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.