Michael Parker's Latest Novel Garners Favorable Reviews from Magazines and Newspapers Across the Country

Last month, English Professor Michael Parker published his fifth novel, The Watery Part of the World, and it has drawn the attention of the national media. The book's website offers the following synopsis:

"Michael Parker has created a wholly original world from two known facts: (1) Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of the controversial vice president Aaron Burr, disappeared in 1813 while en route by schooner from South Carolina to New York; and (2) in 1970, two elderly white women and one black man were the last townspeople to leave a small barrier island off the coast of North Carolina.

In this fiction based on historical fact, Parker weaves a tale of adventure and longing as he charts one hundred and fifty years in the life and death of an island and its inhabitants—the descendants of Theodosia Burr Alston and those of the freed man whose family would be forever tethered to hers.

It’s a tale of pirates and slaves, treason and treasures, madness and devotion, that takes place on a tiny island battered by storms, infested with mosquitoes, and cut off from the world—as difficult to get to as it is impossible to leave for those who call it home. From Theodosia’s capture at sea to the passionate lives of her great-great-great-granddaughters to the tender story of the black man who cares for them all his days, this is an inspired novel about love, trust, and the often tortuous bonds of family and community."

The New York Times Book Review calls Parker's prose "vivid with local color," and The Los Angeles Times notes that "The entire novel has a blue-green, underwater feel, a timeless forgetfulness."

For more about The Watery Part of the World, its critical reception, and Parker's other works, please visit his website.

Another Corleone: Another Sicily--Screening of Documentary by Professor Anthony Fragola on Thursday, April 21

Professor Anthony Fragola, Media Studies, will lead a discussion at the premiere of his film, Another Corleone: Another Sicily, at the Weatherspoon Museum on Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 pm (the screening starts at 6:30 pm). The event, part of the UNCG Sustainability Film and Dialogue Series, is free and open to the public.

Another Corleone: Another Sicily focuses on the lands confiscated from the Mafia in Corleone, the town made famous, or infamous, by Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. Fragola shows the realities of the heroic struggles of the Sicilian people to reclaim their land and dignity from the bloody Mafia chiefs of Corleone who waged a war of terror against the Italian state. Another Corleone: Another Sicily illustrates the progress of these cooperatives to form self-sustaining ventures that provide meaningful work and economic freedom from Mafia control by prodicing organically grown products. (description taken from film's publicity)

For more information about the screening, please call or email Sarah Dorsey, 336.334.5610, sbdorsey@uncg.edu.

The University Libraries will make the film available to our patrons in the coming months.

Time for a Book Party

On April 7, at 4 pm, the University Libraries will celebrate all the books edited or authored by UNCG faculty between January, 2010 and March 31, 2011. We received more than 40 books that were published in this timeframe. We want to extend our thanks the faculty from 23 different departments who alerted us to the publication of their books. The books include a poetry translation, textbooks, collections of essays, and monographs on topics from nursing management, to art criticism, to George Herbert, to social change. Two of the books were written by emeritus faculty members Robert Calhoon (History) and Richard Cox (School of Music, Theatre, and Dance).

Special thanks to the Office of the Provost for co-sponsoring the reception, which will take place on April 7 at 4pm in the Jackson Library Reading Room.

A full list of titles (alphabetized by department) is below. If we missed your book, or if your book will be published soon, please let us know, and we will be sure to include you in next year's celebration.

Omar Ali, African American Studies, In the Lion's Mouth.

Ann Millett-Gallant, Art and Liberal Studies, The Disabled Body in Contemporary Art.

Nir Kshetri, Business Administration, The Global Cybercrime Industry: Economic, Institutional and Strategic Perspectives.

Jennifer Yurchisin, Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies, Fashion and the Consumer.

Albert N. Link, Economics, Public Goods, Public Gains.

Dale Brubaker and Misti Williams, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, Why the Principalship?: Making the Leap from the Classroom.

Svi Shapiro, Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, Educating Youth for a World Beyond Violence.

