New in paperback! This book comes at a time when opera-lovers, singers, directors, and critics alike are taking a new look at the dramatic soprano heroines created by Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, endeavoring to delve beyond inherited scholarly interpretation and gain a richer understanding of these compelling female characters. Artistically limited by the bel canto musical tradition popular at the time, Verdi launched a new style dramma per musica which also demanded a new soprano archetype. This book illustrates the musical evolution of the Verdi and Puccini soprano while illuminating the dramatic scope and power of these great heroines. Avoiding critical reductionism, Verdi and Puccini Heroines provides an unprecedented and probing discussion of how these great soprano roles were conceived and executed. Accordingly, the authors take a three-dimensional look at these heroines, examining seven operas: Il Trovatore, La Forza del Destino, Aida, La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot. The chapters, which are fully self-contained analyses, contain translations, illustrative musical examples, supplementary notes, and references to each opera's literary sources. The musical analysis, while thorough, is descriptive and accessible to all levels of readers.

In The Contemporary Pennsylvania Legislature, John J. Kennedy explores a variety of topics that are relevant for any small lawmaking institution. He investigates to what degree current social and technological changes have affected the Pennsylvania legislature and how it has been transformed from a part-time lawmaking body to a full-time professional institution. The data for Kennedy's study comes from a survey of legislators who served in the 1993-1994 Pennsylvania Assembly as well as candidates who ran for office but were defeated. Noting that political parties are on the decline in the U.S., Kennedy examines whether lawmakers are more inclined to follow their own interests, their parties', or those of their constituents when voting on particular issues. In addition to discussing the philosophical dispositions of legislators, he also examines the electoral experiences of defeated candidates. Kennedy's study is an important resource for those interested in American government, the legislative process, or political science.

Provocative in content, this book is the only one of its kind to evaluate Marx's work in light of recent theories in sociobiology. Huaco identifies several dynamic aspects of Marx's socio-cultural model and uses current research concerning the genetic basis of certain human behaviors to determine their validity. Specifically, he examines issues surrounding ownership relations, surplus transfer and economic exploitation, class struggle, and the development of high culture. In addition to arguing that innovation and competition are necessary to prevent a stagnant economy, Huaco contends that stopping surplus transfer will not eliminate poverty as Marx maintained. Instead of retaining surplus, society can develop ways to recover surplus that will put an end to poverty and the social problems that stem from it. Sociologists and other scholars interested in socio-economic theory will find this thought provoking work stimulating.

The relationship between the Christian and Muslim worlds has been a long and tortuous one. Over the course of the centuries the balance of power has swung in pendulum fashion-at times the initiative seems to have lain with the Muslim community, with the Christian world simply being compelled to react to developments outside itself, while at other points the opposite has been true and Muslims have found themselves having to respond to Christian challenges in different forms. Today Christians and Muslims comprise the world's two largest religious communities. Although they can coexist fairly peacefully, at times they still engage in violent confrontation, such as in the recent conflicts in Bosnia and the Sudan. This book investigates the history of the relationships between Christians and Muslims over the centuries, from their initial encounters in the medieval period, when the Muslims were the dominant group, through to the modern period, when the balance of power seems to have been reversed. This much-needed overview of the Christian-Muslim encounter places the emphasis on the context within which perceptions and attitudes were worked out and provides a depth of historical insight to the complexities of current Christian-Muslim interactions on different continents.

Renaissance Women in Science contains the fascinating stories of seventeen scientists who unlocked secrets of the universe and whose discoveries helped change the future of the world. Pursuing careers ranging from astronomy and atomic research to chemistry and medicine, a number of these women went on to win Nobel prizes for their work. All were dedicated to learning and discovery and many contributed to a humanitarian legacy in the form of improved worker rights, environmental protection, and better health care for others. The book reveals the motivations of these extraordinary women and explores the circumstances that allowed them to break through the barriers of their time, race, and gender to pursue their dreams. Their stories will inspire us all to reach beyond the ordinary.

