In the News: Claude Lévi Strauss (1908-2009)

Week of November 9, 2009

News Item: French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, one of the fathers of “structuralism,” died on October 30. Educated in law and philosophy at the Sorbonne, some of Lévi-Strauss’ major works include Tristes Tropiques, The Savage Mind, and Myth and Meaning. Through the years, structuralism has influenced studies in philosophy, film, and literature.

Anthropology and Myth: Lectures, 1951-1982
Claude Lévi-Strauss; translated by Roy Willis. Blackwell, 1987
Call Number: GN362 .L4613 1987

Claude Lévi-Strauss
By Denis Bertholet. Plon, 2003
Call Number: GN21 .L4 B47 2003

Claude Lévi-Strauss
By Roland A. Champagne. Twayne Publishers, 1987
Call Number: GN21 .L4 C48 1987

In the News: Afghanistan

Week of November 2, 2009

News Item: On Monday, November 2, Afghan officials declared President Hamid Karzai the winner of the presidential runoff elections after his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the race a day earlier. Dr. Abdullah believed a transparent election was not possible if changes were not made in the Independent Election Commission. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama continues to contemplate whether or not to send as many as 40,000 additional military personnel to Afghanistan. Lastly, October marked the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began eight years ago.

Afghan Women: Identity and Invasion
By Elaheh Rostami-Povey. Zed Books, 2007
Call Number: HQ1735.6 .R67 2007

Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition from Turmoil to Normalcy
By Barnett R. Rubin. Council on Foreign Relations, 2006
Call Number: DS371.4 .R82 2006

After the Taliban: Life and Security in Rural Afghanistan
By Neamatollah Nojumi, Dyan Mazurana, and Elizabeth Stites. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2009
Call Number: HN670.6. A8 N65 2009

In the News: Reality TV

Week of October 26, 2009

News Item: Fort Collins, Colorado – A six-year-old boy, his parents, and their homemade balloon recently made headlines after it was reported that the balloon floated away with the boy trapped inside its chamber. Not surprisingly, “Balloon Boy” received widespread media attention. Local law enforcement officials eventually declared the incident a hoax and said the family concocted the elaborate plan in order to achieve reality TV stardom. A popular genre among television viewers, reality shows often garner high Nielsen ratings. Why are they popular among television viewers? What is their allure? Pick up one of these books and see what the academics have to say.

Arresting Images: Crime and Policing in Front of the Television Camera
By Aaron Doyle. University of Toronto Press, 2003
Call Number: HM1206 .D69 2003 (At Jupiter)

Better Living through Reality TV: Television and Post-Welfare Citizenship
By Laurie Ouellette and James Hay. Blackwell Pub., 2008
Call Number: PN1992.8 .R43 O84 2008

Big Brother: Reality TV in the Twenty-First Century
By Jonathan Bignell. Palgrave MacMillan, 2005
Call Number: PN1992.8 .R43 B54 2005

In the News – Cooking and Food Culture

“In the News” is 2 Years Old! – Past Topics

Week of October 19, 2009

News Item: Food lovers across the country were shocked with the announcement that Gourmet, the 69-year-old “magazine of good living,” will cease publication after its November issue. Publisher Condé Nast cited the current state of the economy and losses in ad pages as major reasons for shutting down Gourmet‘s presses. Although not necessarily a substitute for the magazine, here are a few titles related to foodways, cooking, and cuisine that Gourmet readers can “devour” after their subscriptions expire.

African American Foodways: Explorations of History and Culture
Edited by Anne L. Bower. University of Illinois Press, 2007
Call Number: TX715 .A2428 2007

American Cookery, or The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry, and Vegetables, and the Best…
By Amelia Simmons. 1798
Call Number: Available online via Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans 1639-1800

Bento Box in the Heartland: My Japanese Girlhood in Whitebread America
By Linda Furiya. Seal Press, 2006
Call Number: F534 .V34 F87 2006

In the News – The Nobel Prizes

“In the News” is 2 Years Old! – Past Topics

Week of October 12, 2009

News Item: The Nobel Committee announced that President Barack Obama would receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway on December 10. Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, and Literature, and the Prize in Economics will be awarded in Stockholm, Sweden later this year.