Christopher Hodgkins, English, George Herbert's Pastoral: New Essays on the Poet and Priest of Bemerton.

Christian Moraru, English, Postcommunism, Postmodernism, and the Global Imagination.

Christian Moraru, English, Cosmoderism.

Mark Rifkin, English, When Did Indians Become Straight?: Kinship, the History of Sexuality, and Native Sovereignty.

Kelly Ritter, English, Who Owns School? Authority, Students, and Online Discourse.

Robert M. Calhoon, History, Tory Insurgents.

Mark Elliott, History, Undaunted Radical: The Selected Writings and Speeches of Albion W. Tourgee.

David H. Demo, Human Development and Family Studies, Beyond the Average Divorce.

Hamid Nemati, Information Systems and Operations Management, Pervasive Information Security and Privacy Development: Trends and Advancements.

Hamid Nemati, Information Systems and Operations Management, Security and Privacy Assurance in Advancing Technologies.

Hamid Nemati Information Systems and Operations Management, Applied Cryptography for Cyber Security and Defense.

Jo Ramsay Leimenstoll, Interior Architecture, Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man of Color.

Donald A. Hodges, Music Education, Music in the Human Experience: An Introduction to Music Psychology.

Laura J. Fero, Charlotte A. Herrick, and Jie Hu, Nursing, Introduction to Care Coordination and Nursing Management.

Joshua Hoffman and Gary Rosenkrantz, Philosophy, An Historical Dictionary of Metaphysics.

Susan Buck, Political Science, Public Administration in Theory and Practice.

Heidi Gazelle, Psychology, Social Anxiety in Childhood: Bridging Developmental and Clinical Perspectives.

Jacquelyn White, Psychology, Violence Against Women and Children: Mapping the Terrain.

Jacquelyn White, Psychology, Violence Against Women and Children: Navigating Solutions.

Paul Silvia, Psychology, Public Speaking for Psychologists.

Charles Orzech, Religious Studies, Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras of East Asia.

Ana Hontanilla, Romance Languages, El Gusto De La Razon.

Mark Smith-Soto, Romance Languages, Fever Season And Other Poems: A Bilingual Edition Selected and Translated by Mark Smith-Soto.

Richard Cox, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, The Choral Music of Benjamin Britten : A Conductor's Guide.

Martica Bacallao, Social Work, Becoming Bicultural: Risk, Resilience, and Latino Youth.

Robert Wineburg, Social Work, Pracademics and Community Change.

Ken Allan, Sociology, A Primer in Social & Sociological Theory: An Invitation to Democracy.

Ken Allan, Sociology, Contemporary Social and Sociological Theory, 2nd edition.

Ken Allan, Sociology, Explorations in Classical Sociological Theory: Seeing the Social World, 2nd edition.

Sarah Daynes, Sociology, Time and Memory in Reggae Music.

CP Gause, Teacher Education and Higher Education, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Education: A Voice from the Margins.

Francine Johnston, Teacher Education and Higher Education, Words Their Way with Struggling Readers: Word Study for Reading, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction, Grades 4 - 12.

Dale Schunk, Teacher Education and Higher Education, Handbook of Self-Regulation of Learning and Performance.

Deborah Bell, Theatre, Mask Makers and Their Craft: An Illustrated Worldwide Study.

James Fisher, Theatre, Miller in an Hour.

James Fisher, Theatre, Wilder in an Hour.

Violence Against Women and Children--Mapping the Terrain and Navigating the Solutions

The University Libraries were delighted when the American Psychological Association (APA) donated this landmark two volume series on domestic violence co-edited by Professor Jacquelyn White of UNCG's Department of Psychology. Thank you Dr. White for bringing the libraries' program to your publisher's attention!

The APA describes that the books are designed "to provide consensus recommendations for researchers, practitioners, advocates, policymakers, and all those who seek more effective responses to interpersonal violence."

