The fame of nineteenth-century Russian folklorist Aleksandr Afanas'ev is primarily based upon his work as a collector and editor of Russian folk tales. However, his role as an outstanding scholar of Slavic mythology and folk beliefs is often sadly overlooked. This book, based on A. N. Afanas'ev s fundamental study, Poetic Views of the Slavs toward Nature, and inspired by the wealth of knowledge it contains, attempts to reconstruct the ancient Slavic pantheon in the way it was seen by Afanas'ev. It dedicates particular attention to one pagan Slavic deity of paramount importance Perun,...

The Postmodern Educator offers research stories of teachers and teacher educators who explore their own artistic and analytic practices in many different settings. Typically, arts-based research is presented only in theoretical and expository terms in the educational literature. In this book, however, the authors promote the development of arts-based narrative inquiries by using many artistic forms (stories, poems, narratives, visuals) to shape their topics of interest and those of their teacher colleagues. Teacher-researchers are invited, more generally, to reimagine not only their...

Contemporary Mexican-American women novelists - some of whom are moving toward a Chicana feminist construct - have produced very exciting work. Using the works of both Gloria Anzaldua and Elaine Showalter as theoretical frameworks, this study argues for a specific Chicana feminism whose roots are both in and outside the Mexican-American culture. The authors included in Contemporary Mexican-American Women Novelists are Ana Castillo, Denise Chavez, Sandra Cisneros, Lucha Corpi, Margarita Cota-Cadenas, Roberta Fernandez, Laura del Fuego, Irene Beltran Hernandez, Mary Helen Ponce, and...

-No touch- policies, where caregivers, teachers, and other child workers are being informed they cannot touch children in their care, are growing in popularity, Hands Off critically engages -no touch- by sharing related stories from the field, stories that validate the popularity of -no touch.- -No touch- is presented and interrogated as a moral panic prevalent throughout our society. In an attempt to reframe -no touch, - sexuality is considered when evaluating child identity and the role of the caregivers."

This book contains a concise presentation of the major political theories underlying the Western tradition and contemporary ideological debates in America and the world. From the Ancients, Plato and Aristotle, to contemporary Americans, Rawls, Nozick and Barber, the book examines each thinker s conception of Human Nature, Political Society and Social Ethics. Extensive excerpts from the original writings and their relation to American political principles distinguish this valuable text."

This book introduces the elements of drama and the principles behind the reading and study of plays - classical and modern. It makes a special point of seeing drama as intended for acting and performance, and it therefore emphasizes the role of the spectator at a play and the sort of theatre for which drama was written. The performance approach to the study of plays finally clarifies the different kinds of drama (comedy, tragedy, melodrama, and farce) and identifies its forms (realism, stylization, and symbolism). The book draws on specific examples of drama, is rich in helpful charts and...

Living Reading is a qualitative research study of the ways teachers form and enact notions of literacy through participation in a subject-area association that places reading at the heart of its mission. This study explores the gendered and historical roots of the discipline of reading and reading instruction in the United States, and it demonstrates how the professional development opportunities offered by this organization (and others like it) support and constrain educational reform initiatives. Through -living reading- teacher-members seek spiritual affirmation and renewal as well...

The basic premise of this book is simple it brings together early childhood and cultural-studies professionals who are willing to provide a kaleidoscope of views capable of challenging the sanctity of the early childhood western lens. Marianne Bloch, Hedy Chang, Amos Hatch, Henry Giroux, Jan Jipson, Joe Kincheloe, Shirley Kessler, Sally Lubeck, Shirley Steinberg, Beth Blue Swadener, Nila Rinehardt, and Lourdes Diaz Soto call for a move toward the critical, toward the multicultural, toward the dialogic, toward the feminist, toward the personal, with the others, with the silenced, and in...

One of T. W. Adorno s greatest philosophical achievements, The Philosophy of Modern Music, continues to be one of his most misunderstood. Many scholars take Adorno s book literally although he never meant it to be perceived solely in that way. This study focuses on the literal, symbolic, and metaphorical dimensions of The Philosophy of Modern Music. It explains Adorno s cryptical style of writing and reveals how he uses the works of Schoenberg and Stravinsky to discuss kitsch and avant-garde art during the rise of fascism in Germany. It also highlights Adorno s...