This is the first book to look at the psychological processes that enable humor to affect people and teams in the workplace. It recognizes that humor plays many roles beyond making people feel happier and more productive, and acknowledges humor's potential darker side as well. Bringing together a small but growing field of study, the book features chapters around core psychological topics such perception, creativity and stress, while also addressing organizational issues such as leadership, teamwork, and social networks. The collection concludes with chapters on the role of humor in recruitment processes, as well as how humor consultants work with organizations. Each chapter in The Psychology of Humor at Work not only provides a comprehensive review of what is known in that area, but also considers future directions for research and practice. It will prove fascinating reading for students, practitioners and researchers in organizational psychology, HRM, and business and management.

This book explores the comparative historical evolution of the European, Inter-American and African regional human rights systems. The book devotes attention to various factors that have shaped the systems: the different circumstances in which they were founded; the influence of major states and inter-state politics within their respective regions; gradual processes of institutional evolution; and the impact of human rights advocates and claimants. Throughout, the book devotes careful attention to the impact of institutional and procedural choices on the functioning of human rights systems. Overarchingly, the book explores the contextually-generated differences between the three systems, suggesting that human rights practice is less unitary than it might at times appear. Prescriptively, the book proposes that, contrary to the received wisdom in some quarters, the Inter-American system's dual-track approach may provide the most promising model in regards to future human rights system design.

Humanness supposes innate and profound reflexivity. This volume approaches the concept of reflexivity on two different yet related analytical planes. Whether implicitly or explicitly, both planes of thought bear critically on reflexivity in relation to the nature of selfhood and the very idea of the autonomous individual, ethics, and humanness, science as such and social science, ontological dualism and fundamental ambiguity. On the one plane, a collection of original and innovative ethnographically based essays is offered, each of which is devoted to ways in which reflexivity plays a fundamental role in human social life and the study of it; on the other-anthropo-philosophical and developed in the volume's Preface, Introduction, and Postscript-it is argued that reflexivity distinguishes-definitively, albeit relatively-the being and becoming of the human.

Humanness supposes innate and profound reflexivity. This volume approaches the concept of reflexivity on two different yet related analytical planes. Whether implicitly or explicitly, both planes of thought bear critically on reflexivity in relation to the nature of selfhood and the very idea of the autonomous individual, ethics, and humanness, science as such and social science, ontological dualism and fundamental ambiguity. On the one plane, a collection of original and innovative ethnographically based essays is offered, each of which is devoted to ways in which reflexivity plays a fundamental role in human social life and the study of it; on the other-anthropo-philosophical and developed in the volume's Preface, Introduction, and Postscript-it is argued that reflexivity distinguishes-definitively, albeit relatively-the being and becoming of the human.

World Music Pedagogy, Volume II: Elementary Music Education delves into the theory and practices of World Music Pedagogy with children in grades 1-6 (ages 6-12). It specifically addresses how World Music Pedagogy applies to the characteristic learning needs of elementary school children: this stage of a child's development-when minds are opening up to broader perspectives on the world-presents opportunities to develop meaningful multicultural understanding alongside musical knowledge and skills that can last a lifetime. This book is not simply a collection of case studies but rather one that offers theory and practical ideas for teaching world music to children. Classroom scenarios, along with teaching and learning experiences, are presented within the frame of World Music Pedagogy. Ethnomusicological issues of authenticity, representation, and context are addressed and illustrated, supporting the ultimate goal of helping children better understand their world through music.

A thought experiment in future-shock survivalism' Robert MacFarlane 'Gripping ... of all science fiction's apocalypses, this is one of the most haunting' Financial Times WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT MACFARLANE A post-apocalyptic vision of the world pushed to the brink by famine, John Christopher's science fiction masterpiece The Death of Grass includes an introduction by Robert MacFarlane in Penguin Modern Classics. At first the virus wiping out grass and crops is of little concern to John Custance. It has decimated Asia, causing mass starvation and riots, but Europe is safe and a counter-virus is expected any day. Except, it turns out, the governments have been lying to their people. When the deadly disease hits Britain, society starts to descend into barbarism. As John and his family try to make it across country to the safety of his brother's farm in a hidden valley, their humanity is tested to its very limits. A chilling psychological thriller and one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels ever written, The Death of Grass shows people struggling to hold on to their identities as the familiar world disintegrates - and the terrible price they must pay for surviving. John Christopher (1922-2012) was the pen name of Samuel Youd, a prolific writer of science fiction. His novels were popular during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably The Death Of Grass (1956), The World in Winter (1962), and Wrinkle in the Skin (1965), all works depicting ordinary people struggling in the midst of apocalyptic catastrophes. In 1966 he started writing science-fiction for adolescents; The Tripods trilogy, the Prince in Waiting trilogy (also known as the Sword of the Spirits trilogy) and The Lotus Caves are still widely read today. Ifyou enjoyed The Death of Grass, you might like John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