In the first volume, Mapping the Terrain,"experts from diverse disciplines describe prevalence rates among various populations; risk factors for perpetration and vulnerability and protective factors for potential victims. They also document the impact of violence on the victims in terms of psychological, reproductive, maternal and child health, and behavioral and economic consequences. In the process, they establish commonalities across child abuse, sexual and domestic violence, and suggest vital next steps for collaborative efforts."

In the second volume, Navigating Solutions, "eminent scholars use a public health model to examine current societal responses to interpersonal violence. Authors examine the efficacy of medical and psychological treatments for victims, families, and perpetrators, as well as justice system responses to various forms of child abuse, sexual violence, and domestic violence. Interventions are suggested at several levels of prevention, including initiatives designed to eradicate the problem (primary prevention), reduce it among those at risk (secondary prevention), and minimize the negative consequences of violence and stabilize health (tertiary prevention). Finally, the editors present an integrative conclusion that provides a sound foundation for future responses across practice, research, advocacy and policy, at the local and national level."

We expect the volumes to be valuable to researchers and students in several disciplines and again want to thank the APA for their generosity.

Playwrights in an Hour -- Miller, O'Neill, and Wilder

Professor James Fisher, the chair of UNCG's Department of Theatre, has contributed three volumes to the new series, Playwrights in an Hour, a series that "offers in compact form the information needed for a basic understanding and appreciation of the works of each volume's featured playwright." With his volumes on Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, and Thornton Wilder, Fisher presents brief biographical sketches of his subjects and places them within a broader cultural context. Wright touches as well on the critical reception of the playwrights' works and traces their influences.

Why the Principalship? Making the Leap from the Classroom

In this book, Dale Brubaker, professor emeritus, and Misti Williams, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations, guide teachers who want to make the leap from the classroom to administration. The book is especially timely as UNCG recently launched a new initiative, the Piedmont Triad Leadership Academy, thanks to a $6 million grant from the State of North Carolina, to identify and train aspiring principals for high-need schools.

The book has received high praise from Susan Jacoby, former education writer for the Washington Post and the New York Times:

Anyone who ever attended a school overseen by a bad principal ought to be able to answer the question posed in the title of Why the Principalship? Gifted teachers form the most powerful memories of education for students, but the principal is responsible for creating the atmosphere in which the best teachers either flourish or wither. A great principal is, above all, the school's head teacher. The only thing I would add to this lively, informative, encouraging book is that an excellent principal ought to keep one foot--or at least a toe--in the classroom. At a time when education has never been more crucial to the future of our nation, and public schools are under attack from all sides, there has never been a greater need for school administrators who understand that their job is to be leaders true to the Latin root of the word educate, which means to 'lead out.'"

Beyond the Average Divorce, by Professor David Demo

Divorce is frequently in the news as we learn about the new demographics of divorced couples or read about celebrity divorce cases. Quite recently, The Huffington Post even started a new section on its blog devoted to divorce. But what is typical when it comes to divorce? In his new book, UNCG Professor David Demo, Human Development and Family Studies, posits that there is no "average" divorce and explores the diversity of how people experience the dissolution of a marriage.

According to the publisher's webiste, Beyond the Average Divorce "provides marriage and family scholars and students a rich depiction of how children and adults of all ages respond to diverse divorce experiences. Rather than emphasizing means and averages in looking at 'typical' family reactions to divorce, authors David H. Demo and Mark A. Fine (University of Missouri Columbia) emphasize variability and change over time in the pre-divorce, divorce, and post-divorce process."

The book explores in depth what a family might look like both before and after a divorce, and how divorce is experienced as much more than a single transition. As the authors describe in the book's introduction, "There has been a strong tendency in previous work to treat divorce and other family structure changes in a static manner (i.e., either they happen or they do not; an individual either is in a single-parent family or is not), whereas the more complex reality (and more difficult problem to research) is that children and parents tend to experience a variety of changes in family composition over time."

The book concludes with recommendations for future studies and a consideration of the policy implications of the research.