University of Michigan Press Blog

The Pequot War will never look the same: Have a Funny Happy Thanksgiving, from the University of Michigan Press

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UPDATE: There are other books besides Palin's? Author of "Barack Obama's America" Addresses the Women's National Democratic Club

UMP author and noted political scientist John Kenneth White addresses The Women's National Democratic Club.        Watch here.

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Barack Obama's America
How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era

by John Kenneth White  I   Author Commentary: Sarah Palin 

ABOUT THE BOOK: The election of Barack Obama to the presidency marks a conclusive end to the Reagan era, writes John Kenneth White in Barack Obama's America. Reagan symbolized a 1950s and 1960s America, largely white and suburban, with married couples and kids at home, who attended church more often than not.

Obama's election marks a new era, the author writes. Whites will be a minority by 2042. Marriage is at an all-time low. Cohabitation has increased from a half-million couples in 1960 to more than 5 million in 2000 to even more this year. Gay marriages and civil unions are redefining what it means to be a family. And organized religions are suffering, even as Americans continue to think of themselves as a religious people. Obama's inauguration was a defining moment in the political destiny of this country, based largely on demographic shifts, as described in Barack Obama's America. More info here.

Struggling with research? You're not the only one...

In Research Confidential: Solutions to Problems Most Social Scientists Pretend They Never Have, Eszter Hargittai explores the frustration, uncertainty, and challenges that many social scientists face in the course of their research. The collection of essays aims to fill the notable gap in the existing literature on research methods in the social sciences. While the methods literature is extensive, rarely do authors discuss the practical issues and challenges they routinely confront in the course of their research projects. As a result, each new cohort is forced to reinvent the wheel, making mistakes that previous generations have already confronted and resolved. Research Confidential seeks to address this failing by supplying new researchers with the kind of detailed practical information that can make or break a given project.

Eszter Hargittai is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Eszter on:  

YouTube   Twitter   Inside Higher Ed   Wikipedia    CNN 

Facebook event launches 'Angle of Vision'

Lorraine López, editor of An Angle of Vision, worked with a graduate student to create a Facebook "event" to launch the new book. The collection of essays by major women writers described various aspects of their experiences growing up poor.

The "event" was the publishing of the book, but it spread rapidly, allowing people to "RSVP" to show their support. (Find it here.) Lopez writes:

"Setting up an "event" through Facebook for a book release is a great way to get word out about the publication to one's many friends in a quick and efficient way.

"I received countless responses by friends who were thrilled to learn of its release and eager to obtain copies. Also, a few contributors to the collection forwarded this event to their friends, so the news reached an even greater number of people, whom I also heard from.

"Setting up the event was quite easy, but as a newcomer to FB, I felt more comfortable getting assistance from a more seasoned user of the networking service. I recommend clarifying in the event description that this is just information about book release, and not a celebration that will occur in a specific time and place."

'Finian's Rainbow' relaunches in NYC - and relaunches debate over lyricist's nickname

Burton Lane and E. Y. Harburg’s 1947 musical “Finian’s Rainbow” opened October 29 at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in New York, also reopening the debate about the celebrated lyricist's nickname.

Edgar Yipsel Harburg, whose son Ernie coauthored the biography Who Put the Rainbow in The Wizard of Oz?: Yip Harburg, Lyricist (University of Michigan Press) with Harold Meyerson in 1995, was commonly known as Yip.

Benjamin Ivry's recent blog entry for The Forward quoted the biography when discussing the nickname, noting that "Harburg himself [claimed] that his nickname Yipsel derived from 'yipsl…the Yiddish word for squirrel,' since he was a hyperactive boy."

However, another volume asserts that yipsl and yipsel are not Yiddish, and the Yiddish word for squirrel is veverk.

No matter what you called him, the blog goes on to note, Harburg's fiery activism and his partner's more gentle, lyrical voice gave birth to a tremendous piece of entertainment that is now in front of a brand-new audience.

"Together, these disparate Jewish creators managed to produce a lastingly intriguing and ferociously joyful musical," Ivry writes.

Daily Show With John Stewart: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Co-Author of "The Strategy of Campaigning," Predicts the Future of Iran's Nuclear Program

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
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Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is the co-author (with Kiron K. Skinner, Serhiy Kudelia, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, and Condoleezza Rice) of University of Michigan Press release The Strategy of Campaigning (2007), which explores the political careers of Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin, two of the most galvanizing and often controversial political figures of our time. Both men overcame defeat early in their political careers and rose to the highest elected offices in their respective countries.

Annie Lehmann, Author of "The Accidental Teacher," on the Rise in Autism Diagnoses

Catherine Lord, who wrote the foreword to Annie Lehmann's book The Accidental Teacher: Life Lessons from My Silent Son (University of Michigan Press, 2009), was quoted extensively in a recent New York Times story on autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Lehmann had this to say about the story:

"Asperger's Syndrome may have only become part of the medical lexicon in 1994, but has had a profound effect on the reported numbers of cases of individuals on the autism spectrum.

"The spectrum is broad — very broad — so that a fully functional person with a Ph.D. in math and a nonverbal adult who needs round the clock supervision can both be considered to have autism. As Dr. Swedo comments in the New York Times story, 'in autism, everybody is a snowflake.' 

"Clearly those with Asperger’s represent a significant proportion of the  'more than 1 in 100 American children' (mentioned in another New York Times story) that are now reported to have autism. When my son was diagnosed more than 23 years ago, that number was 15 in 10,000. 
       
"How do we explain the explosion in numbers?

Dr. Howard Markel, Author of "Formative Years," on Swine Flu Vaccination

 

|Read Transcript|
|Original NPR Article|

Howard Markel is the co-author with Alexandra Minna Stern of Formative Years, which sheds light on the development of the fields of pediatrics and child health during the last century (1880-2000). Markel is the George Edward Wantz Professor of the History of Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, and Professor of History at the University of Michigan. MORE INFO

Author of "Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea" Interview with The Young Turks

Joshua Hortwiz is one of two authors of this book Guns, Democracy, and the Insurrectionist Idea. He received a law degree from George Washington University and is currently a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

|Visit the authors' website at: Coalition to Stop Gun Violence|

|Also watch: "Guns and Liberty" on C-Span, Horwitz and Anderson at Hartford University|

Michigan Spring 2010 eCatalog: Perfect for Your iPhone

In addition to it's regular seasonal print and electronic catalogs, Director Phil Pochoda and the University of Michigan Press today launched the subject-based Michigan Spring 2010: eCATALOG, a "University Press 2.0" subject catalog design reflecting a digital transition that embraces new technologies, expanding social media networks, and immediate global searchability, accessibility, and connectivity.

Subscribe to the eCatalog HERE.