Japan's Civil Service System is a comprehensive description of the organization, staffing, and actual daily workings of the postwar Japanese government bureaucracy. Written for students of Japanese government, comparative government, and public policy, the book is based on research in both the U.S. and Japan and numerous interviews with Japanese government officials. At a time when the present system is the subject of fierce debate within Japan--between critics who seek to remove Western influence and supporters who cite the system's productivity and efficiency--this systematic study of its history, personnel, and policy-making process is especially valuable.

Robert Tannehill is one of the most recognized scholars of the Gospels in the American academy. His book on Luke-Acts remains the single most important book on that unit of biblical writing, and it produced an entire generation of New Testament scholars who have now become well-known for their work in literary studies in the Gospels. Tannehill's work on narrative criticism of the Gospels remains unsurpassed in the academy.
Contributors include Edgar V. McKnight, Mikeal C. Parsons, Charles H. Talbert, David Rhoads, Simon J. DeVries, Janice Capel Anderson, Robert L. Brawley, Carolyn Thomas, Fred Burnett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Whitney Shiner, Sharyn Dowd, Sharon H. Ringe, Vernon K. Robbins, Mark Allan Powell, Gail R. O'Day, David P. Moessner, Jeffrey L. Staley, and Robert M. Fowler.
Sharon Ringe is Professor New Testament at Wesley Theological Seminary and the author of Wisdom's Friends: Community and Christology in the Fouth Gospel.
H.C.P. Kim is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and the author of Ambiguity, Tension and Multiplicity in Deuter-Isaiah.

Are MOOCs a catalyst to reimagine education, a sign of the impending corporate takeover of the education sector, or merely a well-publicized but passing trend? Massive Open Online Courses shares insights from multiple stakeholders on what MOOCs are now and could eventually become, providing those in higher education as well as K-12, military, government and corporate training with an authorative source on the full range of key issues surrounding MOOCs.

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, are a disruptive technology currently forcing a serious reconceptualization of accreditation, assessment, motivation and retention, technology-based instruction, and the overall college experience. In this timely volume, Paul Kim brings together experts from higher education, business, law, learning analytics and other relevant areas to provide an evenhanded, research-based positioning of MOOCs within the existing educational technology landscape and an explanation of how they may ultimately help us rethink the future of education.

Broadly speaking there are two kinds of professional practice skills relevant to the burgeoning field of gerontological human service: clinical modalities and macro strategies. This book identifies seven essential approaches to clinical gerontology, including five of the most important macro skills that all professionals in the field will need to acquire, and it presents each of them in a single collection intended to serve as a basic text and reference work for academic and in-service training.

Each contributor to this volume speaks with recognized expertise on his/her preferred subject, while mindful of the larger purpose of the collection as a whole. In a concluding chapter, Dr. Kim draws on his own long and successful experience in obtaining financial support for his programs and provides a wealth of useful information on the preparation of grant proposals and the conduct of other fundraising activities.

"Serving the Elderly" is adaptable to the uses of a wide variety of geriatric health care providers, from students and trainees in social work, clinical psychology, and other care-giving professions to already established practitioners who are branching out in gerontology.

Are MOOCs a catalyst to reimagine education, a sign of the impending corporate takeover of the education sector, or merely a well-publicized but passing trend? Massive Open Online Courses shares insights from multiple stakeholders on what MOOCs are now and could eventually become, providing those in higher education as well as K-12, military, government and corporate training with an authorative source on the full range of key issues surrounding MOOCs.

MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses, are a disruptive technology currently forcing a serious reconceptualization of accreditation, assessment, motivation and retention, technology-based instruction, and the overall college experience. In this timely volume, Paul Kim brings together experts from higher education, business, law, learning analytics and other relevant areas to provide an evenhanded, research-based positioning of MOOCs within the existing educational technology landscape and an explanation of how they may ultimately help us rethink the future of education.

