Lawrence professors share wisdom beyond the classroom

Chris Chan

Lawrence professors do more than just teach. Writing and editing are integral parts of the academic life, and Lawrence professors have published a number of books on a wide variety of topics in recent years. Here is a sample of some of the most recent publications by Lawrence faculty.The Sense of Antirationalism: The Religious Thought of Zhuangzi and Kierkegaard by Karen L. Carr and Philip J. Ivanhoe, 2000, 158 pages.

Carr is the chair of Lawrence’s Religious Studies department. The belief system of Zhuangzi, better known to Lawrence students as the philosopher Chuang-tzu, is compared to that of Kierkegaard, one of the founders of Existentialism.

Encyclopedia of Prehistory – Volume 2: Arctic and Sub-Arctic, edited by Peter Peregrine and Melvin Ember, 2001, 254 pages.

Peregrine is chair of Lawrence’s Anthropology department. This anthology contains a variety of articles by distinguished scholars on the ancient cultures of the Arctic and Sub-arctic. In addition, Peregrine has written Archaeological Research: A Brief Introduction, 2000, 272 pages. This is a textbook for students studying archaeology, complete with an online study guide. One anonymous student reviewer from Indianapolis wrote on Amazon.com, “I never read a textbook I liked – until now.”

The Making of the Chinese Industrial Workplace: State, Revolution, and Labor Management by Mark W. Frazier, 2002, 304 pages.

Frazier is a member of Lawrence’s Government department. In this book, Frazier analyzes the state of Chinese factories throughout the 20th century, from the labor movements of the 1920s and 1930s, through Chinese industry during World War II, to the Communist era.

The Grub-Street Journal, 1730-33, edited by Bertrand A. Goldgar, 2002, 1008 pages, four volumes.

Goldgar is the John N. Bergstrom Professor of Humanities at Lawrence and is a member of the English department. The Grub-Street Journal was a very popular weekly literary criticism magazine. According to Pickering and Chatto Publishers, “The Grub Street Journal was known for its witty and outrageous style. Edited by Richard Russel and John Martyn (for the first year and a half), the journal’s aim was to “‘attack lewd and vicious nonsense’ or ‘wicked stupidity’ in order to ‘reform the taste of the generality of readers which is very much depraved.”’ The journal analyzed the writings of authors like Pope, Swift, and Fielding, and also specialized in political satire.

The Rhetoric of Sobriety: Wine in Early Islam, by Kathryn Kueny, 2001, 192 pages.

Kueny teaches Religious Studies. Alcohol is forbidden under Islamic law, and this book analyzes why. The back cover says, “How believers chose to identify wine as a marginal substance and assert its prohibition offers a rare glimpse into the underlying intellectual strategies of early Muslim thought to resolve conflict, create meaning, structure the world, govern human behavior, and convey the divine message. Ultimately, this examination reveals some of the ways in which the early Islamic community created its identity, and asserted it over other confessional groups with similar convictions.”

Horace: Image, Identity, and Audience, by Randall L. B. McNeill, 2001, 200 pages.

McNeill teaches Classics. This book analyzes the personality, character, and influence of Horace, and the meanings of his poetry and other writings. Elaine Fantham of Princeton University says, “The framework of McNeill’s approach is new and useful . . . [it] argues clearly and attractively. Indeed it is a pleasure to read.”

The Uneasy Relationships Between Parliamentary members and Leaders, edited by Lawrence D. Longley and Reuven Y. Hazan, 2000, 300 pages.

The late Longley was a much-respected professor of Government and served on the Wisconsin Electoral College before his untimely death last year. This anthology contains a number of articles by scholars of legislative studies, two of which are written or co-written by Longley.

The Strike That Changed New York: Blacks, Whites, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Crisis by Jerald E. Podair, scheduled for release in early 2003, 288 pages.

Podair specializes in modern American history. This book tells the story of race relations in the New York City school system in 1968. A mostly black Brooklyn school board fired 19 white teachers. Incensed by what they perceived to be racial discrimination, teachers went on strike, and New York race relations exploded in a series of frequently fiery confrontations. James T. Patterson of Brown University declared that “Podair’s telling of the racially polarizing Ocean Hill-Brownsville crisis is outstanding: clearly written, deeply researched, and admirably balanced.”

All of these books are available at the Lawrence library, except for The Strike That Changed New York, which will be available in January.