Faculty Books

2018-2019

"Reformation of the Senses: The Paradox of Religious Belief and Practice in Germany"

Jacob Baum, assistant professor in the Department of History, sees the Protestant Reformation as the dawn of an austere, intellectual Christianity that uprooted a ritualized religion steeped in stimulating the senses—and by extension the faith—of its flock, with his new book, "Reformation of the Senses: The Paradox of Religious Belief and Practice in Germany." Baum plumbs a wealth of primary source material from the15th and 16th centuries to offer the first systematic study of the senses within the religious landscape of the German Reformation. Concentrating on urban Protestants, Baum details the engagement of Lutheran and Calvinist thought with traditional ritual practices. His surprising discovery: Reformation-era Germans echoed and even amplified medieval sensory practices. Yet Protestant intellectuals simultaneously cultivated the idea that the senses had no place in true religion. Exploring this paradox, Baum illuminates the sensory experience of religion and daily life at a crucial historical crossroads. (University of Illinois Press, 2019)

"Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780–1830"

Erin-Marie Legacey, assistant professor in the Department of History, reveals a different sort of French Revolution in her new book, "Making Space for the Dead: Catacombs, Cemeteries, and the Reimagining of Paris, 1780–1830." Before the political revolution ended in 1799, the dead of Paris were most often consigned to mass graveyards that contemporaries described as terrible and terrifying, emitting "putrid miasmas" that were a threat to both health and dignity. In a book that is at once wonderfully macabre and exceptionally informative, Legacey explores how a new burial culture emerged in Paris as a result of both revolutionary fervor and public health concerns, resulting in the construction of park-like cemeteries on the outskirts of the city and a vast underground ossuary. Legacey unearths the unexpectedly lively process by which burial sites were reimagined, built, and used, focusing on three of the most important of these new spaces: the Paris Catacombs, Père Lachaise cemetery, and the short-lived Museum of French Monuments. By situating discussions of death and memory in the nation's broader cultural and political context, as well as highlighting how ordinary Parisians understood and experienced these sites, she shows how the treatment of the dead became central to the reconstruction of Parisian society after the Revolution. (Cornell University Press, 2019)

"All About Mariano Rivera"

Jorge Iber, professor in the Department of History and associate dean of students in the College of Arts & Sciences, writes about New York Yankees baseball great Mariano Rivera in this new book for children, "All About Mariano Rivera." With Raquel Iber as coauthor, Iber follows Rivera from his birth in a poor Panamanian fishing village to his discovery by a Yankees scout during an amateur baseball game, and on to the pitcher's professional records: a 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, to name two. Rivera easily rose to being a team leader, helping the Yankees recover from losses with dignity and celebrate wins with humility. When once asked to describe his job, Mariano simply stated, "I get the ball, I throw the ball, and then I take a shower." Part of the "All About ... People" series. (Blue River Press, 2019)

 "Subversión y de(s)construcción de subgéneros en la narrative de Rosa Montero"

Genaro Pérez, professor on the Spanish & Portuguese faculty in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, studies eight novels and half a dozen short stories in his monograph, "Subversión y de(s)construcción de subgéneros en la narrative de Rosa Montero." The monograph shows how Rosa Montero, an award-winning journalist for the Spanish newspaper El País and an author of contemporary fiction, deconstructs/manipulates several genres to give them a new and authentic perspective in their form and content. In Spanish. (Albatros Ediciones, 2019)

"Cicero, Greek Learning, and the Making of a Roman Classic"

Caroline Bishop, assistant professor of Classics in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, examines the literary works of Roman statesman, orator, and author Marcus Tullius Cicero in "Cicero, Greek Learning, and the Making of a Roman Classic." This volume presents a new way of understanding Cicero's career as an author by situating his textual production within the context of the growth of Greek classicism. Bishop's incisive analysis of how Cicero consciously adopted classical Greek writers as models offers ground-breaking new insights into Cicero's ascension to canonical status. (Oxford University Press, 2019)

