This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The massive expansion of the internet into every aspect of our lives creates a challenge for social researchers: can they simply transfer their traditional methods and techniques online or do they need to reinvent research methods for the new environment? As online research becomes increasingly prevalent it becomes more important for researchers to have an answer to these questions and an approach to conducting research online. This book is a straightforward, accessible introduction to social research online. It covers the key issues and concerns for social scientists: online surveys, focus groups, interviews, ethnographies and experiments, as well as discussing the implications of social media, and of online research ethics. It provides a detailed, up-to-date glossary and bibliography for those new to the area. Short, clear case studies throughout allow students to see examples of the research in practice. Wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, What is Online Research? shows social scientists of all levels - from undergraduates to established researchers - how to engage in the online environment in appropriate ways, and points the way forward for future research.

The vast majority of us can only dream of being an Olympic-level athlete - but we have no real idea of what that means. Here, for the first time, in all its shocking, funny and downright bizarre glory, is the truth of the Olympic experience. It is an unimaginable world: the kitting-out ceremony with its 35kg of team clothing per athlete the pre-Olympic holding camp with its practical jokes, resentment and fighting, and freaky physiological regimes the politicians' visits with their flirty spouses the vast range of athletes with their odd body shapes and freakish genetics the release post-competion in the Olympic village with all the excessive drinking, eating, partying and sex (not necessarily in that order) the hysteria of homecoming celebrations and the comedown that follows - how do you adjust to life after the Games? The Secret Olympian talks to scores of Olympic athletes - past and present, from Munich 1960 right through to London 2012, including British, American, Australian, Dutch, French, Croatian, German, Canadian and Italian competitors. They all have a tale to tell - and most of those tales would make your eyes pop more than an Olympic weightlifter's.

This title provides a comprehensive and profound introduction to the literature and history of the Old Testament. Beginning with methods and sources, this Handbook looks at the Biblical text, archaeology, other texts, and iconography. It explores varying exegetical methods, including historical criticism, canonical approach, feminist, social scientific and liberation theology. Methods in archaeology, Hebrew epigraphic and iconography are also covered. The second section is devoted to the history and religious history of Ancient Israel. Introductory matters, such as fundamental terminology and definitions, ethnic identity, ancestors and the dead, geography and time reckoning are explicated before the book moves on to a historical survey from the Iron Age (c. 1200 BCE) to the early Roman period (ending about 63 CE). The heart of the book is a detailed survey of the Hebrew canonical books, section by section and book by book. The discussion for each book includes: biblical presentation and content; problems arising from the history of literary analysis and research; the origin and growth of the writing; the theology; and notes on reception history. This book will provide students with everything they need to study the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

Experts from different fields argue that there are good reasons to believe in the existence of the soul as distinct from the physical body. What do we mean when we speak about the soul? What are the arguments for the existence of the soul as distinct from the physical body? Do animals have souls? What is the difference between the mind and the soul? "The Soul Hypothesis" brings together experts from philosophy, linguistics and science to discuss the validity of these questions in the modern world. They contend that there is an aspect of the nature of human beings that is not reducible to the matter that makes up our bodies. This perspective is part of a family of views traditionally classified in philosophy as substance dualism, and has something serious in common with the ubiquitous human belief in the soul. "The Soul Hypothesis" presents views from a range of sciences and the resulting big picture shows, more clearly than one author could with one area of expertise, that there is room for a soul hypothesis.

Issues related to metropolitan growth and environmental change are at the heart of public debate today - this book explores the ethical implications behind this hugely topical contemporary debate. "The Ethics of Metropolitan Growth" is about the decisions people make that shape the built environment, from the everyday concerns of homeowners and commuters to grand gestures of national policy. Decisions about the built environment have taken on a particular urgency in recent months. The financial crisis that began in the home mortgage system, the instability of fuel prices, and long-term projections of oil depletion and climate change are now intertwined with more conventional concerns about metropolitan growth, such as traffic flow and air quality. Now, it would seem, is an excellent time for clear thinking about what the built environment can and should become in the future. Robert Kirkman argues that decisions about how to configure and live within the built environment have ethical dimensions that are sometimes hard to see, questions relating to well-being, justice, and sustainability. This book provides practical guidance for sorting through the ethical implications surrounding metropolitan growth, bringing the most immediate concerns of ordinary people to the centre of environmental ethics. "Think Now" is a new series of books which examines central contemporary social and political issues from a philosophical perspective. These books aim to be accessible, rather than overly technical, bringing philosophical rigour to modern questions which matter the most to us. Provocative yet engaging, the authors take a stand on political and cultural themes of interest to any intelligent reader.

