There is a long history in the West of viewing Japan through the twin lenses of orientalism and exoticism. Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and the re-opening of Japan after a long period of self-imposed isolation there has been a succession of commentators who have sought to present Japan as somehow 'other' and not susceptible to ready understanding. Too often the study of Japanese architecture has followed this pattern or has been presented as a series of visual images that are explained as if they emerged from some unique alchemy of sensitivity and mysticism. This book argues that Japanese modern architecture emerged from identifiable events: political, social, economic, historical events, and is as susceptible as any other architecture to analysis and criticism in these terms. Episodic rather than encyclopaedic, it does not describe every twist and turn in the development of modern Japanese architecture, but rather, it examines twenty buildings spanning the 20th century and places them in the context of the political, social and economic, as well as the historical and cultural factors that shaped both them and modern Japan. Each building has been chosen because it reflects a major event in the development of modern Japan and its architecture. In this way, the author provides a more rounded understanding of the development of modern architecture in Japan and the circumstances from which it emerged and offers lessons that are still of relevance. As it entered the modern era, Japan was faced with the necessity of accepting an influx of Western technology in order to catch up. With imported technology came new and different ideas and values. Could the Japanese adopt the technology imported from the West while retaining their own culture and values? How could they identify those values and should they try to retain them or embrace new and different values? In the early 21st century, where we have seen the growth of the Internet and globalisation alongside an increase in nationalism around the world, these should be familiar questions. In a sense we are all Japanese now.

For decades osteopathic physician Larry Nassar built a sterling reputation as the go-to doctor for America's Olympians while treating hundreds of others at his office on Michigan State University's campus. Parents and coaches entrusted their children to Nassar's care-only for him to use that trust to manipulate and sexually abuse hundreds of girls and young women under the guise of medical treatment. In Start by Believing, John Barr and Dan Murphy confront Nassar's acts, as well as the epic institutional failures and individuals who enabled him--failures whose consequences continue to play out in the legal system. It is an account of a corrupted culture with rules and rituals all its own: the dysfunctional and high-pressured world of club level and elite gymnastics, where young girls are trained in atmospheres of fear and intimidation; a world where Larry Nassar was protected by enablers more interested in an institution's image than the well-being of young people. Above all, this book is the story of the women, individuals of uncommon grit and perseverance-including an unlikely pairing of a once-shy Christian mother and an outspoken former Olympic medallist-who bravely spoke out and brought a criminal and his enablers to justice.

Alliances are characterized by an inherent struggle for power between the allies themselves to deal with a common external enemy. Yet diplomatic history clearly shows that, at the best of times, this cooperative dimension is only one of the many aspects in play: alongside it, or even in its place, there are often strong elements of competition between allies. Building upon this insight, Marco Cesa argues that alliances are first of all a tool aimed at rendering predictable behavior from an ally by securing its cooperation. He also takes issue with the way alliances are often discussed as if they were all alike. Accordingly, the book provides a typology of alliances that distinguishes four possible types and sheds light on interallied relations, indicating their causes and effects. Historical case studies from 18th-century Europe, beginning with the War of the Spanish Succession and proceeding chronologically until the eve of the French Revolution, offer readers an overview of almost the entire century.

Coming on the heels of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, Lincoln's Enduring Legacy offers highly readable and accessible perspectives on Lincoln at 200 in terms of his impact on great leaders and thinkers and his place in American history. The book explores how Lincoln's words and deeds have influenced the pursuit of justice and freedom and the practice of democracy in the century and a half since he governed. Lincoln, as an abolitionist, the architect of Reconstruction, an avowed Unionist, a wordsmith and rhetorician, his age's foremost prophet for democracy, and America's greatest president remains an iconic image in American memory.

All animals struggle to survive. In John Barr's poems the success of the heron hunting, the albatross breeding, the inchworm spinning give proof of life. But for us that struggle includes the eternal presence of war. Does the fall of Rome, the Battle of Shiloh, the Normandy Landings––and today's wars—give proof of life or only of the struggle?

All animals struggle to survive. In John Barr's poems the success of the heron hunting, the albatross breeding, the inchworm spinning give proof of life. But for us that struggle includes the eternal presence of war. Does the fall of Rome, the Battle of Shiloh, the Normandy Landings––and today's wars—give proof of life or only of the struggle?

In John Barr's poems, the ancient masters encounter the modern world. Dante on a beach in China beholds the Inferno: “Flaring well gas night and day, / towers rise as if to say, / Pollution can be beautiful.” Bach’s final fugue informs all of nature. Villon is admonished by an aging courtesan. Aristotle finds “Demagogues are the insects of politics. / Like water beetles they stay afloat / on surface tension, they taxi on iridescence.” And his afterlife: “When three-headed Cerberus greeted him / Socrates replied: I won’t need / an attack dog, thank you. I married one.”

In John Barr's poems, the ancient masters encounter the modern world. Dante on a beach in China beholds the Inferno: “Flaring well gas night and day, / towers rise as if to say, / Pollution can be beautiful.” Bach’s final fugue informs all of nature. Villon is admonished by an aging courtesan. Aristotle finds “Demagogues are the insects of politics. / Like water beetles they stay afloat / on surface tension, they taxi on iridescence.” And his afterlife: “When three-headed Cerberus greeted him / Socrates replied: I won’t need / an attack dog, thank you. I married one.”

2012 Programs of The Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park

"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection." - Poincare Harold is a simple man long troubled by doubts about what he should or should not believe. He fears the loss of his soul if he does not soon discover which of the world's "indisputable truths" are truly indisputable. One night, alone and distraught, he falls asleep to the most realistic dream he has ever had, a dream in which he is approached by the "Big Guy" come in person to address his pain. Not one to waste an opportunity, Harold hails him down then begins a nightly grilling.