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.

For the first time in English, The Russian Medical Humanities: Past and Present argues that the medical humanities is a vibrant and emerging field in Post-Soviet Russia. In a unique collaboration that brings together diverse experts from both Russia and America, this volume showcases the Russian medical humanities as an interdisciplinary project that combines insights from philosophy, bioethics, anthropology, history, and literature in order to provide more compassionate medical care to patients in the twenty-first century. The chapters in this volume explore past and present humanistic trends in Russian medical training, as well as examine how Russian authors and cultural figures, some physician-writers, some without professional background in medicine of any kind, have positioned healthy and ailing bodies in their creative work. This volume's contributors, who range from literary scholars, educators, translators and poets to medical historians, librarians, museum curators, and social workers, provide empathetic insight into the experience of medical encounters which all cultures grapple with. Their work will prove useful not only to current and future health practitioners, but also to a broader audience of readers who are seeking to make compassionate and informed decisions about healthcare for their loved ones and for themselves.

Adults are attending college in record numbers every year. These students, many with families and careers, may have been away from an academic environment for many years and have unique needs in developing lifelong learning skills. Academic librarians have an important role as change agents in this dynamic learning environment through information literacy instruction, workshops, and individual consultations. Mind, Motivation, and Meaningful Learning: Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners provides a blueprint that academic librarians can apply to their instructional design that facilitates a change in students' motivation and learning strategies. It provides the tools necessary to teach learners to identify, evaluate, and apply appropriate cognitive, learning, and motivation strategies based on course content and a deeper understanding of the metacognitive component of meaningful learning. Five chapters explore the theories behind adult learning, culminating in a seven-unit curriculum scalable to a variety of learning domains complete with lesson plans, activities, assessments of the learning goals, and student reflections. Mind, Motivation, and Meaningful Learning can help you identify the components of academic learning that contribute to high achievement; help students learn and practice effective learning and study strategies that lead to improved self-efficacy, self-regulation, and knowledge transfer; and improve instructional design for student, instructor, and academic teaching librarian success.