Month: November 2017 (Page 1 of 3)

Here is a selection of some of the 35 items added to the catalogue in the past week. Click on a title for more information. TWU login  may be required.

EDUCATION

Investing in Canada’s future, strengthening the foundations of Canadian research: Canada’s fundamental science review. This report accordingly outlines a comprehensive agenda to strengthen the foundations of Canadian extramural research. It recommends legislation to create an independent National Advisory Council on Research and Innovation (NACRI). Working closely with Canada’s new Chief Science Advisor (CSA), the new council would raise the bar in terms of ongoing evaluations of all programming. The report also recommends wide-ranging improvements to oversight and governance of the four agencies, including the appointment of a coordinating board chaired by the CSA. Other changes would promote lifecycle oversight of national-scale research facilities, and improved methods for initiating, reviewing, and renewing or terminating contribution agreements with external non-profit entities operating in the research realm. 

HISTORY

Antipodes: in search of the southern continent / Avan Judd Stallard. This book is a new history of an ancient geography. It reassesses the evidence for why Europeans believed a massive southern continent existed, and why they advocated for its discovery. In doing so, the question is asked: how could so many fail to see the realities they encountered? And how is it a mythical land held the gaze of an era famed for breaking free the shackles of superstition?. In the process, the southern continent—an imaginary land—became one of the shaping forces of early modern history.

Wawahte: Indian residential schools / as told to Robert P. Wells by Indian residential school survivors. Wawahte is a non-fiction book about three Aboriginal children born in the 1930’s. Their experiences were much the same as it was for more than 150,000 Aboriginal children who, between 1883 and 1996, were forced to attend 130 residential schools and equally demeaning day schooling in Canada. 

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Water security in the Middle East: essays in scientific and social cooperation / edited by Jean Axelrad Cahan. Water Security in the Middle East argues that, while conflicts over transboundary water systems in the Middle East do occur, they tend not to be violent nor are they the primary cause of a war in this region. The contributors in this collection of essays place water disputes in larger political, historical and scientific contexts and discuss how the humanities and social sciences contribute towards this understanding. The authors contend that international sharing of scientific and technological advances can significantly increase access to water and improve water quality. While scientific advances can and should increase adaptability to changing environmental conditions, especially climate change, national institutional reform and the strengthening of joint commissions are vital. The contributors indicate ways in which cooperation can move from simple coordination to sophisticated, adaptive and equitable modes of water management.

LITERATURE

The Cambridge companion to Alice Munro / edited by David Staines. This Companion is a thorough introduction to the writings of the Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro. Uniting the talents of distinguished creative writers and noted academics, David Staines has put together a comprehensive, exploratory account of Munro’s biography, her position as a feminist, her evocation of life in small-town Ontario, her non-fictional writings as well as her short stories, and her artistic achievement. Considering a wide range of topics – including Munro’s style, life writing, her personal development, and her use of Greek myths, Celtic ballads, Norse sagas, and popular songs – this volume will appeal to keen readers of Munro’s fiction as well as students and scholars of literature and Canadian and gender studies.

 The Cambridge companion to Cormac McCarthy / edited by Steven Frye, California State University, Bakersfield. The essays in this Companion offer a sophisticated yet concise introduction to McCarthy’s difficult and provocative work. The contributors, an international team of McCarthy scholars, analyze some of the most well-known and commonly taught novels – Outer Dark, Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, and The Road – while providing detailed treatments of McCarthy’s work in cinema, including the many adaptations of his novels to film. Designed for scholars, teachers, and general readers, and complete with a chronology and bibliography for further reading, this Companion is an essential reference for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of one of America’s most celebrated living novelists.

 The Cambridge companion to Paradise Lost / edited by Louis Schwartz,University of Richmond. Fifteen short, accessible essays exploring the most important topics and themes in John Milton’s masterpiece. The essays invite readers to begin their own independent exploration of the poem by equipping them with useful background knowledge, introducing them to key passages, and acquainting them with the current state of critical debates.

