No roaring lions (only polar bears) heralded the end of our mild winter here in Baltimore. Read on to see what we’ve been up to, who we’ve been meeting (can anyone say James Franco?), and what’s in the works at the JHU Press.
Journals News
In an effort to help raise awareness about health issues in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities, Progress in Community Health Partnerships (PCHP) has published a special issue in cooperation with the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) and the Health Through Action Program via support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The journal has devoted its Spring 2012 issue to information about community initiatives focused on health problems within these communities.
Feeling like you need your Samuel Beckett fix? Well, the journal Modernism/modernity has you covered. The most recent issue focuses on papers presented at a 2011 conference “Samuel Beckett: Out of the Archive.” Look for a podcast from conference organizer Dr. Peter Fifield soon on our Multimedia page.
Finding the right children’s book can be tough, whether it’s for your child or looking for the perfect gift for a friend or relative. The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books reviews dozens of titles every month in every age range. Check out the reviews in April 2012 issue, which also features a list of award-winning titles.
Recently Released Books
Polar Bears: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Behavior The polar bear, king of the Arctic, is one of the world’s most recognizable animals. Images of the majestic beasts roaming across the ice cap, plunging into frigid waters, and playing with furry cubs have come to symbolize the beauty and grandeur of the Arctic. Andrew E. Derocher and Wayne Lynch have spent decades following the bears, and this book offers the most comprehensive and readable review of their biology, ecology, behavior, and conservation.
Leaving without Losing: The War on Terror after Iraq and Afghanistan As the United States withdraws its combat troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, politicians, foreign policy specialists, and the public are worrying about the consequences of leaving these two countries. International relations scholar Mark N. Katz asks: Could ending both wars actually help the United States and its allies to overcome radical Islam in the long term? (And we’re giving away a free copy of this book! Click here to find out more.)
At War with PTSD: Battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with Virtual Reality. Shell shock, combat fatigue, soldier’s heart, Vietnam Syndrome. Whatever the name, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has always been with us. With 20 percent of the Veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq exhibiting PTSD symptoms, the United States military has a strong interest in combating the condition. Navy psychiatrist Robert N. McLay has been at the forefront of these efforts. This is his story of using virtual reality to treat Service Members and Veterans with PTSD.
Who Will Hear Your Secrets? In Robley Wilson’s sixth story collection, fragile human relationships are marked by lies, betrayals, suppressed memories, and rare moments of joy. These stories concern the issues that divide us, in a world where the present is haunted and sometimes overpowered by the past, and the future holds only the possibility—never the assurance—of forgiveness.
Selling the Amish: The Tourism of Nostalgia More than 19 million tourists flock to Amish Country each year, drawn by the opportunity to glimpse “a better time” and the quaint beauty of picturesque farmland and handcrafted quilts. What they may find, however, are elaborately themed town centers, outlet malls, or even a water park. Susan L. Trollinger explores this puzzling incongruity, showing that Amish tourism is anything but plain and simple.
Manly Meals and Mom’s Home Cooking New in paperback, Manly Meals and Mom’s Home Cooking offers a perceptive and piquant analysis of the tone and content of American cookbooks published between the 1790s and the 1960s, adroitly uncovering the cultural assumptions and anxieties—particularly about women and domesticity—they contain.
Hollywood comes to Baltimore!
Actor James Franco came to the Johns Hopkins University campus to host a screening and discussion of his film about poet Hart Crane: The Broken Tower. The event was sponsored by the JHU Writing Seminars, the Program in Film and Media Studies, and the JHU Press, which published Hart Crane’s Poetry by longtime Crane critic John T. Irwin earlier this year.
For more happenings at the Press see our events calendar.
What They’ve been Saying
About Who Will Hear Your Secrets?, The Wall Street Journal says “Each story is expertly constructed, offering the comforts of a piece of handcrafted furniture.” Michael Dirda of The Washington Post calls The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Otto Rank an “excellent book.”