The Art of Peace: Nobel Peace Laureates Discuss Human Rights, Conflict and Reconciliation
By Jose Ramos-Horta et al. Snow Lion Publications, 2000
Call Number: JZ5538 .A78 2000

Banker to the Poor: The Autobiography of Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank
By Muhammad Yunus and Alan Jolis. Oxford University Press, 2001
Call Number: HG3290.6.A3 Y869 2001

A Century of Nobel Prizes Recipients: Chemistry, Physics, and Medicine
Edited by Francis Leroy. Marcel Kedder, 2003
Call Number: Q141 .C252 2003

In the News: The Wizard of Oz

Week of October 5, 2009

News Item: The Wizard of Oz, a 1939 MGM classic based on the book by L. Frank Baum, recently turned 70. Here are titles related to the culture of Oz.

The Age of William A. Dunning: The Realm of Myth Meets the Yellow Brick Road (FAU Dissertation)
By Kathleen P. Barsalou. Florida Atlantic University, 2008
Call Number: NX001.5 .B377 2008 (Also available online)

The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity
By Raymond Knapp. Princeton University Press, 2006
Call NUmber: ML2054 .K6 2006

The Annotated Wizard of Oz: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
By L. Frank Baum. Edited by Michael Patrick Hearn. Norton, 2000
Call Number: PS3503 .A723 W59 2000

In the News: Muammar el-Qaddafi

Week of September 28, 2009

News Item: De facto Libyan leader Colonel Muammar el-Quaddafi (sometimes spelled “Muammar al-Gadaffi”) recently made headlines when he spoke during a United Nations General Assembly session for 90 minutes, at least 75 minutes longer than his allotted time. The speech covered a wide variety of topics including swine flu (H1N1 Flu), the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Taliban. Quaddafi has been in power for 40 years and, according to Western intelligence, was involved in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The American Bombing of Libya: A study of the Force of Miscalculation in Reagan Foreign Policy
By Nicholas Laham. McFarland & Co., 2008
Call Number: E183.8 .L75 L34 2008

The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky: A True Story
By Ken Dornstein. Random House, 2006
Call Number: HV6431 .D665 2006

El Dorado Canyon: Reagan’s Undeclared War with Qaddafi
By Joseph T. Stanik. Naval Institute Press, 2003
Call Number: E183.8 .L75 S726 2003

In the News: Fashion

Week of September 21, 2009

Fashion, Fashion Everywhere

News Items:

The September Issue, a documentary released in late-August, highlights the work of editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and her staff at Vogue as they prepare for the largest-ever 2007 fall issue (which eventually weighed over four pounds.)
Despite the bleak economy, buyers, celebrities, and the press recently came out for New York Fashion Week, a time when fashion designers, hair stylists, and make-up artists showcased the latest runway trends.

60 Civil War-Era Fashion Patterns
By Kristina Seleshanko. Dover, 2007
Call Number: GT610 .S39 2007

Appearance and Identity: Fashioning the Body in Postmodernity
By Llewellyn Negrin. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008
Call Number: GT521 .N44 2008

Art Deco Fashion
By Suzanne Lussier. Bulfinch Press, 2003
Call Number: N6494 .A7 L87 2003

In the News: Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month

Week of September 14, 2009

News Item: September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month. This week In the News looks at titles published since 2000 that relate to Latino, Chicano, and Hispanic cultures.

Atlas of Hispanic-American History
By George Ochoa and Carter Smith. Facts on File, 2009
Call Number: E184 .S75 O287 2009 (Boca Raton Reference – Non-Circulating)

Building the Latino Future: Success Stories for the Next Generation
By Frank Carbajal and Humberto Medina. Wiley, 2008
Call Number: E184 .S75 C367 2008

Changing Race: Latinos, The Census, and the History of Ethnicity in the United States
By Clara E. Rodriguez. New York University Press, 2000
Call Number: E1884 .S75 R64 2000 (Also available online via NetLibrary)

In the News: After 9/11

Week of September 8, 2009

News Item: This week, we list titles that focus specifically on the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Some of the subject areas include literature, commerce, sociology, political science, music, history, and criminology.

110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11
Edited by Ulrich Baer. New York University Press, 2002
Call Number: PS549 .N5 A13 2002

9-11: Aftershocks of the Attack
By Jeremy D. Mayer. Thomson Wadsworth, 2006
Call Number: HV6432.7 .M35 2006 (At Treasure Coast)

9/11: The Culture of Commemoration
By David Simpson. University of Chicago Press, 2006
Call Number: HV6432.7 .S557 2006