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Music, Culture, and the Politics of Health: Ethnography of a South African AIDS Choir

Austin C. Okigbo  X  Buy Book 

This book is an ethnographic study of a HIV/AIDS choir who use music to articulate their individual and collective experiences of the disease. The study interrogates as to understand the bigger picture of HIV/AIDS using the approach of microanalysis of music event. It places the choir, and the cultural and political issues addressed in their music in the broader context of South Africa’s public health and political history, and the global culture and politics of AIDS.

Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement That Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free

Linda Kay Klein X  Buy Book 

From a woman who has been there and back, the first inside look at the devastating effects evangelical Christianity’s purity culture has had on a generation of young women—in a potent combination of journalism, cultural commentary, and memoir. In the 1990s, a “purity industry” emerged out of the white evangelical Christian culture. Purity rings, purity pledges, and purity balls came with a dangerous message: girls are potential sexual “stumbling blocks” for boys and men, and any expression of a girl’s sexuality could reflect the corruption of her character. This message traumatized many girls—resulting in anxiety, fear, and experiences that mimicked the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—and trapped them in a cycle of shame. Klein’s experience developed into a twelve-year quest that took her across the country and into the lives of women raised in similar religious communities—a journey that facilitated her own healing and led her to churches that are seeking a new way to reconcile sexuality and spirituality.

Finding Solace in the Soil: An Archaeology of Gardens and Gardeners at Amache

Bonnie J. Clark  X  Buy Book 

Finding Solace in the Soil tells the largely unknown story of the gardens of Amache, the War Relocation Authority incarceration camp in Colorado. Combining physical evidence with oral histories and archival data and enriched by the personal photographs and memories of former Amache incarcerees, the book describes how gardeners cultivated community in confinement.

The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering

Francis Sanzaro X  Buy Book 

Finding a climber who perceives bouldering as a moving meditation, or one who values form and style far beyond difficulty, is a daunting task . . . in this book, Francis Sanzaro takes a significant step in that direction’ – JOHN GILL A classic text exploring the philosophy of bouldering, giving boulderers a unique voice of their own This revised and updated edition of a classic climbing text – The Boulder: A Philosophy for Bouldering – is an enlightening book of inspirational thoughts on the art of bouldering. It revolutionizes the way we think about this unique sport, bringing it into conversation with disciplines as varied as architecture, dance, skateboarding, painting, parkour, martial arts, and gymnastics. Reading it will enrich your experience of climbing and encourage you to appreciate the natural physicality and artful play of bouldering, often described as the poetry of mountaineering.

On the Edge of Purgatory: An Archaeology of Place in Hispanic Colorado

Bonnie J. Clark  X  Buy Book 

Southeastern Colorado was known as the northernmost boundary of New Spain in the sixteenth century. By the late 1800s, the region was U.S. territory, but the majority of settlers remained Hispanic families. They had a complex history of interaction with indigenous populations in the area and adopted many of the indigenous methods of survival in this difficult environment. Today their descendants compose a vocal part of the Hispanic population of Colorado. Bonnie J. Clark investigates the unwritten history of this unique Hispanic population. Combining archaeological research, contemporary ethnography, and oral and documentary history, Clark examines the everyday lives of this population over time.

Unlocking Opportunity through Broadly Accessible Institutions

Cecilia M. Orphan X  Buy Book 

This groundbreaking resource highlights the unique mission and purpose of bachelor’s degree granting accessible institutions (BAIs), exploring the challenges and opportunities present within these institutions, and offering a counterpoint to the current dialogue that frames these institutions with a deficit-perspective. Chapters cover key issues such as educational policy, leadership opportunities, faculty, the role of geography, racial equity, and developmental education. Ultimately, this volume challenges damaging assumptions about the organizational nature, purpose, and role of BAIs in shaping educational opportunity for diverse student populations, and therefore contributes valuable scholarship to the ongoing dialogue and debate around achieving equity in higher education access in the United States.

Society Elsewhere: Why the Gravest Threat to Humanity Will Come From Within

Francis Sanzaro X  Buy Book 

The biggest political and economic issue of the 21st and 22nd centuries will not be food, war, overpopulation, or the environment, but boredom and uselessness. The biggest problem will be figuring out how to manage people’s emotional lives in a time when their intelligence, brains and consciousness will become irrelevant. The writers of the 2050s will observe that the idea of outsourcing our lives to software algorithms began around the turn of the millennium with small tasks (dating, entertainment, directions), until, decades later the transition was complete; human decision making, which is the font of consciousness, is no longer necessary. Boredom and malaise are the biggest threats to global public health. With a unique blend of pop culture, history, philosophy, psychology, art theory, among others, Society Elsewhere is both evocative and engaging across a wide array of demographics.

Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains

Bonnie J. Clark  X  Buy Book 

Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains combines history, anthropology, archaeology, and geography to take a closer look at the relationships between land and people in this unique North American region. Focusing on long-term change, this book considers ethnographic literature, archaeological evidence, and environmental data spanning thousands of years of human presence to understand human perception and construction of landscape. The contributors offer cohesive and synthetic studies emphasizing hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers.

The Infantile Grotesque: Pathology, Sexuality and a Theory of Religion

Francis Sanzaro X  Buy Book 

Why are we so conflicted about childbirth? Simultaneously thought to be natural, unnatural, pornographic, obscene and beautiful, our attitudes about birth harbor our deepest convictions about life, creativity and vitality. It is fair to say, according to Sanzaro, that birth is in a state of crisis. By taking a multi-disciplinary approach, grounded in psychoanalysis, philosophy, film theory, visual art, etc., and combining current events with pop-culture analyses, while also utilizing new research from the fields of medicine, trauma and sexuality, the author is able to argue that, as it is repressed, banned and censored today, childbirth imagery should be classified as a unique type of image—the grotesque. The Infantile Grotesque, therefore, is a critique of culture but begins with a single phenomenon—childbirth. The Infantile Grotesque not only reframes the debate about how birth is, and isn’t viewed, but provides a diagnostic through which to view the vitality of culture. It will be of interest not only to academics, but also anyone interested in pop-culture, media studies, and/or obtaining a deeper understanding of how a species could turn its back on its own process of reproduction.

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