Exporting Communication Technology to Developing Countries analyzes the economic, cultural, educational, and political implications of exporting information technology to Africa. Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi tackles the numerous complexities related to the development of African telecommunications. He not only presents the technological aspects of telecommunications, but effectively depicts the cultural implications that must be considered. Ngwainmbi investigates and evaluates the history of African telecommunications, clearly showing the path that has led to its present state. He then assesses the potential for development within the countries of Africa upon the influx of technology from the outside world.

People Power explores the potential of community organizations to develop political consciousness among working class and poor people. Judith N. DeSena argues that participation in community organizations can empower residents to challenge government and corporations, and attempt to influence the outcome of policy decisions regarding municipal services, and the future of neighborhoods. She contends that the people who participate in these organizations are transformed politically in many ways, including their racial attitudes. DeSena points out that involvement in community organizations challenges the participants' stereotypical perceptions of race and ethnicity, and may lead to fewer conflicts between cultures in urban locales. Overall community organizations possess the potential to increase participation in the democratic process, while easing common stress between members of the community, and improving the lives of the people living in complex urban environments.

This indispensable collection addresses the unique needs of the severely disabled, with a special focus on postural and motor development, physical fitness, and leisure time. The new edition is fully updated, emphasizing practice models, disability sport, and functional assessment. It provides a multi-disciplinary perspective with contributions from physical educators, recreation therapists, allied medicine specialists, disability sport specialists, psychologists, special educators, and administrators. Special topics include individualized transition programs, communication, toys and adapted equipment, technology, and playgrounds.

The Contours of Justice provides a framework for describing and understanding criminal courts throughout the United States by depicting the functions of criminal courts in nine middle-sized counties in three states. It integrates concepts from each of the three traditional theoretical approaches to court analysis: the individual, organizational, and environmental approaches. The authors approach the courts as communities composed of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys rather than as "legal institutions" applying formal law. They analyze the differences in culture, technology, physical setting, the customary ways of arriving at guilty pleas, as well as other aspects of the courts. The authors also incorporate information about the political and economic characteristics of the communities that the courts serve, along with the basic functions of scheduling cases and assigning personnel to cases. The portraits of the nine courts present the day-to-day activities of judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys that lead to the decisions about the fates of the defendants brought to the courts. This comparison not only provides a vivid picture of actual court function, but allows an assessment of the process that leads to ideas for reform.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. The era of team science has long since dawned. However, in order for the individual members of a team to work well, research organizations need to provide a productive and naturally non-discriminatory working environment. Bringing together and integrating researchers and their diverse backgrounds in effective teams does not happen on its own. To harness the positive effects of diversity, it must be understood and managed proactively. The edited collection Diversity and Discrimination in Research Organizations provides researchers with empirical studies on the question of whether and to what extent the social identity of the academic workforce affects their individual integration in research organizations. Practitioners receive guidance and suggestions on possible starting points and requirements for programmes to improve equal opportunities and work climate in their research organizations. The articles can be roughly divided into two categories according to the guiding questions of this edited collection: macro studies surveying the extent of discrimination and harassment in research organizations and micro studies exploring the influence of the specific cultural contextual conditions of the academic workplace on experiences of discrimination and harassment related to the diversity of the workforce.

The reissue (with additional material) of this classic work has long been desired. The work discusses the rise, apogee and redirection of American Unitarian Thought and its Trinitarian brethren.

To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

The elections of 1998 bear out the thesis of this book: so far, the Republicans in Congress are operating more like an old minority party than the new majority party they've become. Still, Congress has changed under Republican leadership and the Republicans have changed, too. This volume of original essays by leading congressional scholars explores the impact of the Republican majority on Congress with attention to the history of the institution and party characteristics present and future. For students and scholars alike, the new majority of an old minority provides a laboratory for political analysis that demonstrates lasting effects. As Republicans learn to govern, the country will no doubt learn something, too.

