Faculty Books

2012-2013

"The Aesthetics of Grammar: Sound and Meaning in the Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia"

Jeffrey Williams, professor of anthropology, provides, in this ground-breaking volume, a detailed comparative overview of the mechanisms by which the aesthetic qualities of speech become grammatical works of art that express and convey emotions, senses, conditions and perceptions that enrich discourse. (Cambridge University Press, November 2013)

"Breast or Bottle: Contemporary Controversies in Infant-Feeding Policy and Practice"

Amy Koerber, associate professor of communication and rhetoric in the Department of English, analyzes the changing rhetoric of infant-feeding discourse through critical examination of scientific and medical controversies and the way in which medical beliefs are communicated to the public. Whereas the phrase "breast or bottle" might once have implied a choice between two relative equals, human milk is now believed to possess unique health-promoting qualities. Although it is tempting to view this revision in medical thinking as solely the result of scientific progress, Koerber argues that a progress-based interpretation is incomplete. Epidemiologic evidence demonstrating the health benefits of human milk has grown in recent years, but the story of why these forms of evidence have dramatically increased in recent decades, Koerber reveals, is a tale of the dedicated individuals, coalitions, and organizations engaged in rhetorical efforts to improve scientific explanations and cultural appreciation of human milk, lactation, and breastfeeding in the context of a historical tendency to devalue these distinctly female aspects of the human body. (The University of South Carolina Press, May 2013)

"Inscribing the Environment: Ecocritical Approaches to Medieval Spanish Literature"

Connie L. Scarborough, Professor in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, applies the concepts of ecocriticism to key, canonical works from medieval Spain with an eye to authors' depictions, realistic and symbolic, of their natural surroundings. Scarborough shows how descriptions of the natural world in these texts are informed by both the authors' perceptions of the environment and established literary models. Ecocriticism as a theoretical model has primarily been used in the study of Romantic, post-Romantic, and contemporary literary texts. Applications of the concepts to medieval literature, however, are a fairly recent phenomenon. This book examines key, canonical works from medieval Spain, showing how descriptions of the natural world in these texts are informed by both the authors' perceptions of the environment and established literary models. "Inscribing the Environment" is one of several titles in the De Gruyter series, Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture. (De Gruyter, April 2013)

"ePortfolio Performance Support Systems: Constructing, Presenting, and Assessing Portfolios"

Co-edited by Rich Rice, associate professor of technical communication and rhetoric in the Department of English, this 12-essay collection examines the ways in which ePortfolios can facilitate sustainable and measureable writing-related student development, assessment and accountability, learning and knowledge transfer, and principles related to universal design for learning, just-in-time support, interaction design, and usability testing. addresses theories and practices advanced by some of the most innovative and active proponents of ePortfolios. Rice also serves as Director of TTU's Multiliteracy Lab and is a member of the Conference on College Composition and Communication's Committee on Best Practices for Online Writing Instruction. His recent articles cover the areas of ePortfolios, new media knowledge creation, mobile medicine, basic writing and photo essays, remediated film, nontraditional graduate support systems, and media labs. (The WAC Clearinghouse & Parlor Press, April 2013)

“Canines in Cervantes and Velazquez: An Animal Studies Reading of Early Modern Spain”

John Beusterien, associate professor and director of the Comparative Literature Program in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, studies the representation of dogs in literature and art in early modern Spain. The study of the creation of canine breeds in early modern Europe, especially Spain, illustrates the different constructs against which notions of human identity were forged. This book is the first comprehensive history of early modern Spanish dogs and it evaluates how two of Spain's most celebrated and canonical cultural figures of this period, the artist Diego Velázquez and the author Miguel de Cervantes, radically question humankind's 16th-century anthropocentric self-fashioning. In general, this study illuminates how animal studies can offer new perspectives to understanding Hispanism, giving readers a fresh approach to the historical, literary and artistic complexity of early modern Spain. (Ashgate, April 2013)

"Empire of Ideas: The Origi9ns of Public Diplomacy and the Transformation of U.S. Foreign Policy"

Justin Hart, associate professor of U.S. and foreign relations in the Department of History, explores the role of propaganda and public relations in the Roosevelt and Truman years. Reviewing the book in "American Diplomacy," John Brown described "Empire of Ideas" as offering the very sort of historical perspective "so important for understanding the present and planning for the future." Brown went on in his review to say: "Given that history can — granted for optimists — be a guide for policy, it is good news that Justin Hart, a professor at Texas Tech University, has joined his fellow scholars in providing an analysis on [public diplomacy's] historical roots. Hart argues, in the book under review, that public diplomacy's origins can be traced back to the Buenos Aires conference (1936), 'where the State Department proposed a series of government-sponsored technological and educational exchanges with the nations of Latin America,' calling this international initiative 'cultural relations.' Focusing on the late '30s to the early '50s, Hart covers, in varying detail, the information, cultural, and educational overseas outreach programs carried out by U.S. government agencies." Oxford University Press, January 2013)

"Operation Screwtape: The Art of Spiritual War"

Andrew Farley, associate professor of applied linguistics, in his latest novel, bring the spiritula warfare of C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" into the data-driven 21st century. (Baker Publishing Group, December 2012)

"Archaeology in the Making: Conversations Through a Discipline"

Co-edited by Christopher Witmore, associate professor of archaeology and classics in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures. (Routledge, November 2012)

"Archaeology: The Discipline of Things"

Co-authored by Christopher Witmore, associate professor of archaeology and classics in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures. (University of California Press, November 2012)

"Working Theories for Teaching Assistant Development: Time-Tested & Robust Theories, Frameworks, & Models for TA & ITA Learning"

Edited by Greta Gorsuch, associate professor in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages Literatures. (New Forums Press, October 2012)

"Words Before Dawn"

English professor William Wenthe's Third Book of Poetry. (Louisiana State University Press, October 2012)

"Militarizing the Border: When Mexicans Became the Enemy"

Miguel Levario, assistant professor in the Department of History, describes how the past influences the present. (Texas A&M University Press, September 2012)

"The Continuum Companion to Aesthetics"

Edited by associate philosophy professor Anna Christina Ribeiro. (Continuum Books, May 2012)

"Aristotle and the Virtues"

Howard J. Curzer, Professor in the Department of Philosophy, works through Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics virtue-by-virtue, explaining and generally defending Aristotle's claims. (Oxford University Press, May 2012)

"Latino American Cinema: An Encyclopedia of Movies, Stars, Concepts and Trends"

Associate English professor Scott L. Baugh specializes in film studies and Latin American culture. (Greenwood, April 2012)

"Women Writers and the Artifacts of Celebrity in the Long Ninteenth Century"

Co-edited by English professor Ann R. Hawkins. (Ashgate, February 2012)

Browse faculty books published 2020-2021.

Browse faculty books published 2018-2019.

Browse faculty books published 2016-2017.

Browse faculty books published 2014-2015.

Browse faculty books published 2012-2013.