Illuminating one of the most pervasive issues of our time, Popular Culture is the first book to link the importance and implications of popular culture with pedagogical practice. It shows how cultural forms such as Hollywood films, pop music, soap operas, and televangelism are organized by gender, age, class, race, and ethnicity, thus providing the contradictory text that both enables and disables emancipatory interest, so fundamental to the formation of self and society. What emerges is a redefinition of the very notion of popular culture.

The book explains why the US-Russia post-9/11 partnership did not endure. Washington backed away from its initial commitment to a new level of cooperation with Moscow in addressing issues of terrorism, energy security, political instability and weapons proliferation. Much of America's policy is shaped by an ambition to remain the only world's superpower and by activities of interest groups with the agenda of isolating Russia from the Western world. Although these groups do not dictate the official policy, their influence has been notable. The book analyzes the negative role played by Russophobia and formulates a different approach to Russia in the post-Cold War world.

This is an exciting new edition of R.W. Connella s ground--breaking text, which has become a classic work on the nature and construction of masculine identity. Connell argues that there is not one masculinity, but many different masculinities, each associated with different positions of power. In a world gender order that continues to privilege men over women, but also raises difficult issues for men and boys, his account is more pertinent than ever before. In a substantial new introduction and conclusion, Connell discusses the development of masculinity studies in the ten years since the booka s initial publication. He explores global gender relations, new theories, and practical uses of mascunlinity research. Looking to the future, his new concluding chapter addresses the politics of masculinities, and the implications of masculinity research for understanding current world issues. Against the backdrop of an increasingly divided world, dominated by neo--conservative politics, Connella s account highlights a series of compelling questions about the future of human society. This second edition of Connella s classic book will be essential reading for students taking courses on masculinities and gender studies, and will be of interest to students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences.

This book provides a needed overview of the scholarship on medieval public culture and popular movements such as the Peace of God, heresy, and the crusades and illustrates how a changing sense of the populus, the importance of publics and public opinion and public spheres was influential in the evolution of medieval cultures. Public opinion did play an important role, even in the Middle Ages; it did not wait until the era of modern history to do so. Using modern research on such aspects of culture as textual communities, large and small publics, cults, crowds, rumor, malediction, gossip, dispute resolution and the European popular revolution, the author focuses on the Peace of God movement, the era of Church reform in the tenth and eleventh centuries, the rise and combat of heresy, the crusades, and the works of fourteenth-century political thinkers such as Marsiglio of Padua regarding the role of the populus as the basis for the analysis. The pattern of changes reflected in this study argues that just as in the modern world the simplistic idea of "the public " was a phantom. Instead there were publics large and small that were influential in shaping the cultures of the era under review.

One of the very few - if not only - books written exclusively related to this topic. This book comprehensively outlines the principles governing the accumulation of chemicals from the environment by organisms. Packed with tables and diagrams, this work reviews the experimental data available on both terrestrial and aquatic systems. It describes methods which are used to predict bioaccumulation of chemicals from their physicochemical properties. It also reviews environmental and other factors influencing bioaccumulation. This text also includes previously unpublished theoretical explanations of several bioaccumulation processes, including food chain biomagnification. Information in this exceptional volume is useful to government officials involved with environmental management, chemists, biologists, consultants working with chemical waste control, researchers, and graduate students.

Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry, Second Edition provides a theoretical basis for the behavior and biological effects of natural chemical entities and contaminants in natural systems, concluding with a practical focus on risk assessment and the environmental management of chemicals. The text uses molecular properties such as polarity, water solubility, and vapor pressure as the starting point for understanding the environmental chemistry of various contaminants in soil, water, and the atmosphere. It explains biological processes such as respiration and photosynthesis and their relationship to greenhouse gases. The book then introduces environmental toxicology and describes the distribution, transport, and transformation of contaminants, including PCBs and dioxins, plastics, petroleum and aromatic hydrocarbons, soaps and detergents, and pesticides. The author highlights the relationship between specific chemical properties and their environmental and biological effects. Other topics discussed include partition behavior, fugacity, and genotoxicity, particularly involving carcinogens. The second edition updates the contents and incorporates the latest advances in the field since the 1997 edition was published. It presents an entirely new chapter on metals, which underlines the correlation between metallic properties and their behavior in the environment, as well as new sections on radionuclides and acid drainage water. The chapter on atmospheric chemistry and pollution has been substantially expanded including photochemical smog, the Greenhouse Effect, and pollution processes in the atmosphere and acid rain. The author also adds recent approaches to ecotoxicology, ecological, and human risk assessments to include the probabilistic approach. Basic Concepts of Environmental Chemistry, Second Edition is a practical textbook for teaching students the basic concepts of chemistry in the framework of the environment and a practical reference for anyone involved in the management and disposal of industrial chemicals and emissions, occupational health and safety, and the protection of the natural environment.