Aspects of Enlightenment is an attempt to reconfigure the terrain of contemporary social theory. Critical of sociologistic approaches in that discipline and of vague concepts such as modernity and postmodernity, the book argues that the proper subject matter of social theory is enlightenment itself. Dismissing for the most part the conflicts in social and critical theory between realist and relativist approaches, the book argues for the merits of various limited kinds of anti-foundationalism that would guide fieldwork in specific areas of enlightenment. As a means of illustrating this approach, the book focuses on case studies that consider critical attitudes to scientific, therapeutic and aesthetic kinds of enlightenment. A key theme throughout the book is the status of the social sciences themselves with regard to the question of enlightenment, as well as with the nature of the vocation of the intellectual as the embodiment of particular kinds of critical ethos. Finally, the book in an oblique homage to the work of Michel Foucault who figures here, along with Max Weber, as an exemplar of the critical attitude to enlightenment.

The first comprehensive work on Chinese American women's history covering the past 150 years.

Surviving on the Gold Mountain is the first comprehensive work on Chinese American women's history covering the past 150 years. Relying on archival documents (many of which have never been used), oral history interviews, census data, contemporary newspapers in English and Chinese, and secondary literature, it unearths an unknown page of Chinese American history -- the lives of Chinese immigrant women as wives of merchants, farmers, and laborers, as prostitutes, and as students and professionals in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America.

As well as fulfilling a functional need, furniture has always been an index of status. From the throne of Tutankhamen or the bed of State of Louis XIV to the austere Shaker chest or the Charles Eames chair and later modern pieces from Europe, the Far East and the United States, the style of each piece tells much about the outlook of the makers and the needs and skills of the time. This absorbing history traces the development of furniture design and production, from the days of ancient Egypt to the present, describing what articles were made in each period, how they were made, and what were the social and economic conditions that affected style and finish. The author discusses techniques such as joinery, turning, veneering, marquetry, polishing, upholstery, bentwood work and lamination. Many examples are shown in the illustrations, which are invaluable recognition sources and a lively visual accompaniment to the text.

The book is a coming-of-age novel, something that in other languages is expressed more pointedly as the novel of education. Nol, 'the judge's son,' is the person whose moral sentiments are being educated. But that education is acquired at the expense of an infinitely more valuable person, the young woman Nol loves, who has been exploited by men of weight and standing in their provincial community-all of them human, disgracefully human. Not tells the story from the time he was five years old, when, inspired by a rendition of one of Souza's marches in the garden where the brass band played, he danced with the conductor's daughter, taller and older than himself, before a bemused assemblage of adults. The web of incident and reflection in Nol's narration astonishes the reader with the texture of the lives it evokes, ending with Nol's small, crucial defection that precipitates tragedy. In The Garden Where the Brass Band Played, as with every real novel of the genre, it is the reader whose sentiments are educated, by the pain of it, and no doubt rather too late.

Constitutionalizing Globalization explores two converging trends: the spread of federalism and federal arrangements around the world, and the globalization taking place on the international scene. Daniel Elazar shows how globalization of the economy and the concern for global human rights bring with them the need for development of a constitutional order that will control both. The gradual development of appropriate constitutional mechanisms and controls are part of a general shift from modern statism to post-modern federalism. The reliance on the sovereignty of the nation state, which marked the era from the Treaty of Westphalin in 1648 to the end of World War II, gave way to the beginning of a world order which, while built on states, links those states in various ways through enforceable constitutional bonds. These trends have been recognized by both students of federalism and students of international relations. Constitutionalizing Globalization is the first book to join the perspectives of both in order to explain the new paradigm. It is important reading for students and scholars of constitutional issues, federalism, and international relations.

In engaging five of Plato's dialogues_Theaetetus, Euthyphro, Cratylus, Sophist, and Statesman_and by paying particular attention to Socrates' intellectual defense in the 'philosophic trial' by the Stranger from Elea, Jacob Howland illuminates Plato's understanding of the proper relationship between philosophy and politics. This insightful and innovative study illustrates the Plato's understanding of the difference between sophistry and philosophy, and it identifies the innate contradictions of political philosophy that Plato observed and remain entrenched within the field to this day. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of political philosophy.

