Designed for communication/media educators and graduate students, Teaching Communication and Media Studies is a practical and conceptual guide to teaching university courses in communication and media studies. Relying on her extensive experience instructing graduate students on the ins and outs of teaching, Jan Fernback discusses theoretical and applied topics central to contemporary mediated communication instruction, offering instructors at all levels strategies they can use to create a successful classroom experience. Fernback also considers the logic, design and delivery of courses in communication and media studies, while encouraging readers to reflect on their own strategic pedagogical decisions. Supplemented with interviews of successful communication instructors and sample exercises, this book is a must-have resource for all those teaching communication and media studies courses, regardless of level of experience.

In 1976, Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail with an extraordinary account of a woman committing massive welfare fraud. The story caught fire and a devastating symbol of the misuse government programs was born: the Welfare Queen. Overthrowing the Queen examines these legends of fraud and abuse while bringing to light personal stories of hardship and hope told by cashiers, bus drivers, and business owners; politicians and aid providers; and, most important, aid recipients themselves. Together these stories reveal how the seemingly innocent act of storytelling can create not only powerful stereotypes that shape public policy, but also redemptive counter-narratives that offer hope of a more accurate, fair, and empathetic view of poverty in America today. Overthrowing the Queen tackles perceptions of welfare recipients while proposing new approaches to the study of oral narrative that extend far beyond the study of welfare, poverty, and social justice.

There are many stories featuring the villainous hero Reynard the Fox in many languages told over many centuries, goingback as far as the early 12th century. All these stories are comic and much of the humour depends on parody and satire resulting in mockery, sometimes the subversion of certain kinds of serious literature, of political and religious institutions and practices, of scholarly argument and moralizing, and of popular beliefs and customs. The contributors to this volume, all of them experts in one or more of the Reynard stories and their backgrounds, focus on the transformation of these tales through various media and to what extent they reflect differences in the cultural, class, and generational background of their tellers.

This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Read these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art - when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o'-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs. Find "Jack the Giantkiller", "Tom Tit Tot" and other quintessentially English favourites, alongside interesting borrowings, such as an English version of the Grimms' "Little Snow White" - as well as bedtime frighteners, including "Captain Murderer", as told to Charles Dickens by his childhood nurse. Neil Philip has provided a full introduction and source notes on each story that illustrate each tale's journey from mouth to page, and what has happened to them on the way. These tales rank among the finest English short stories of all time in their richness of metaphor and plot and their great verbal dash and daring.

Ireland has a rich history of storytelling, with its many tales of heroes, giants, sea-folk, fairies and witchcraft. Here, Arthur Rackham's distinctive artwork, along with illustrations by other artists from the turn of the twentieth century, accompany powerful tales of the early Celts and the later stories of an Ireland of mighty hearths, dreaming of battlefield glory, ancient gods and mystical isles.

Retelling 30 myths and legends of the Eastern Cherokee, this book presents the stories with important details providing a culturally authentic and historically accurate context. Background information given within each story so the reader may avoid reliance on glossaries, endnotes, or other explanatory aids. The reader may thus experience the stories more as their original audiences would have. This approach to adapting traditional literature derives from ideas found in reader response and translation theory, and from research in cognitive psychology and sociolinguistics.

Focusing upon contemporary young adult literature, this collection features an academic look at the use of the classic fairy tale and its Gothic elements in the creation of both new tales and retellings of classic stories.

This book will interest clinicians who have wondered what professional practice would be like in the corporate setting and want to learn more about the psychological and organizational dynamics that 'drive' executive behavior. Based on the premise that leadership effectiveness is a function of both leader productivity and health, this book reviews the latest information and research data and offers case studies to illustrate specific strategies for maximizing executive health. Len Sperry has been consulting to executives and organizations for 30 years and has written numerous articles and several books on executives and workplace dynamics.

Ukrainian epic, or dumy, were first recorded from blind mendicant minstrels in the nineteenth century. Yet they reflect events dating back to as early as the 1300's. Ukrainian Epic and Historical Song provides new translations in contemporary English. It also explains the historical events celebrated in epic and other historical songs: fierce battles, rebellion against tyranny, the struggles of captivity, the joys of escape from slavery. Natalie Kononenko's expert translation and analysis of Ukrainian epics provides a sweeping social history of folklore that is vital to Ukrainian identity. A translation of at least one variant of every known epic is included. Whereas earlier trends in folklore scholarship emphasized genre purity and compartmentalization, Kononenko critically examines the events about which songs were sung. Her emphasis on the lives of ordinary people rather than on leaders reshapes our understanding of how epics were composed and performed. Kononenko's ground-breaking analysis also illuminates Ukrainian self-understanding and explains how songs preserve and perpetuate historical memory. Scholars interested in epic song, history, and general folklore will benefit from this work. Members of the Ukrainian diaspora will find new appreciation of Ukrainian folklore.