This collection situates the North-East within a developing nationwide account of British musical culture. Music in North-East England provides a wide-ranging exploration of musical life in the North-East of England during the early modern period. It contributes to a growing number of studies concerned with developing a nationwide account of British musical culture. By defining the North-East in its widest sense, the collection illuminates localised differences, distinct musical cultures in urban centres and rural locations, as well as region-wide networks, and situates regional musical life in broader national and international contexts. Music in North-East England affords new insights into aspects of musical life that have been the focus of previous studies of British musical life - such as public concerts - but also draws attention to aspects that have attracted less scholarly attention in histories of early modern British musical culture: the musical activities and tastes of non-elite consumers; interactions between art music and cheap print and popular song; music education beyond London and its satellite environs; the recovery of northern urban soundscapes; and the careers of professional musicians who have not previously been the focus of major published musicological studies.

This is the first book to look at the psychological processes that enable humor to affect people and teams in the workplace. It recognizes that humor plays many roles beyond making people feel happier and more productive, and acknowledges humor's potential darker side as well. Bringing together a small but growing field of study, the book features chapters around core psychological topics such perception, creativity and stress, while also addressing organizational issues such as leadership, teamwork, and social networks. The collection concludes with chapters on the role of humor in recruitment processes, as well as how humor consultants work with organizations. Each chapter in The Psychology of Humor at Work not only provides a comprehensive review of what is known in that area, but also considers future directions for research and practice. It will prove fascinating reading for students, practitioners and researchers in organizational psychology, HRM, and business and management.

World Music Pedagogy, Volume II: Elementary Music Education delves into the theory and practices of World Music Pedagogy with children in grades 1-6 (ages 6-12). It specifically addresses how World Music Pedagogy applies to the characteristic learning needs of elementary school children: this stage of a child's development-when minds are opening up to broader perspectives on the world-presents opportunities to develop meaningful multicultural understanding alongside musical knowledge and skills that can last a lifetime. This book is not simply a collection of case studies but rather one that offers theory and practical ideas for teaching world music to children. Classroom scenarios, along with teaching and learning experiences, are presented within the frame of World Music Pedagogy. Ethnomusicological issues of authenticity, representation, and context are addressed and illustrated, supporting the ultimate goal of helping children better understand their world through music.

When Marvin moves to a new neighborhood, he wants nothing more than to make a good impression on his new teammates. After all, Marvin loves baseball more than anything, and all he wants is to prove he's worth his spot on the team. And with his lucky baseball bat in hand, what could go wrong? But when that same lucky baseball bat goes missing, Marvin completely loses his ability to play baseball. But even though he's lost his talent, Marvin might just find something else: the value of friendship, his own confidence, and maybe, just maybe, a place on the team.

In the 1920s, the South Side was looked on as the new Black Metropolis, but by the turn of the decade that vision was already in decline a victim of the Depression. In this timely book, Christopher Robert Reed explores early Depression-era politics on Chicago's South Side. The economic crisis caused diverse responses from groups in the black community, distinguished by their political ideologies and stated goals. Some favored government intervention, others reform of social services. Some found expression in mass street demonstrations, militant advocacy of expanded civil rights, or revolutionary calls for a complete overhaul of the capitalist economic system. Reed examines the complex interactions among these various groups as they played out within the community as it sought to find common ground to address the economic stresses that threatened to tear the Black Metropolis apart."

The first scholarly study of a local racial advancement organization, "History of the Chicago Urban League" provides a detailed history of the Chicago League from its founding in 1916 through the early years of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and relates the work of this agency to broader developments in Chicago and the nation. In his introduction, Christopher Robert Reed, author of "The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership, 1910-1966, " cites Strickland's work as a landmark study of the earliest civil rights efforts in Chicago.

Strickland begins by tracing the development of the League through the various socioeconomic upheavals of this century and describes its services to the African American community so strongly affected by those events. He examines the methods of the League, its sources of financial support over the years, and the individual efforts and contributions of such dedicated leaders as T. Arnold Hill, Albon L. Foster, Sidney Williams, and Edwin C. Berry.