This is the first anthology to address Design History as an established discipline, a field of study which is developing a contextualised understanding of the role of design and designed objects within social and cultural history. Extracts range from the 18th Century, when design and manufacture separated, to the present day. Drawn from scholarly and polemical books, research articles, exhibition catalogues, and magazines, the extracts are placed in themed sections, with each section separately introduced and each concluded with an annotated guide to further reading. Covering both primary texts (such as the writings of designers and design reformers) and secondary texts (in the form of key works of design history), the reader provides an essential resource for understanding the history of design, the development of the discipline, and contemporary issues in design history and practice. Selected authors: Judy Attfield, Jeremy Aynsley, Reyner Banham, Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, Pierre Bourdieu, Christopher Breward, Denise Scott Brown, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Clive Dilnot, Buckminster Fuller, Paul Greenhalgh, Dick Hebdige, Steven Heller, John Heskett, Pat Kirkham, Adolf Loos, Victor Margolin, Karl Marx, Jeffrey Meikle, William Morris, Gillian Naylor, Victor Papanek, Nikolaus Pevsner, John Ruskin, Adam Smith, Penny Sparke, John Styles, Nancy Troy, Thorstein Veblen, Robert Venturi, John Walker, Frank Lloyd Wright.

This is a student's introduction to the historical context, key themes and current debates in Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory advanced by Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill and Henry Sidgwick and has contributed significantly to contemporary moral and political philosophy. Yet it is not without controversy and is a subject that students can often find particularly perplexing. "Utilitarianism: A Guide for the Perplexed" offers a concise, yet fully comprehensive introduction to utilitarianism, its historical roots, key themes, and current debates. Krister Bykvist provides a survey of the modern debate about utilitarianism and goes on to evaluate utilitarianism in comparison with other theories, in particular virtue ethics and Kantianism. Bykvist offers a critical examination of utilitarianism, distinguishing problems that are unique to utilitarianism from those that are shared by other moral theories. Focusing on the problems unique to utilitarianism, the book provides a well-balanced assessment of where the theory goes astray and is in need of revision. Geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of utilitarianism, the book serves as an ideal companion to study of this most influential and challenging of philosophical concepts. "Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

This is the third book in the new 'Basics of Sculpture' series, and is in the same clear and informative step-by-step layout. Very much aimed at beginners, there are six projects of increasing difficulty, aiming to teach people how to sculpt in wire from the most basic starting point up through to soldering. The projects start off by learning about wire and using simply pliers, and then how to incorporate other materials such as tin, feathers and wool. Finally the last project includes the use of some simple silver soldering. Clear step-by-step images show the processes involved in every project. Images of fantastic sculptures in wire by contemporary artists are scattered throughout, showing everything from life-size figures to sheep, elephants and even hats.

What Cold War-era superheroes reveal about American society and foreign policy

Physicist Bruce Banner, caught in the nuclear explosion of his experimental gamma bomb, is transformed into the rampaging green monster, the Hulk. High school student Peter Parker, bitten by an irradiated spider, gains its powers and becomes Spiderman. Reed Richards and his friends are caught in a belt of cosmic radiation while orbiting the Earth in a spacecraft and are transformed into the Fantastic Four. While Stan Lee suggests he clung to the hackneyed idea of radioactivity in creating Marvel's stable of superheroes because of his limited imagination, radiation and the bomb are nonetheless the big bang that spawned the Marvel universe.

The Marvel superheroes that came to dominate the comic book industry for most of the last five decades were born under the mushroom cloud of potential nuclear war that was a cornerstone of the four-decade bipolar division of the world between the US and USSR. These stories were consciously set in this world and reflect the changing culture of cold War (and post-cold War) America. Like other forms of popular entertainment, comic books tend to be very receptive to cultural trends, reflect them, comment on them, and sometimes inaugurate them.