 The road to Vermilion Lake / Vic Cavalli. TWU AUTHOR  Cavalli takes us on a wild ride along The Road to Vermilion Lake. Set against a grand landscape, the novel explores the intersection of emotion and geography, reality and metaphysics. Can love rock your world at a seismic level? Cavalli expels all doubts. (1)

 MUSIC

Denis Diderot, Rameau’s Nephew / Le neveu de Rameau : a multi-media bilingual edition / edited by Marian Hobson ; translated by Kate E. Tunstall and Caroline Warman ; music researched and played by the Conservatoire national superieur de musique et de danse de Paris  Probably completed in 1772-73, Denis Diderot’s Rameau’s Nephew fascinated Goethe, Hegel, Engels and Freud in turn, achieving a literary-philosophical status that no other work by Diderot shares. This interactive, multi-media and bilingual edition offers a brand new translation of Diderot’s famous dialogue, and it also gives the reader much more. Portraits and biographies of the numerous individuals mentioned in the text, from minor actresses to senior government officials, enable the reader to see the people Diderot describes, and provide a window onto the complex social and political context that forms the backdrop to the dialogue. Links to musical pieces specially selected by Pascal Duc and performed by students of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, illuminate the wider musical context of the work, enlarging it far beyond its now widely understood relation to opéra comique.

PHILOSOPHY

Forgiveness: a philosophical exploration / Charles L. Griswold. Charles Griswold has written the first comprehensive philosophical book on forgiveness in both its interpersonal and political contexts, as well as its relation to reconciliation. Having examined the place of forgiveness in ancient philosophy and in modern thought, he discusses what forgiveness is, what conditions the parties to it must meet, its relation to revenge and hatred, when it is permissible and whether it is obligatory, and why it is a virtue. Griswold argues that forgiveness (unlike apology) is inappropriate in politics, and analyzes the nature and limits of political apology with reference to historical examples (including Truth and Reconciliation Commissions). The book concludes with an examination of the relation between memory, narrative, and truth. 

Freedom all the way up: God and the meaning of life in a scientific age / Christian J. Barrigar. Freedom All The Way Up proposes four intertwined elements that make up the meaning of life–self-worth, purpose, identity, and hope. Barrigar argues that the universe does have purpose, God’s purpose: to provide the space and conditions by which to bring about the existence of agape-capable beings in agape-loving relationships with God and with others. Barrigar weaves together such themes as the multiverse, the second law of thermodynamics, randomness, statistical mechanics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and probability theory to show how our universe serves God’s agape-loving purposes. In effect, the universe is a great ‘freedom system’ designed by God with freedom built in ‘all the way up’, from the Big Bang to big brains and free will. This freedom system sets up the conditions for a fundamental choice between two types of freedom–autonomous freedom, which focuses principally on self, and agapic freedom, which focuses principally on God and on others.

Tolerance: the beacon of the enlightenment / edited and translated by Caroline Warman, et al. This anthology contains fiery extracts from forty different authors, from the philosophers everyone’s heard of to those whose brilliant writings are less well-known. They are immensely diverse in style and topic, but all have in common their passionate commitment to equality, freedom, and tolerance, and every single one resonates powerfully with the issues our world faces today. The book was first published in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo assassinations in January 2015 as a mark of solidarity, and as a response to the wide-spread interest in Enlightenment values.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

The Bible as book: the Hebrew Bible and the Judaean desert discoveries / edited by Edward D. Herbert & Emanuel Tov. This collection of article represents cutting-edge research by an international team of scholars. Together, they chart the findings and controversies sparked off by the discovery and publication of some 900 scrolls which have transformed our understanding of the state of the biblical text at the turn of the last millennium. With subjects encompassing rewritten scriptures, canonical development, and the ramifications of the Qumran discoveries for modern textual criticism and the Bible today, this volume should hold something for both scolar and layperson alike.

 The Bible at Qumran: text, shape, and interpretation / edited by Peter W. Flint with the assistance of Tae Hun Kim. (TWU AUTHORS) The Bible at Qumran puts the Dead Sea Scrolls to use in exploring two principal themes: the text and shape of the “Bible” at Qumran and the interpretation of these scriptures in this fascinating Jewish community. Written by leading scholars in the field, these informed studies make an important contribution to our understanding of the biblical text at a pivotal period in history.

 Celebrating the Dead Sea Scrolls: a Canadian collection / edited by Peter W. Flint, Jean Duhaime, and Kyung S. Baek ; with twenty-five contributions by scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls and related literature. (TWU AUTHORS)  The essays, in four sections, explore the origins and text of scripture, the interpretation of scripture in Second Temple Judaism, the identity and practices of the movement associated with Qumran and the Scrolls, and the extensive contributions of Canadian projects and scholarship.  

The Eerdmans dictionary of early Judaism / edited by John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow. The first reference work devoted exclusively to Second Temple Judaism (fourth century b.c.e. through second century c.e.).  It is ecumenical and international in character, bringing together nearly 270 authors from as many as twenty countries and including Jews, Christians, and scholars of no religious affiliation.