We have identified a need to draw together knowledge of physiochemical and biological aspects of pollution in tropical aquatic systems. This book results from this and we hope will assist in providing management strategies to protect these systems from pollution effects. In organising the book we have, as far as possible, attempted to cover the range of topics important in understanding pollution in tropical areas. Authors who are expert in their particular fields have been invited to contribute. We recognise that many topics remain uncovered but we hope will serve to assist in identifying these and stimulate interest in this area.

Degrees of Deception explains the development and widespread abuses of the for-profit higher education sector in America. To illustrate the scope and degree of wrongdoing in for-profit higher education, readers are exposed to the industry in the same sequential order that students experience it in reality. A few examples include predatory recruitment, targeting military service members, questionable quality of programs, predatory lending, high withdrawal and default rates, manipulation of job placement data, and strategic lobbying efforts to block comprehensive reform. Following this analysis, Degrees of Deception offers bold and unprecedented solutions to tackle the crisis in a way that protects millions of student victims and taxpayers indefinitely.

In recent decades, the crisis of college affordability has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our era. Since 1978, college tuition and fees have soared by 1,120 percent, growing at three times the rate of housing prices and four times the rate of the increase in the hourly wage. The inevitable consequence has resulted in a national student debt that surpassed $1.3 trillion in 2015, crushing the average household under $35,000 in student debt. Breaking Point explains flaws in the structure of higher education that have caused college prices to soar over our lifetime, including "prestige maximization," a perpetual "amenities war," and a predatory lending industry that has not only fostered but encouraged the explosion of college costs. To counter this trend, Kevin Connell proposes several bold solutions that are intended to induce colleges and lenders alike to redefine the structure, price, and ultimate purpose of higher education in America.

Written in a practical, didactic format designed to deliver point-of-care information to practitioners of cardiology as well as assist non-cardiologists with the efficient management of cardiac disease, this highly illustrated manual is an essential reference.

There has been an odd reluctance on the part of historians of the Italian American experience to confront the discrimination faced by Italians and Americans of Italian ancestry. This volume is a bold attempt by an esteemed group of scholars and writers to discuss the question openly by charting the historical and cultural boundaries of stereotypes, prejudice, and assimilation. Contributors offer a continuous series of cultural encounters and experiences in television, literature, and film that deserve the attention of anyone interested in the larger themes of American history.

