology, discusses her new book, Legalizing Identities:  Becoming Black or Indian in Brazil’s Northeast, which shows how law can successfully serve as the impetus for the transformation of cultural practices and collective identity.

Dr. Del McWhorter, Professor of Philosophy and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, discusses her new book, Racism and Sexual Oppression in Anglo-America: A Genealogy. The premise of this book suggests that racism, sexual oppression, and discrimination against the disabled, the feeble, and the poor are intertwined, and that when the civil rights of one group are challenged, so are the rights of all.

Featured authors are Dr. Catherine Bagwell, Associate Professor of Psychology and Dr. Jennifer Erkulwater, Associate Professor of Political Science. Dr. Rick Mayes is another co-author, but he is unable to join us today due to a research leave project in Peru. Their new book, Medicating Children: ADHD and Pediatric Mental Health, integrates analyses of the clinical, political, historical, educational, social, economic and legal aspects of ADHD and the medications and treatment surrounding the mental disorder.

The Podcasts@Boatwright debut author is Dr. Doug Hicks, associate professor of leadership studies and religion and executive director of the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. His new book, With God on All Sides: Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America, describes how our various religious traditions can help build common ground in America and how leaders can and should deal with religious diversity.