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Reasons for Hope: Instructive Experiences in Rural Development (Kumerian Press, 1997),
edited by Aniridh Krishna (Ph.D. student in government), Norman Uphoff (government), and Milton J.
Esman (government, emeritus), presents eighteen case studies of some of
the most successful initiatives for grassroots-based development in Asian,
African, and Latin American countries. The studies are written by their
initiators or implementors, including Krishna and Uphoff. Mozart's Piano Concertos: Text, Context, Interpretation (University of Michigan Press, 1996), edited by Neal Zaslaw (Herbert Gussman Professor of Music), contains chapters by six Cornellians: James Webster (Goldwin Smith Professor of Music), David Rosen (music), V. Kofi Agawu (music, 1989-95), Elaine R. Sisman (A.B., 1972), Cliff Eisen (Ph.D., 1986), and the editor. Several chapters mention the work of Malcolm Bilson (Frederic J. Whiton Professor of Music), whose recordings of all of the Mozart piano concertos with John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists (DG Archiv) have received critical acclaim in Europe, North America, and Japan. Law, Legend, and Incest in the Bible: Leviticus 18-20 (Cornell University Press, 1997), by Calum M. Carmichael (comparative literature), interprets the sexual regulations of Leviticus 18-20 in a radically new way and thereby offers a key to understanding the texts themselves and the nature of lawgiving throughout the Pentateuch. Sexuality, State, and Civil Society in Germany 1700-1815 (Cornell University Press, 1996), by Isabel V. Hull (history), shows how the history of sexuality illuminates social and political change. The Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question: 1700-1775 (Duke University Press, 1996), by Steven Laurence Kaplan (history), examines the production and distribution of bread-the fundamental commodity of life in preindustrial Europe-the history of bakers and their guild, and governmental regulation of the bread trade, and creates new understanding of economic, social, and political events. The Culture of National Security (Columbia University Press, 1996), edited by Peter J. Katzenstein (government), consists of thirteen essays by scholars who reflect on the failure of established models (of neorealism and neoliberalism) to predict or explain recent revolutionary political changes. Fusing sociology and security studies, they explore new analytic perspectives for understanding national and international security. Revolution and Subjectivity in Postwar Japan (University of Chicago Press, 1996), by J. Victor Koschmann (history), traces the arguments of Japanese intellectuals who believed that world history was moving inexorably toward bourgeois democracy and then socialism. It analyzes the debate over who would be the agents of that revolution and how that debate informs conceptions of nationalism, postcolonialism, and social change both in Japan and elsewhere. Showing Modernity: America's First Agricultural Revolution (Cornell University Press, 1997), by Peter D. McCleliand (economics), argues that the first great surge in inventive activity in agronomy in the United States took place in the fifteen years following the War of 1812. This is when farmers and livestock breeders asked systematically of their practices: Is there a better way? This questioning virtually assured modernization. In making his case, McClelland examines (and includes more than 270 illustrations) how farming implements worked and how they were redesigned. Shocks and Rocks: Seismology in the Plate Tectonics Revolution, History of Geophysics Volume 6 (American Geophysical Union, 1996), by Jack Oliver (geological sciences), is the story of earthquakes and the great Earth science revolution of the 1960s. A Memoir on the Physical Review: a history of the first hundred years (American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics, 1994), by Paul Hartinan (emeritus, physics), celebrates the centenary of the first American journal devoted exclusively to physics and, begun at Cornell, the journal that became preeminent in the field. The book documents the growth of modern physics and the advance of twentieth-century science. Revisioning the Political: Feminist Reconstructions of Traditional Concepts in Western Political Theory (Westview Press, 1996), edited by Nancy J. Hirschmann (government) and Christine Di Stefano, is a collection of articles by thirteen feminist political theorists who move from a critique of central concepts in Western political thought-power, authority, freedom, autonomy, democracy, care, obligation, privacy, community, and justice-to providing feminist visions for restructuring those concepts. Prismatic Thought Theodor W Adorno (University of Nebraska, 1995), by Peter Uwe Hohendahi (German studies), examines the significance of Adorno wartime years in "American exile" and of his return to postwar and postfascist Germany. It reassesses his essays on literature, his controversial theory of mass culture, his sociology of art, and his understanding of