Short Story Collections

 Greta Gorsuch, professor of applied linguistics in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, recently has authored 11 short stories in book and audio-book form—all geared especially for those who are learning English as a second language and for English-speaking adults looking to improve their literacy and reading fluency. One of the books, "Bee Creek Blues & Meridian," tells two tales, set decades apart, that unfold in the small Texas town of Meridian. In Depression-Era "Bee Creek Blues," an African American college student must leave his studies to find work, eventually, on an integrated building project—quite a rare thing at the time. In current-day "Meridian," a big-city college grad must move—and expand his comfort zone—to become the small town's newspaper reporter. (Wayzgoose Press, 2019) Other 2018 and 2019 titles from Wayzgoose Press include "Cecilia's House & The Foraging Class," "Light at Chickasaw Point & The Two Garcons," "Living at Trace," "Summer in Cimarron & Lunch at the Dixie Diner," and "The Storm." Titles from Gemma Open Door Publishers in 2018 and 2019 include "Key City on the River," "Post Office on the Tokaido," and "The Cell Phone Lot."

"Electoral Incentives in Congress"

Joel Sievert, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, examines how electoral incentives shaped legislative behavior throughout the 19th century in the book he coauthored with Jamie L. Carson: "Electoral Incentives in Congress." Their work uses David Mayhew's 1974 contention that once in office, legislators pursue the actions that put them in the best position for reelection. Through Mayhew's lens, Carson and Sievert view patterns of turnover in Congress; the renomination of candidates; the roles of parties in recruiting candidates and their broader effects on candidate competition; and, finally by examining legislators' accountability. The results have wide-ranging implications for the evolution of Congress and the development of legislative institutions over time. (University of Michigan Press, 2018)

"La Figure du loser dans le film et la literature d'expression francaise"

Carole Edwards, associate professor of French and director of graduate studies in the Department of Classical & Modern Languages & Literatures, explores and explains the emergence of the loser as counter-hero in French cinematic and literary works in "La Figure du loser dans le film et la literature d'expression francaise" (title translation: "The Figure of the Loser in French Language Film and Literature"). The idealistic poet, marginally outlawed and rejected by a mercantile society; the clumsy lover; the derided object of sneers and cruel jokes—Edwards finds this fragile-yet-enduring/endearing figure the trope that tells everyone's story of being thwarted by a society dominated by the cult of success. Part of the series "Collection L'un, l'autre en français." In French. (Presses Universitaires de Limoges, 2018)

"Primary Sources for Ancient History: The Ancient Near East and Greece"

Gary Forsythe, associate professor in the Department of History, provides a comprehensive collection in this new compendium, ""Primary Sources for Ancient History: The Ancient Near East and Greece." Forsythe's work includes primary sources for the ancient histories of the Near East and Greece, from the Old Babylonian Kingdom of nearly four millennia ago to the Egyptian pharaohs and the disposed Jewish nations, to Alexander's domination of the known world. Forsythe directs readers to texts such as the Law Code of Hammurabi, Greek poetry, Babylonian epics, and more. (Dorrance Publishing, 2018)

"Shadow"

Victoria Surliuga, associate professor of Italian Studies in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages, writes on fragmentation of the self and a divided attention towards life in "Shadow," a bilingual book of new poetry. Here, Surliuga's poems reflect on existence and death, striving to reassemble one's voice in life, find the center for consciousness within the body, and give a new foundation to one's perception of the world. Five artworks by Italian artist Ezio Gribaudo accompany the reader though a journey of reflection about the value of one's past and its impact on the present. Bilingual in Italian and English. (Xenos Books/Chelsea Editions, 2018)

"Moments of Joy and Heartbreak: 66 Significant Episodes in the History of the Pittsburgh Pirates"

Jorge Iber, Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Professor in the Department of History, leads as author and editor in this 208-page paperback, "Moments of Joy and Heartbreak: 66 Significant Episodes in the History of the Pittsburgh Pirates." The Pittsburgh Pirates have a long history, peppered with moments significant both to Pirates fans and Major League Baseball. While the Pirates are recognized as fielding the first all-black lineup in 1971, the 66 games in this book include one of the first matchups in the majors to involve two non-white opening hurlers (Native American and Cuban) in June 1921. We relive no-hitters, World Series-winning homers, and encounter the story of the last tripleheader ever played in major-league baseball. Some of the games are wins; some are losses. All of these essays provide readers with a sense of the totality of the Pirates' experiences: the joy, the heartbreak, and other aspects of baseball (and life) in between. This book is the work of 37 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), SABR Digital Library, Vol. 46, paperback. (Society for American Baseball Research, 2018)

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