"Secret Identity Crisis" follows the trajectory of the breakdown of the cold War consensus after 1960 through the lens of superhero comic books. Those developed by Marvel, because of their conscious setting in the contemporary world, and because of attempts to maintain a continuous story line across and within books, constitute a system of signs that reflect, comment upon, and interact with the American political economy. This groundbreaking new study focuses on a handful of titles and signs that specifically involve political economic codes, including Captain America, theInvincible Iron Man, Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD, the Incredible Hulk to reveal how the American self was transformed and/or reproduced during the late Cold War and after.

Theology and religious studies co-exist in the majority of departments in higher education institutions within the UK, yet there has been very little debate or discussion on how these two disciplines relate to one another in this context and on a more general level. This new collection of essays aims to redress the balance and to add to fruitful discussion in this area Including essays by some of today's leading academics on the sometimes contentious relationship between religious studies - or the study of religions - and theology, this volume is international in scope, with contributions from scholars from the UK, USA, South Africa, Netherlands, Sweden and Iran. Many of the essays offer a contextualised account of the evolving relationship between the disciplines. The contributors address such issues as the place of theology within today's universities; the problem of clashing methodologies in theology and religious studies; the possibility for a 'theological religious studies'; approaching the study of religions without theology; interdisciplinary approaches for bridging the theology/religious studies divide; and the place of biblical studies in the theology/religious studies debate.

A fun, concise and attractive introduction to a fascinating and challenging subject. This is the ideal book for secondary school students and undergraduate students coming to theology for the first time, or indeed for anyone who just doesn't know where to start. The book examines key thinkers from the New Testament to Feminist Theology. It starts by considering some of the authors of New Testament writings and then focuses on representatives of the western tradition of theological speculation. Nearly half the work concentrates on 20th century thinkers and problems. It puts them in their historical, social and cultural settings, emphasizing that theology is as much a reflection on the world we live in as it is on God. Technical terms are explained in simple language throughout the text. This makes the book an ideal reference tool for a clear first overview of theology.

This book is a unique collection of new interviews with award-winning writers - novelists, poets, playwrights, screenplay writers and children's writers. Each writer discusses their process, both mental and physical: why they write, whom they write for, where and how often they write, recurring themes, their problems and their achievements. The interviews are intimate, personal, honest, informative, intriguing and often humorous. Together, they offer a fascinating insight into the inspiration, experience and hard work behind successful writers. This engaging collection is sure to appeal to anyone who loves reading or has ever wanted to be a writer.

There are hundreds of books on the market all trying to teach you how to write a screenplay. Several of them are excellent and useful books. But never until now has there been a screenwriting manual written in the form of a screenplay. Our hero, the aspiring screenwriter Danny, is hopelessly in love with Bebe, a hot young starlet. But Bebe won't go out with Danny until he proves that he can write a brilliant screenplay for her! Helped along the way by a mysterious guide (Virgil) with seemingly magical powers, Danny travels to Screenwriting Hell to see what happens to writers who never make the grade. Virgil teaches him the tricks of the trade, the fundamental techniques that all screenwriters have to master, no matter how great their ideas. But there's something a little strange about Virgil and Danny is never sure whether to trust him or not...As well as the screenplay itself, the book includes an introduction explaining how to get the most out of the screenplay, the log line, the synopsis, character bios, the treatment, and "The Pitch" - a short scene that shows the author pitching his screenplay to a big-shot producer.

The second edition of this book offers new and up to date ideas ranging from understanding basic grammar and punctuation to studying plays, poetry and core text. This second edition will be 20 per cent bigger than the original and will contain ideas which have all been tried and tested at the chalk face.

It is not easy to stand up in front of a group of people when part of your teaching skill has to be used to control your audience. This text looks at different techniques not only to control unruly behaviour but also to entertain your pupils and make the classroom a suitable learning environment.

