Teaching Nabokov's Lolita in the #MeToo Era and Online seeks to critique Nabokov's Lolita from the standpoint of its teachability to undergraduate and graduate students in the twenty first century. The #MeToo Movement has spurred a reassessment of what constitutes appropriate professional and sexual relations, a reassessment that has challenged how we teach our students, especially when we are studying controversial works. The time has come to ask in the #MeToo Era and beyond, how do we approach Nabokov's inflammatory masterpiece, Lolita? How do we read a novel that describes an unpardonable crime? How do we balance analysis of Lolita's brilliant language and aesthetic complexity with due attention to its troubling content? This volume offers practical and specific answers to this question and includes suggestions for teaching the novel in conventional and online modalities. Essays by distinguished Nabokov scholars explore the multilayered nature of Nabokov's Lolita by sharing innovative assignments and creative-writing exercises, teaching approaches to especially challenging parts of the text, methodologies of teaching the novel through different mediums from film to theatre, and new critical analyses and interpretations.

Teaching Nabokov's Lolita in the #MeToo Era seeks to critique the novel from the standpoint of its teachability to undergraduate and graduate students in the twenty-first century. The time has come to ask: in the #MeToo era and beyond, how do we approach Nabokov's inflammatory masterpiece, Lolita? How do we read a novel that describes an unpardonable crime? How do we balance analysis of Lolita's brilliant language and aesthetic complexity with due attention to its troubling content? This student-focused volume offers practical and specific answers to these questions and includes suggestions for teaching the novel in conventional and online modalities. Distinguished Nabokov scholars explore the multilayered nature of Lolita by sharing innovative assignments, creative-writing exercises, methodologies of teaching the novel through film and theatre, and new critical analyses and interpretations.

Reading Darwin in Imperial Russia: Literature and Ideas expands upon the cataloging efforts of earlier scholarship on Darwin's reception in Russia to analyze the rich cultural context and vital historical background of writings inspired by the arrival of Darwin's ideas in Russia. Starting with the first Russian translation of The Origin of Species in 1864, educated Russians eagerly read Darwin's works and reacted in a variety of ways. From enthusiasm to skepticism to hostility, these reactions manifested in a variety of published works, starting with the translations themselves, as well as critical reviews, opinion journalism, literary fiction, and polemical prose. The reception of Darwin spanned reverent, didactic, ironic, and sarcastic modes of interpretation. This book examines some of the best-known authors of the second half of the nineteenth century (Dostoevsky, Chernyshevsky, Chekhov) and others less well-known or nearly forgotten (Danilevsky, Timiriazev, Markevich, Strakhov) to explore the multi-faceted impact of Darwin's ideas on Russian educated society. While elements of Darwin's Russian reception were comparable to other countries, each author reveals distinctly Russian concerns tied to the meaning and consequences of the challenge posed by Darwinism. The scholars in this volume demonstrate not only what the authors wrote, but why they took their unique perspectives.

A Christmas play with a surprise ending
The church youth group and adult leaders prepare to practice for a Christmas program.
They anticipate a visit by the church's new custodian, who will clean and lock up the building.
A visitor arrives, who all believe to be the custodian. The visitor begins to help with the rehearsal. With his help, the real meaning of Christmas is clearly revealed to all.
The stranger leaves. To the surprise of the cast (but not the audience) the "real" custodian finally arrives. The cast ponders: "Who was that visitor?"
This simple play is easily adaptable for any size group. No special props are rquired other than a lectern and a Bible.
Charles Byrd, Hershey, Pennsylvania, is a United Methodist minister who has served as pastor, teacher, counselor, and staff member of the The United Methodist Publishing House. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Duke Divinity School.

Enter this provocative collection of inspirational and often amusing anecdotes, one-liners, poems, and parables, and share in the "Inspirations of Artichokes" and "The Strength of a Child," learn to recognize "A Living Thief" and a "Burma Buddhist," and experience the self-realization of "The Gossiping Preacher."
These 201 gentle lessons in faith, love, and Christian living will touch your heart and tickle your funny bone.
The volume includes a handy topical index, and is perfect for pastors and laypersons who need a humorous or poignant anecdote, an illustration for a sermon or speech, a short message for a bulletin or newsletter -- or a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.
Charles W. Byrd is manager of Cokesbury Books and Church Supplies, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a division of the United Methodist Publishing House. He attended Berea College and the University of North Carolina and is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Duke Divinity School.