As he studies the approaches utilized by the Chicago Urban League in adjusting to the challenges resulting from the "Black Revolt," Strickland explores the forces that contributed to the effectiveness of the organization's efforts to improve African American life in Chicago during the 1960s. In a brief preface to this new edition of History of the Chicago Urban League, Strickland recalls his own experience as a young man from small-town Mississippi being immersed in the urbanization of a major American city.

In Black Chicago's First Century, Christopher Robert Reed provides the first comprehensive study of an African American population in a nineteenth-century northern city beyond the eastern seaboard. Reed's study covers the first one hundred years of African American settlement and achievements in the Windy City, encompassing a range of activities and events that span the antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and post-Reconstruction periods. The author takes us from a time when black Chicago provided both workers and soldiers for the Union cause to the ensuing decades that saw the rise and development of a stratified class structure and growth in employment, politics, and culture. Just as the city was transformed in its first century of existence, so were its black inhabitants. Methodologically relying on the federal pension records of Civil War soldiers at the National Archives, as well as previously neglected photographic evidence, manuscripts, contemporary newspapers, and secondary sources, Reed captures the lives of Chicago's vast army of ordinary black men and women. He places black Chicagoans within the context of northern urban history, providing a better understanding of the similarities and differences among them. We learn of the conditions African Americans faced before and after Emancipation. We learn how the black community changed and developed over time: we learn how these people endured-how they educated their children, how they worked, organized, and played. Black Chicago's First Century is a balanced and coherent work. Anyone with an interest in urban history or African American studies will find much value in this book.

For most of my life I felt like a failure. Failures cast such a huge shadow over my life that at times they seemed too big to overcome. I became consumed with the non-success of my life. I constantly beat myself up for it and there may be a number of you reading this that feel the same way. It creates a cycle of negative reinforcement. We've all been in that cycle, some for a few minutes; some for a few days; some for most of our lives. If you've ever been in that cycle and felt that failure and the low self-esteem and the loss of hope associated with it, you've come to the right place. This book will serve as an inspiration to change the way you see yourself and open your eyes to what really matters - success in who you are, not what you are, and the happiness that comes from that!

SUMMARY A novel set in contemporary Brighton, following a group of characters in their thirties and forties, pursuing very different lifestyles. Their lives are curiously intertwined, and in their quest for the meaning of life at the turn of the millennium, they sever friendships, dissolve relationships, form strange alliances and unlikely attachments. One of the central characters, Charlotte, has moved to Brighton with her boyfriend, Zak, in a last-ditch attempt to get their highly unsuccessful, four-year relationship back on track. Convinced that they only need to find the right place to make their partnership work, it soon becomes clear that they are fast getting nowhere. Charlotte, who gave up a career as a dancer to follow writer and anarchist Zak's whim of rural isolation, gets a job as a waitress to make ends meet. She soon makes new acquaintances, and although struggling to recognize her true friends, she manages to give her life a new direction. Inevitably, she excludes Zak, who feels more and more like a dead weight, decides she'd be better off without him, and eventually vanishes. One of Charlotte's new friends is Donna, who left her husband and young children in search of excitement and adventure, ending up in an unbearable platonic relationship. She seeks solace with Liam, an ageing rock musician, trapped in a relationship with Donna's boss Annette. Donna's take on her quite public fling with Liam is that Annette is too boring and plain to have any claims on a wild spirit like Liam. Charlotte's boss Marlene gets involved with up-and-coming artist Karl. Their affair, intended to be just a meaningless fling, turns out to be the real thing. But while Marlene can't break out of her unhappy marriage, Karl gets frustrated and increasingly desperate for a commitment from her. True to his promise to keep their affair strictly fun, Karl hides his yearning from Marlene, but confides in his best friend, Marek, a bookseller with a big heart. Despite his own problems, Marek always has an open ear for his friends in need, including Liam and Zak. When Donna introduces Charlotte to a women's group, exploring a range of New Age practices, including spiritual seances, she gets drawn into a web of intrigue and deceit. She meets Lily and Glenda, a lesbian couple, who excel in manipulating their fellow searchers. Bohemian Lily, who enjoys needling the morbidly jealous Glenda, moves in on Charlotte and starts to confuse her with her bizarre stories and gossip about mutual acquaintances. Charlotte meets and falls in love with Marek but, under the influence of Lily's wild stories, finds it difficult to trust her own feelings. Tormented by self-doubts and confusion about Marek's intentions and unable to put Zak behind her, Charlotte's erratic behaviour threatens their blossoming relationship. It is only when she realizes she needs to find her own strength rather than depend on others for guidance, that she feels ready to move on.