"Judge Eleanor emerged, lifted me by the arm, hailed me into court, pronounced judgment, sentenced me, and executed punishment. Generally one of two things should have happened: mouth wash with soap, or slow death by Tabasco Sauce. On this occasion, neither being at hand, pepper was substituted. I was then unceremoniously plunked on the back stoop to howl my life away." ***** "Now all of you, who have never been boys, need to comprehend the male fascination, adult or tiny, with cars. At one time or other virtually all have tried to commandeer riding lawnmowers, motorized bicycles, tractors, stream rollers, army tanks, battle ships, anything, just to be allowed to DRIVE. This phenomenon is not age specific; it begins to manifest itself as soon as the young boy is able to escape the women. Immediately a quest begins to DRIVE A CAR. ***** " I gripped the mighty steering wheel with both hands. I turned it side to side. The engine vibration, starting at my small hands, pulsed down through my body, harmonizing with the engine's rumbling sound. My eyes darted across the dash panel. The needles on several small gauges trembled before my eyes. I immediately began to calculate what next I should do. I contemplated the horn button. I dismissed it. No need to interrupt the hood shrouded "listeners." My eyes shifted to the pedals far below my diminutive feet. Pedals The men pushed these with feet as part of the "driving" process. I scooted forward until my body was flat on the seat cushion. My foot was only an inch from the flat pedal that made the motor roar when my dad wanted to drive faster. Gripping the wheel more tightly, I stretched that final distance. My full weight shifted onto the pedal. The old car's engine screamed." ***** "To my amazement the water was cool, almost cold. I drank eagerly, almost as a hungry suckling baby might. And the water was wonderful. Tasting as if it had come from some deep, hidden, even sacred source. It was one of the most satisfying moments of my young life, and it was water. As I paused for breath, my benefactor's voice interrupted my enjoyment. 'Why don't you let your dad have some of this?' I watched as my dad took deep long swallows of the wonderful water. Then our provider walked to me, and lifting the container, poured a cooling flood on to my head. It was immensely refreshing. I felt as though I had been resuscitated after surviving an inferno. It was a baptism in hell. Dad was also inundated. We both drank again. Dripping wet, Dad finally asked our benefactor his name. 'John Lazarus, ' was the response. 'I live up near Elko. I'm on my way to El Centro to visit family. I always bring a good supply of water from my well. Tastes pretty good doesn't it?' Mr. John Lazarus then turned and entered his truck. As the engine roared to life, he pointed to me and gave a large friendly wink. He was then off down the road. As we climbed back into the Hudson, I queried my father. "Did he say he was taking water to Hell Central?" 'No, ' laughed Dad, 'there is a town in California called El Centro.' It didn't matter to me. From what we were experiencing, I could easily envision poor damned souls getting a swig from Mr. John Lazarus."

In recent decades, the crisis of college affordability has emerged as one of the defining challenges of our era. Since 1978, college tuition and fees have soared by 1,120 percent, growing at three times the rate of housing prices and four times the rate of the increase in the hourly wage. The inevitable consequence has resulted in a national student debt that surpassed $1.3 trillion in 2015, crushing the average household under $35,000 in student debt. Breaking Point explains flaws in the structure of higher education that have caused college prices to soar over our lifetime, including "prestige maximization," a perpetual "amenities war," and a predatory lending industry that has not only fostered but encouraged the explosion of college costs. To counter this trend, Kevin Connell proposes several bold solutions that are intended to induce colleges and lenders alike to redefine the structure, price, and ultimate purpose of higher education in America.

Degrees of Deception explains the development and widespread abuses of the for-profit higher education sector in America. To illustrate the scope and degree of wrongdoing in for profit higher education, readers are exposed to the industry in the same sequential order that students experience it in reality. A few examples include predatory recruitment, targeting military service members, questionable quality of programs, predatory lending, high withdrawal and default rates, manipulation of job placement data, and strategic lobbying efforts to block comprehensive reform. Following this analysis, Degrees of Deception offers bold and unprecedented solutions to tackle the crisis in a way that protects millions of student victims and taxpayers indefinitely.

In the past, research in the field of gender has mainly addressed issues about women, and has for the most part been developed by women. Recently, the study of gender has rapidly expanded and there has been a growing interest in men's and boys' identities, conduct, and problems. The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities is an interdisciplinary and international culmination of the growth of men's studies that also offers insight about future directions for the field. The Handbook provides a broad view of masculinities primarily across the social sciences, with the inclusion of important debates in some areas of the humanities and natural sciences. The various approaches presented in this Handbook range across different disciplines, theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and conceptualizations in relation to the topic of men. Editors Michael S. Kimmel, Jeff Hearn, and Robert W. Connell have assembled an esteemed group of contributors who are among the best-known experts in their particular fields. The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities examines the construction of masculinities in four different frames: the social organization of masculinities in their global and regional iterations; the institutional reproduction and articulation of masculinities; the ways in which masculinities are organized and practiced within a context of gender relations; and the ways in which individual men express and understand their gendered identities. The Handbook is organized in a way that moves from the larger, global, and institutional articulations of masculinities, to the more intimate and personal expressions. The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities provides scholars, researchers, and students with the most current, incisive scholarship available for the men's studies area of gender studies. It is a vital resource for those interested in the practical or cultural issues about men, boys, and gender, as well as an excellent addition to any academic library.