The contributors to this volume address three central approaches in biblical interpretation: historical settings, intertextuality, and biblical theology. The first section traces and reassesses the multifaceted aspects relevant to the historical settings of the ancient texts, writers, and worlds. The second section describes the comparative analysis of biblical literature, with inner-biblical or non-biblical texts, not only to improve textual meanings but also to deepen the relationship between biblical texts and their contexts. The final section highlights theological approaches to the Hebrew Bible, addressing the themes of Jewish theology, justice, theophany, loss, and trauma, while confronting significant ethical and theological challenges.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel share much in common. They address the pivotal times and topics associated with the last stages of the monarchical history of Israel, and with the development of new forms of communal and religious life through exile and beyond. One important structural component of all three books is a substantial section which concerns itself with a range of foreign nations, commonly called the "Oracles against the Nations", which form the focus of this book. These chapters together present the most up-to-date scholarship on the oracles - an oft-neglected but significant area in the study of the prophetic literature. The particular characteristics of Isaiah, Jeremiah (both Masoretic Text and Septuagint versions), and Ezekiel, are discussed showcasing the unique issues pertinent to each book and the diverse methods used to address them. These evident differences aside, the Oracles Against the Nations are employed as a springboard in order to begin the work of tracing similarities between the texts. By focusing on these unique yet common sections, a range of interrelated themes and issues of both content and method become noticeable: for example, though not exhaustively, pattern, structure, language, comparative history, archaeology, sociology, politics, literature, imagery, theme, theology, and hermeneutical issues related to today's context. As a result this collection presents a range of cutting-edge approaches on these key prophetic books, and will provide a basis for further comparative study and reflection.

Building on recent developments in biblical studies, this book introduces the prophetic literature of the Old Testament against the background of today's postmodern context and crisis of meaning. Pulsating with anxiety over the empire--Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian--the prophet corpus is a disturbing cultural expression of lament and chaos. Danger, disjunction, and disaster bubble beneath the surface of virtually every prophetic text. Sometimes in denial, sometimes in despair, and sometimes in defiance, the readers of this literature find themselves living at the edge of time, immediately before, during, or after the collapse of longstanding symbolic, cultural, and geo-political structures. These written prophecies not only reflect the social location of trauma, but are also a complex response. More specifically, prophetic texts are thick meaning-making maps, tapestries of hope that help at-risk communities survive.

What did violence against women and children mean for ancient audiences and how do modern audiences hear and process the meaning of violence in the texts of the Hebrew Bible? The rape of Tamar, the sacrifice of Jephthah’s daughter, babes ripped from the womb during war—texts such as these are hardly fodder for Sunday School classes; yet we are left with the reality that the Bible is a violent text full of war, murder, genocide, and destruction, often carried out at the behest of God. The essays in this volume explore ways in which the Hebrew Bible uses and abuses women and children to make indelible points concerning the people of Israel, the lived realities of the Israelite society, and God’s relationship to His people. Where other works turn to the study of the violence itself, or to the divine nature of violence, this volume focuses in on the human component. As a result, these studies are reminders that women and children born out of trauma are at once vulnerable and valuable, fragile and resilient.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel share much in common. They address the pivotal times and topics associated with the last stages of the monarchical history of Israel, and with the development of new forms of communal and religious life through exile and beyond. One important structural component of all three books is a substantial section which concerns itself with a range of foreign nations, commonly called the "Oracles against the Nations", which form the focus of this book. These chapters together present the most up-to-date scholarship on the oracles - an oft-neglected but significant area in the study of the prophetic literature. The particular characteristics of Isaiah, Jeremiah (both Masoretic Text and Septuagint versions), and Ezekiel, are discussed showcasing the unique issues pertinent to each book and the diverse methods used to address them. These evident differences aside, the Oracles Against the Nations are employed as a springboard in order to begin the work of tracing similarities between the texts. By focusing on these unique yet common sections, a range of interrelated themes and issues of both content and method become noticeable: for example, though not exhaustively, pattern, structure, language, comparative history, archaeology, sociology, politics, literature, imagery, theme, theology, and hermeneutical issues related to today's context. As a result this collection presents a range of cutting-edge approaches on these key prophetic books, and will provide a basis for further comparative study and reflection.