language. Finally, the book summarizes Adorno's place in criticism today. The premise of the book, reflected in its title, is that no one work or idea is core to Adorno's thought, that a reader can take seriously his smaller pieces, and that, accordingly the distinction between major and minor work collapses. Currency and Coercion: The Political Economy of International Monetary Power (Princeton University Press, 1995), by Jonathan Kirshner (govern-ment), examines international monetary relations as instruments of coercive state power to advance security-related or other non-economic goals. It describes what forms those relations can take, analyzes how and why they are effective, and presents cases. The Economic Transformation of South China: Reform and Development in the Post-Mao Era (Cornell East Asia Series, 1994), edited by Thomas P. Lyons (economics) and Victor Nee (sociology), attempts to understand the relationship between institutional change and regional growth. The Truest Pleasure (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1995) is Robert Morgan's (English) fourth novel about ordinary people living in the Blue Ridge mountains. Images from the Region of the Pueblo Indians of North America (Cornell University Press, 1995), Aby M. Warburg's 1923 lecture translated and interpreted by Michael P. Steinberg (history), grew out of Warburg's 1895 encounter with the Hopis, which generated his theory of Renaissance imagery and the cultural history of modernity. Barbara Altman Bruno '69 dedicated Worth Your Weight: What you can do about a weight problem (Rutledge Books, Inc., 1996) to "ending people's suffering about weight." Bruno, a clinical social worker, is a "size- acceptance activist." Donald R. DeGlopper '63, Ph.D. '73, published Lukang: Commerce and Community in a Chinese City (SUNY, 1995), a study of the history and social organization of a Taiwanese seaport city DeGlopper is with the Library of Congress. Joel (Jed) Greer '85 and Kenny Bruno published Greenwash: The Reality Behind Corporate Environmentalism (Third World Network, Malaysia, and The Apex Press, New York, 1996). The book presents case studies of dominant transnational corporations that serve their own interests while posing as defenders of the environment and leaders in eradicating poverty. Greer was formerly with Greenpeace International. Brian C. Levey '80 has published Massachusetts Zoning and Land Use Law (Michie Legal Publications, 1996). The book is a practical guide for builders, developers, planners, and attorneys seeking to obtain or challenge land use or zoning permits in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Levey is a partner in the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey in Framingham, Massachusetts. James H. Mittelman, M.A. '70, Ph.D. '71, edited Globalization: Critical Reflections (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1996), an analysis of globalization in the late twentieth century Mittelman is professor of international relations at American University. Stewart O'Nan, M.EA. '92, is publishing his third novel, The Speed Queen (Doubleday April, 1997), a road comedy set along Route 66. Simultaneously Penguin will reprint his Vietnam novel set partly in Ithaca, The Names of the Dead. Adam Potkay '82 co-edited Black Atlantic Writers of the Eighteenth Century: Living the New Exodus in England and the Americas (St. Martin's Press, New York, 1995). Potkay is associate professor of English at the College of William and Mary. Joseph J. Roevens '90 published Organize with Chaos: A Simple Robust Business Tool (Universitas-Belgium, 1996), the first book to integrate chaos theory into management. Roevens is a change management consultant in Belgium. Margaret Roston '75, B.S.N. '78, published The Exotic Animal Drug Compendium: An International Formulary (Veterinary Learning Systems, Trenton, NJ, 1996), a book for caretakers of exotic animals. Roston dedicated the book to two Cornell professors who influenced her life Arch T. Dotson, government, and William B. Provine, history. Alex Singer '84 earned a summa cum laude for his senior project consisting of letters, drawings, and brief histories about diaspora Jewish communities. He later emigrated to Israel; while serving in the Israeli army, he was killed in a battle in southern Lebanon. His parents have published Alex: Building a Life: the story of an American who fell defending Israel told in letters, journals and drawings (Gefen Books, 1996). Irene Smalls '71 published Because You're Lucky (Little Brown & Co, April 1997), her newest African American children's book. Emily Tall '61 published an advanced Russian textbook, Let's Talk about Life (John Wiley & Sons, 1996). Tall teaches in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Elizabeth W. Trahan, M.A. '53, published Geister-beschworung (Picus, 1996; English version forthcoming in fall 1997), the memoir of a Jewish girl's youth in Vienna during the Second World War. Trahan, now retired, taught German, Russian, and comparative studies at Amherst College. |
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