Faculty Authors 2020
For nearly two decades BMC libraries have hosted an annual celebration of the books that Bryn Mawr’s faculty, emeriti and staff have published over the previous year. The celebration will continue this year on Thursday, May 7, at 4:30 pm, but this time it will be a virtual event. President Kim Cassidy will host, and the authors will give presentations about their books. Please plan on bringing a beverage of your choice to join a toast to the authors at the end!
A link to the event will be sent upon registration. Register at the LITS Events site
Shaman, Priest, Practice, Belief
by Casey Barrier (ed)
Sarah E. Baires / Melissa R. Baltus / Casey R. Barrier / James F. Bates / Sierra M. Bow / James A. Brown / Stephen B. Carmody / Meagan E. Dennison / Aaron Deter-Wolf / David H. Dye / Bretton T. Giles / Cameron Gokee / Kandace D. Hollenbach / Thomas A. Jennings / Megan C. Kassabaum / John E. Kelly / Ashley A. Peles / Tanya M. Peres / Charlotte D. Pevny / Connie M. Randall / Jan F. Simek / Ashley M. Smallwood / Renee B. Walker / Alice P. Wright
Drawing Down the Moon
by Radcliffe Edmonds
An unparalleled exploration of magic in the Greco-Roman world
What did magic mean to the people of ancient Greece and Rome? How did Greeks and Romans not only imagine what magic could do, but also use it to try to influence the world around them? In Drawing Down the Moon, Radcliffe Edmonds, one of the foremost experts on magic, religion, and the occult in the ancient world, provides the most comprehensive account of the varieties of phenomena labeled as magic in classical antiquity. Exploring why certain practices, images, and ideas were labeled as "magic" and set apart from "normal" kinds of practices, Edmonds gives insight into the shifting ideas of religion and the divine in the ancient past and in the later Western tradition. Using fresh approaches to the history of religions and the social contexts in which magic was exercised, Edmonds delves into the archaeological record and classical literary traditions to examine images of witches, ghosts, and demons as well as the fantastic powers of metamorphosis, erotic attraction, and reversals of nature, such as the famous trick of drawing down the moon. From prayer and divination to astrology and alchemy, Edmonds journeys through all manner of ancient magical rituals and paraphernalia--ancient tablets, spell books, bindings and curses, love charms and healing potions, and amulets and talismans. He considers the ways in which the Greco-Roman discourse of magic was formed amid the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, including Egypt and the Near East. An investigation of the mystical and marvelous, Drawing Down the Moon offers an unparalleled record of the origins, nature, and functions of ancient magic.Siting China in Germany
by Christiane Hertel
Chinoiserie--the use of motifs, materials, and techniques considered "Chinese" in ceramics, furniture, interior design, and landscape architecture--has often been associated with courtly decadence and shallow escapism. In Siting China in Germany, Christiane Hertel challenges conventional assumptions about this art form by developing a fresh, complex perspective on collections, gardens, and literature in the long eighteenth century.
From the extraordinary porcelain palaces at Dresden and Rastatt and the gardens of Wilhelmsthal and Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel to the literary and artistic translation practices in Dresden and Thomas Mann's historical novel Lotte in Weimar, Hertel interprets the extensive history of chinoiserie within but also beyond court culture. In particular, her study focuses on how manifestations of chinoiserie in Germany oscillated between the imagination, judgment, and critique of cultural and historical difference as well as identity.
Hertel's erudite analysis of the cultural significance of German chinoiserie will interest art historians and scholars of Orientalism, German Sinophilia, and German Sinophobia.
Regarding Frames
by Shiamin Kwa
Part interpretive criticism, part philosophical meditation, Regarding Frames: Thinking with Comics in the Twenty-First Century explores the ways that literary comics engage readers in the mutual construction of meaning. BMC Professor Shiamin Kwa (EALC) draws from a wide range of philosophical, critical, and theoretical texts to analyze the visual and verbal narrative strategies that artists use. She examines the work of comic artists Gabrielle Bell, Michael DeForge, Kevin Huizenga, Laura Park, and Dash Shaw who construct their particular visions of the world.
Ghost Collector
by Allison Mills
Ghosts aren't meant to stick around forever...
Shelly and her grandmother catch ghosts. In their hair.
Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven't transitioned yet; it's their job to help the ghosts along their journey. When Shelly's mom dies suddenly, Shelly's relationship to ghosts--and death--changes. Instead of helping spirits move on, Shelly starts hoarding them. But no matter how many ghost cats, dogs, or people she hides in her room, Shelly can't ignore the one ghost that's missing. Why hasn't her mom's ghost come home yet?
Rooted in a Cree worldview and inspired by stories about the author's great-grandmother's life, The Ghost Collector delves into questions of grief and loss, and introduces an exciting new voice in tween fiction that will appeal to fans of Kate DiCamillo's Louisiana's Way Home and Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls.
Global Nomads
by Susanna Fioretta
Russian Function Words
by Marina Rojavin
Russian Function Words: Meanings and Use is a collection of 463 prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections, and parenthetical words.
This book provides a semantic, syntactic, and stylistic analysis of each word, accompanying the explanation with examples of the word's usage in discourse in contemporary, everyday Russian and analogous translations into English. Consequently, it allows users to develop an understanding of contemporary grammatical, lexical, and stylistic norms, with the aim of mastering these critical words. This book also includes a multitude of idioms and sayings that users will learn to use in the appropriate context.
Intermediate and advanced students, instructors, and translators will find this a useful supplement to their existing resources. It also serves as a helpful reference for independent learners at all levels.
Modeling Peace
by Jie Shi
Dining Out
by Elliott Shore
Taste of Barcelona
by H. Rosi Song