Containing over 7,000 entries, this fully revised edition provides clear, up-to-date and comprehensive coverage of agricultural terms. Subjects covered include cultivation, machinery, livestock, crops, pesticides and herbicides, fertilizers, organic farming and veterinary science, as well as sales and commodities markets. Jargon-free definitions make this dictionary particularly suitable for students, new industry recruits and non-native English speakers.

The American and European public has a voracious appetite for more information about Jesus and the formation of early Christianity. The best-selling books on the subject by Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, John Meyer, and Luke Timothy Johnson, among many others, attest to this hunger. But each of these scholars presents his own reading of the historical information, usually beginning with the earliest known Jesus-related material, Jesus' sayings, and leads the public into a particular understanding of Jesus and the early Jesus movements. The New Q will provide the general public with the original source through a fresh translation of the early Sayings Gospel known as Q. This book will guide people through their reading of the texts themselves so that readers will be able to judge the validity of other scholars' reconstructions. The New Q is the companion volume necessary to understand the current writing on the historical Jesus and the history of earliest Christianity. Valantasis provides a new translation of the Synoptic Sayings Source, Q. He translates each section from the Greek of the critical edition of Robinson and Kloppenborg, and he gathers the translation of the full text as a coherent collection of sayings at the end of the book. Avoiding the scholarly arguments that make Q inaccessible, as well as the constant comparison of Matthew and Luke, this commentary will straightforwardly present the text based on the work of those scholars who have provided a critical edition. It provides an initial reading in a language appropriate to religious seekers. The translation itself will be fresh and provocative, since its meaning and interpretation are not linked to its later use in the narrative gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. In fact, readers of this translation will be able to hear the sayings of Jesus as Matthew and Luke heard them before the writing of their gospels. The goal is to recreate the kind of challenging and intellectually stimulating engagement with the sayings that probably put Christianity on the Roman map. Readers will be able to encounter Jesus' voice and the voices of early Christians directly, without the intrusion of the later use of these sayings by the gospel writers. Valantasis also provides a commentary on each of the sayings. The commentary will focus on three facets: what the saying says, what it could have meant at the time, and how is was used by early Christians. The first two questions provide the basic information by developing a literary analysis of the sayings (a reading of Jesus' words) and by positing a significance for the saying in the context of earliest Christianity (what the saying could have meant). The final question directs the reading of the saying toward its use by religious people then and now as a means of forging an alternative subjectivity, defining new religious and social relationships, and constructing an alternative understanding of the nature of the spiritual and physical world. In other words, this commentary will provide an ascetical reading of the sayings to explore the manner in which the sayings source might have been read by individuals and communities in antiquity, and it will provide an alternative to the currently established reading of the sayings in modern scholarship primarily as a window on the historical Jesus' doctrines and teaching.

Paul Weller argues that continuation of the Church of England as an establishment is theologically and politically inadequate to the religious, social and political landscape of the twenty-first century. Within an outline of the contemporary religious landscape and the empirical results of research into the nature and extent of religious discrimination, Time for a Change traces the historical and contemporary contours and implications of establishment. A range of alternative social, legal historical, theological and ecclesiological approaches and models are examined and aspects of 'negotiation theory' are used to explore the conditions and dynamics necessary for transition and change. Finally, Weller argues that often-neglected perspectives of Baptist Christian tradition - in particular its theologically founded commitment to religious freedom and voluntaryist ecclesiology - offer more adequate resources for shaping the Christian future in a religiously plural and secular society than perspectives historically associated with establishment. Time for a Change shows that, through the conjunction of social, political, demographic, theological and ecclesiological developments, a 'kairos' or decision time has arrived for establishment. It aims to stimulate a social and religious dialogue leading to the evolution of a new 'socio-religious contract'.