 Freeing the Dead Sea Scrolls and other adventures of an archaeology outsider / Hershel Shanks.  Once a successful Washington Attorney, Shanks changed careers after a trip to the Holy Land and devoted himself to the study of biblical archaeology.He spearheaded a campaign to release the scrolls to the wider scholarly community throughout the 1980s, using the Biblical Archaeology Review as a mouthpiece for the cause. Later Shanks’ involvement greatly increased when he published reconstructed fascicles of the secret scrolls amidst much controversy. Shanks must be seen as one of the crucial factors that finally brought these vital tools of academic study, these Dead Sea Scrolls, to the wider world. His vigorous defense of the authenticity of the Ossuary – which is said to have contained the bones of The Brother of Jesus – is explored in one of the book’s liveliest chapters.

 Genius born of anguish: the life & legacy of Henri Nouwen / Michael W. Higgins & Kevin Burns. This illustrated biography presents the life and legacy of Nouwen through interviews with his friends and family, including his brother Laurent, l’Arche founder Jean Vanier, author Robert Ellsberg, and writer Ronald Rolheiser.

Integrative preaching: a comprehensive model for transformational proclamation / Kenton C. Anderson. TWU AUTHOR  A compelling conceptual model of biblical preaching that helps preachers better understand what they are doing when they step into the pulpit. Kenton Anderson, an experienced preacher and professor, explicates the integrative preaching model he has been honing for a lifetime. His fresh, holistic approach aims at whole-person transformation and is well suited for contemporary listeners. The book includes theoretical underpinnings and practical guidance to both instruct students and motivate working preachers. Sample sermons show how the model unfolds in actual sermons.

The Septuagint, sexuality, and the New Testament: case studies on the impact of the LXX in Philo and the New Testament / William Loader. In this groundbreaking book William Loader shows how the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures created new slants and emphases on sexuality that would leave their mark on the writings of Philo and the New Testament–and ultimately on Christian thought itself. According to Loader, “Some things are lost in translation, others gained.” The making of the Septuagint could not help but result in verbal connections, lost emphases, and novel wordplays that opened the door to new interpretations. One particularly important instance of this effect of translation is the Septuagint’s treatment of sexuality. In the course of his book Loader explores sexuality as it is presented in the Decalogue, the stories of Creation and the Garden of Eden, and the brief reference to divorce in Deuteronomy 24, looking in turn at their Septuagint translations, their use in Philo, and their possible impact on the New Testament. These fascinating studies have important implications for thinking about gender issues and male-female relations.

SCIENCES

An inconvenient sequel [streaming video, Blu-Ray, DVD ]: truth to power / Paramount Pictures and Participant Media present ; an Actual Films production ; produced by Jeff Skoll, Richard Berge et al. A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the follow-up that shows just how close people are to a real energy revolution. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is a daring call to action, exposing the reality of how humankind has aided in the destruction of our planet and groundbreaking information on what you can do now. Vice President Al Gore, a leading expert in climate change, combines cutting-edge research from top scientists around the world with photos, personal anecdotes, and observations to document the fast pace and wide scope of global warming. He presents, with alarming clarity and conclusiveness, that the fact of global climate change is not in question and that its consequences for the world we live in will be disastrous if left unchecked. Follow Vice President Gore around the globe as he tells a story of change in the making and offers real actionable steps that you can take to help reverse the damage.

Native freshwater mussels of the Pacific Northwest [electronic resource]: stewardship & environmental education for community-based organizations / written by Celeste Searles Mazzacano and Michele Blackburn. Most people are unaware of the presence and importance of mussels in local waters, and staff of natural resource organizations often lack the resources to survey mussels, salvage them from restoration sites, or develop management plans. Native Freshwater Mussels in the Pacific Northwest is a guide to help those organizations in their restoration and conservation work.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Sinuous objects: revaluing women’s wealth in the contemporary Pacific / edited by Anna-Karina Hermkens & Katherine Lepani. This volume brings the debates about women’s wealth back to the fore by critically revisiting and engaging with ideas about gender and materiality, value, relationality and the social life and agency of things. The chapters, interspersed by three poems, evoke the sinuous materiality of the different objects made by women across the Pacific, and the intimate relationship between these objects of value and sensuous, gendered bodies. This comparative perspective elucidates how women’s wealth is defined, valued and contested in current exchanges, bride-price debates, church settings, development projects and the challenges of living in diaspora. Importantly, this reveals how women themselves preserve the different values and meanings in gift-giving and exchanges, despite processes of commodification that have resulted in the decline or replacement of ‘women’s wealth’.