In the 1890s, the eccentric American businessman Franklin Webster Smith proposed grand new ‘National Galleries of History and Art’ for Washington, DC. A rendering of his imagined project has the vertigo-inducing scale of the architectural proposal that was destined from its inception to remain unrealized (Figure 1.1). Imagine that you stand at the he…
In one of her last interviews, composer, musician, humanitarian, and electronic music innovator Pauline Oliveros (1932–2016) discussed a lesser-known project, a computer and iPad application called Adaptive Use Musical Instruments, or more commonly, Instrument (henceforth “AUMI”).1 AUMI’s purpose is to support music makers of all abilities. …
These essays on a range of topics in the cognitive neurosciences report on the progress in the field over the twenty years of its existence and reflect the many groundbreaking scientific contributions and enduring influence of Michael Gazzaniga, "the godfather of cognitive neuroscience"?founder of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, founding editor of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, and …
The conversation had taken an unexpected turn. It is not often that people compare academic publishing and churchgoing. Nor would many think of using age as a measure of the credibility of an academic journal. Yet Akosua’s witty apercu, offered in an interview about academic publishing practices in Ghana, reveals an important truth. A scholarly journal…
The question of genre has dominated scholarship focused on the narrative of King David in the Second Book of Samuel and the First Book of Kings. This nar-rative has variously been called, the Succession Narrative,1 the Court History,2 and the David Saga.3 In this book, A King and a Fool? The Succession Narrative as a Satire, I offer a new perspective on the genre of, what I will hereafter refer…
This book has three main aims which are surprising only in terms of how little has been done previously to fulfil them. In 2011 Miller published a book called Tales From Facebook.1 As the title suggests, that book consisted mainly of stories about how people, as it happens people in Trinidad, used Facebook, and the consequences of Facebook for their lives.In retrospect there wer…
This landmark collection of essays makes a major contribution to the globally burgeoning f ield of broadside ballad study by extending our gaze to include the largely underexplored treasure trove of some 100,000 Central/Eastern European broadside ballads of the Czech Republic, from the beginning of the sixteenth to the end of the nineteenth centuries. Czech broadside ballads, when viewed within…
Presents detailed coverage of the deities, legendary heroes and heroines, important animals, objects, and places that make up the mythic lore of the many peoples of North America.
The African continent is home to a fascinating and strong tradition of myth, due in part to the long history of human habitation in Africa; the diversity of its geography, flora, and fauna; and the variety of its cultural beliefs. African Mythology A to Z, Second Edition is a readable reference to the deities, places, events, animals, beliefs, and other subjects that appear in the myths of vari…
n March 2013, a group of detainees at Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, Cuba, went on hunger strike. At the height of their protest, 106 individuals were refusing to eat. For detainees incarcerated for over a decade without charge or trial, food refusal offered a potent way to rebel. Having been stripped of their capacity for political communication and placed …