- Introduction to Home Furnishings
- Home Furnishings and the Marketplace - Materials in Home Furnishings
- Textiles
- Wood
- Glass
- Pottery
- Plastics
- Metals
- Other Materials
- The Categories of Home Furnishings
- Furniture
- Bedding
- Linens
- Carpets, Rugs, and Flooring
- Paints and Wall Coverings
- Lighting
- Tableware
- Industry Profiles and Industry Statements in every chapter, highlighting important people and concepts
- End-of-chapter review questions and learning activities
- Illustrations that help to visually define numerous terms
- Instructor's Guide includes suggested syllabi for a 15-week course, a 12-week course, and an 8-week course, teaching suggestions using projects and audio/visual aids, answers to end-of-chapter review questions, and sample exams for each chapter
- PowerPoint Presentation includes more than 200 slides that illustrate key concepts from the book and provide the basis for classroom lectures and discussions for each chapter; compatible with PC and Mac platforms

Athenian democracy continues to capture the modern imagination. This book offers an account of the evolution and operation of the Athenian political system. It assesses the main sources for the history of Athenian democracy, examines the criticism of the model, ancient and modern, and provides a virtual tour of the political cityscape of ancient Athens, describing the main political sites and structures, including the theatre.

Scholarly discussions of biblical interpretation often ignore the fact that language and literature form an integral part of a people's culture, that interpretation therefore implies the total cultural system of the relevant literature, and that biblical interpretation consequently implies inter-cultural communication. This book explores the theoretical and practical implications of this observation from a cultural anthropological perspective, looks at recent anthropological studies of ancient Israelite society, supplies practical examples of a cultural interpretation of ancient Hebrew narratives, and discusses the impact of the notions 'cultural relativity' and 'inter-cultural communication' for biblical interpretation.>

This second edition of this textbook places in context key world events since 1945. While not neglecting the significant developments of the last 50 years, this book has a broad historical and conceptual range. It provides students with a historical analysis of the origins, development and early networks of IR, and an exposition of the diverse ways in which modern international society has been defined and interpreted. Tackling a range on international concerns, Geoffrey Stern explores and clarifies such concepts as sovereignty, the balance of power, national interest and interdependence, illustrating his text with reference to both historical and contemporary world events.

This Student Edition of Brecht's anti-war masterpiece features an extensive introduction and commentary that includes a plot summary, discussion of the context, themes, characters, style and language as well as questions for further study and notes on words and phrases in the text. It is the perfect edition for students of theatre and literature.In this chronicle of the Thirty Years War of the seventeenth century, Mother Courage follows the armies back and forth across Europe, selling provisions and liquor from her canteen wagon. As the action of the play progresses between the years 1624 and 1646 she loses her children to the war but remains indomitable, refusing to part with her livelihood - the wagon. The play is one of the most celebrated examples of Epic Theatre and of Brecht's use of alienation effect to focus attention on the issues of the play above the individual characters. It remains regarded as one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century and one of the great anti-war plays of all time. The Berlin production of 1949, with Helene Weigel as Mother Courage, marked the foundation of the Berliner Ensemble. This volume contains expert notes on the author's life and work, historical and political background to the play, photographs from stage productions and a glossary of difficult words and phrases. The play is translated by Brecht scholar John Willett who did more than anyone else to make Brecht's work available in the English language.

The tablets of poetic mythological texts unearthed during the excavation of Urgarit are here edited and translated to shed new light on the religion and literature of the ancient world. 'The tablets...a.re of great importance for the study of literature and religion in an area of the ancient world which chiefly through the avenue of the Hebrew bible excercised a deep influence on the rise of European civilization. They are enabling scholarship for the first time to arrive at a positive appraisal of the highler levels of Canaanite culture, which is so remorselessly attacked in the Bible but which can now be seen to have contributed more to its composition (and thus indirectly to the thought and poetic imagery of the West) than was previously supposed'. J.C.L. Gibson was Reader in Hebrew and Semitic Languages, New College, Oxford.

By moving beyond traditional aesthetic categories (beauty, the sublime, the religious), Eco-Aesthetics takes an inter-disciplinary approach bridging the arts, humanities and social sciences and explores what aesthetics might mean in the 21st century. It is one in a series of new, radical aesthetics promoting debate, confronting convention and formulating alternative ways of thinking about art practice. There is no doubt that the social and environmental spheres are interconnected but can art and artists really make a difference to the global environmental crisis? Can art practice meaningfully contribute to the development of sustainable lifestyles? Malcolm Miles explores the strands of eco-art, eco-aesthetics and contemporary aesthetic theories, offering timely critiques of consumerism and globalisation and, ultimately, offers a possible formulation of an engaged eco-aesthetic for the early 21st century.