Originally published in 1996, the articles in this book are revised, expanded papers from a session at the 17th International Congress of the Arthurian Society held in 1993. The chapters cover Arthurian studies' directions at the time, showcasing analysis of varied aspects of visual representation and relation to literary themes. Close attention to the historical context is a key feature of this work, investigating the linkage between texts and images in the Middle Ages and beyond.

Discrete inquiries into 15 forms of the Arthurian legends produced over the last century explore how they have altered the tradition. They consider works from the US and Europe, and those aimed at popular and elite audiences. The overall conclusion is that the "Arthurian revival" is an ongoing event, and has become multivalent, multinational, and multimedia. Originally published in 1992.

The focus of this book is medieval vernacular literature in Western Europe. Chapters are written by experts in the area and present the current scholarship at the time this book was originally published in 1996. Each chapter has a bibliography of important works in that area as well. This is a thorough and reliable guide to trends in research on medieval Arthuriana.

Women's mythic revision is a tradition at the heart of twentieth-century literature. Medea's Chorus explores post-WWII women's poetry that takes Greek mythology as its central topos. The book investigates five of the most influential poets writing in the twentieth century (H.D., Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, Margaret Atwood, Eavan Boland) who challenge both the ancient literary representations of women and the high modernist appropriations of the classics. In their poetry and prose, the women engage with cultural discourses about literary authority, gender, oppression, violence, and age. Yet even while the poets rework certain aspects of the Greek myths that they find troubling, they see the inherent power in the stories and use that power for personal and social revelation. Because myths exist in multiple versions, ancient writers did not create from scratch; their artistic contribution lay in how they changed the stories. Modern female poets are engaging in a several millennia-old tradition of mythic revision, a tradition that has ruthlessly posited that there is no place for women in the creation and transmission of mythological poetry. Medea's Chorus tracks mythic revision from the 1950s through the second-wave feminist movement and into turn-of-the-century feminism to highlight individual achievements and to show the collective effect of the poets' highly varied works on post-WWII literature and feminist thought and practice. This engaging and beautifully written book is a must-read for any student, teacher, or scholar of the Classical Tradition, revisionist mythmaking, and twentieth-century poetry.

First Published in 1970. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Over the millennia, many great writers, from Pliny and Plutarch to C.S. Lewis and John Steinbeck, have addressed diverse canine themes in their work, usually in a broader, human context. Late in the 20th century it was conclusively established by modern science that all dogs, without exception, are descended from wolves. Viewed within the dynamic lens of this new model, the constantly evolving relationship between humankind and canines, both wild and domesticated, appears more complex and intertwined than ever before. This survey reviews what 20 selected authors from the Western tradition have had to say on the same subject matter leading up to our present times.

The story of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the most famous in Greek myth, and its development from the oldest layers of Greek mythology down to the modern age encapsulates the dramatic changes in faith, power and culture that Western civilisation has seen over the past three millennia. From the Bronze Age to the Classical Age, from the medieval world to today, the Jason story has been told and retold with new stories, details and meanings. This book explores the epic history of a colourful myth and probes the most ancient origins of the quest for the Golden Fleece - a quest that takes us to the very dawn of Greek religion and its close relationship with Near Eastern peoples and cultures.

" . . . Kapferer's introduction is an intellectual tour de force, perhaps the most important rethinking of the problems of rationality that underlie the study of witchcraft and sorcery since Evans-Pritchard." . American Anthropologist " . . . teems with interesting theoretical insights, and all the chapters are particularly strong in delineating local meanings within the framework of broader processes." . African Studies Review ." . . shows that the discourses on 'occult economies' are multiple . . . The presented essays are an excellent illustration of their variety of forms and constitute a valuable contribution to their understanding." . Anthropos This book seeks a reconsideration of the phenomenon of sorcery and related categories. The contributors to the volume explore the different perspectives on human sociality and social and political constitution that practices typically understood as sorcery, magic and ritual reveal. In doing so the authors are concerned to break away from the dictates of a western externalist rationalist understanding of these phenomena without falling into the trap of mysticism. The articles address a diversity of ethnographic contexts in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. Bruce Kapferer is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen, Adjunct Professor at James Cook University and Honorary Professor at University College London."

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

For the first time, the real story of ""The Yellow Rose of Texas"" is told in full, revealing a host of new insights and perspectives on one of America's most popular stories. For generations, the Yellow Rose of Texas has been one of America's most popular western myths, growing larger over time to eventually little resemble the truth of what really happened on decisive April 21, 1836, at the battle of San Jacinto, where a new Texas Republic won its independence. The real Yellow Rose was an ordinary but also quite remarkable free black woman from the North, Emily D. West. This is the first full-length biography of her-which explores the evolution of one of the most popular myths in American, Texas and western history.

Adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this comparative study of a selection of The Arabian Nights stories in a cross-cultural context, brings together a number of disciplines and subject areas to examine the workings of narrative. It predominantly focuses on the ways in which the Arabian Nights have transformed as its stories have travelled across historical eras, cultures, genres and media. Departing from the familiar approaches of influence and textual studies, this book locates its central inquiry in the theoretical questions surrounding the workings of ideology, genre and genre ideology in shaping and transforming stories. The ten essays included in this volume respond to a general question, what can the transformation of Nights stories in their travels tell us about narrative and storytelling, and their function in a particular culture?

Following a Nights story in its travels from past to present, from Middle East to Europe and from literature to film, the book engages in close comparative analyses of ideological variations found in a variety of texts. These analyses allow new modes of reading texts and make it possible to breach new horizons for thinking about narrative.

This Book was previously published as a special issue of Middle Eastern Literatures entitled Ideological Variations and Narrative Horizons: New Perspectives on Arabian Nights.

The macroeconomic development of south-eastern Europe has been profoundly affected not only by the region's major historical events - for example, liberation from the Ottoman Empire, the outbreak of civil wars, and the birth of new nations - but also by global events, such as the world-wide conflicts of the twentieth century, and the recent transnational processes of globalisation and European integration. The rationale of this book is to employ a comprehensive micro-history - that is, the history of one particular community: in this case, the village of Tsamantas, in north-western Greece - as a means of providing a detailed picture that will permit extrapolation to a wider context. Situated in one of the most isolated parts of the region of Epirus, Tsamantas has a complex history and a rich folk culture. At times, it has been a textbook example of how decision-making within a community can impact upon the success of the local economy. Its inhabitants have been rational problem-solvers, with a sense of what is in their family's best interests, rather than passive victims of circumstance, and their choices at critical points in the village's history have resulted either in growth or decline. The author focuses his groundbreaking analysis on these choices, drawing upon publications, archived materials, and illuminating oral accounts of local events.

This book provides an insider view of Haida language, history, and culture, and offers a perspective on Haida culture that comes not only from external research but also from intimate knowledge and experiences the author has had as a Haida Nation citizen. The book's focus on language - past, present, and future - allows insight into the Haida language documentation and revitalization process that will benefit other cultures currently addressing similar issues with their language. Being able to write and discuss Haida culture as an insider affords the opportunity to instantiate the role of a First Nations scholar including the intricacies involved in having a voice about one's own culture and history. A First Nations person publishing a book about his or her own culture is a rare opportunity. However, such publications will become more common as other indigenous scholars and writers emerge from other margins around the world.

The work folklorists do on the ground and in communities can make a concrete difference in quality of life. While the field is not immune to extractive, racist, colonial, heteronormative, and misogynistic practices, it can counter and combat these same forces in society. Culture Work presents case studies of public-oriented work that define the Wisconsin Idea of folklore in all its complexities, challenges, and potentialities. This Wisconsin method focuses on doing folklore work of the community, for the community, and with the community, and explores the vast numbers of creative possibilities that such processes and products entail for culture workers. Featuring contributions from top folklorists and public humanists, the volume asks, what is the value of public folklore to the public? What are we actually doing when we engage in culture work? And how can we build better cultural agendas, initiatives, and representations? Thematically arranged chapters represent interconnected aspects of culture work, from amplifying local voices to galvanizing community from within to reflecting on how we might use folklore to build the world we want to live in. Together, the collection presents a cross-section of the many innovative and essential culture works occurring today in the field of folklore and the humanities more generally. These inventive projects provide concrete examples and accessible theory grounded in practice, encourage readers to embark on their own public culture work, and create new forward-looking inspiration for community leaders and scholars in the field.

Rabbi Isaacs examines the treasure-trove of popular beliefs, customs, and superstitions that exist side-by-side with "normative Judaism."

Authentic vampire tales exist in Transylvanian folklore. Yet the Transylvanian vampire is nothing like the bloodthirsty Count of Bram Stoker's imagination or the romantic hero of popular fiction. The Romanian tradition comes from the villages, reflecting the norms of peasant life and wisdom embedded in age-old communities. This book consists of 21 narratives created by the author, developed from the brief accounts recorded by local amateur anthropologists and cultural historians from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The goal is to capture the major themes found in the existing sources, retrieving the narrative thread and bringing the stories back to life. The book also includes translations of 17 brief folk stories about Vlad Tepes, known as Dracula. Contrary to the prevailing fictive image, these stories portray Vlad as a wise although strict ruler and a proud defender of his country's autonomy. An introduction discusses the Transylvanian village and its rich folk traditions, making explicit the comparison to the historic and to the fictional Dracula. An interlude analyses the characteristics of the Transylvanian vampire, including village superstitions regarding how to recognise and destroy one. Transylvania deserves commemoration of its own vampire stories, rather than those artificially created for it.