Workbook in Historical Phonology provides forty-eight problems in the areas of sound change, internal reconstruction and comparative reconstruction. Each of the three sections offers a series of problems of various lengths graded according to difficulty. There are twenty-one problems on sound change, twelve on internal reconstruction and fifteen on comparative reconstruction. The data for the problems are taken from language phyla found all over the world, such as Indo-European, Austronesian, Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Kartvelian, Sino-Tibetan, Uralic, and from various language phyla in the Americas. The International Phonetic Alphabet, a Distinctive Feature chart, plus several brief discussions of sound changes can be found in the Appendix.

Now in paper. This is a comprehensive guide to the many thousands of photographs, paintings, drawings and diagrams appearing in top periodicals. The present volume, extending coverage from 1982 through 1986, furnishes a handy reference to hard-to-locate illustrations in National Geographic, American Heritage, Natural History, Ebony, Sports Illustrated, Travel/Holiday, Smithsonian, National Wildlife, and Life magazine. The new work follows the patterns of scope, style, and arrangement set by the compiler in Volume V (1984). Each illustration within each journal article is treated separately to provide thorough subject coverage, and there is an extensive system of cross-references. Several main listings operate as key locators to identify every example of a given subject category to be found alphabetically within the book. Some examples are animals, architectural structures, art forms, fish, flowering plants, peoples, occupations, transportation and weather. There is a major emphasis on historical and socio-cultural phenomena. A typical citation under a subject entry includes an abbreviated journal title; volume number; inclusive pagination; date of publication; identification of type of illustration as painting, drawing or photograph; indication of color or black and white; and size of illustration.

This book explores the way in which British and American visitors experienced Algeria and about their imaginary responses to the country. It also attempts to trace the elaboration and evolution of the perception of Algeria in the West with particular focus on the impressions and representations of those Anglo-Americans who experienced Algeria at first hand and wrote about it. The book provides historical perspective from the 16th century to the turn of the 19th century, but more specifically from 1785, which opened the chapter of the young American Republic clashes with the Regency of Algiers, to the last years of the Algerian War of Independence in 1962. It provides for the first time a corpus of literary texts that offer a basic anthology of Anglo-American writings on Algeria. In that sense, some valuable documents that had fallen into oblivion have been retrieved, throwing some illuminating light on the common and often forgotten cultural connections between Algeria and the Anglo-American world over four centuries.

In this innovative study of the philosopher Nagarjuna, Nancy McCagney demonstrates that the concept of space ('akasa') in early Indian Mahayana Buddhism is the root metaphor for Nagarjuna's understanding of 'sunyata', or openness. Nagarjuna's use of the term 'sunyata' was new, and contrasted with the word's use in Pali Buddhist literature. By using the word to mean 'openness, ' Nagarjuna was able to elucidate, through a deeper analysis of impermanence, a consistent philosophical foundation for the truth and efficacy of Gautama's Middle Way. McCagney's book will be important for those studying Indian philosophy, Buddhism, and the philosophy of religion

This book assesses the human rights condition in the People's Republic of China during 1993-94, focusing on how abuses have engendered difficulties for Bejing in international relations. It considers changes in the political and legal systems and Communist ideology (more correctly, its demise) in its appraisal. These, the authors contend, are causative factors of human rights abuses and need to be understood to put the human rights situation in its proper perspective. Such matters as crime, forced labor, and executions are examined in detail to deliniate the worst kinds of human rights abuses as well as current trends. Dissidents, religious advocates, and intellectuals are also a focus of attention. Copublished with the East Asia Research Institute.

Mexico is becoming increasingly important as a focus of U.S. immigration policy, and the movement of people across the U.S.-Mexico border is a subject of intense interest and controversy. The U.S. approach to cross-border flows is in flux, the economic climate in Mexico is uncertain, and relations between the two neighbors have entered a new stage with the launching of NAFTA. This volume draws together original essays by distinguished scholars from a variety of disciplines and both sides of the border to examine current impetuses to migration and policy options for Mexico and the U.S.