What is our place in this world, what part do we play in its drama or the politics of nature? While we live in our tall grasses it is difficult to see the world around us for what it is, difficult to find our path, difficult to know what is beyond the fronds.Is our place determined by god or genetics? Is our place defined by the things we hold around us? Does our place in the world even matter?Life in our

Film and Faith: Modern Cinema and the Struggle to Believe explores religious themes in contemporary film with a focus on recent depictions of religion’s continuing manifestations in a secularizing age. The contributors are students of philosophy, political theory, and theology; examine religious and philosophical ideas in commercially and artistically important modern films. They offer a scholarly yet accessible considerations of contemporary films exploring the problem of faith i...

Originally published in 1962 and updated in later decades with a new introduction, Ellison Wonderland contains sixteen masterful stories from the author's early career. This collection shows a vibrant young writer with a wide-ranging imagination, ferocious creative energy, devastating wit, and an eye for the wonderful and terrifying and tragic. Among the gems are "All the Sounds of Fear," "The Sky Is Burning," "The Very Last Day of a Good Woman," and "In Lonely Lands." Though they...

This book highlights the complexities of nationalism and the struggles of different groups left unaddressed within the nation-states of a postcolonial world. The central question is what happened to the worldly and radical visions of freedom, liberty, and equality that animated intellectual activists and policy makers from Woodrow Wilson in the 1920s? This book analyzes the outcome of lumping disparate groups of people together under one nation-state and holding them together against the k...

In Violence in the Films of Stephen King, contributors analyze the theme of violence in the film adaptations of Stephen King’s work—ranging from the earliest films in the King canonto his most recent iterations—through a variety of lenses. Investigating the diverse and varying roles that violence continues to play as both the level of violence and the gendered depictions of violence have evolved, many of the contributors come to the conclusion that King’s films have grown more violent over...

A carnivore's love letter to one of the most versatile, affordable and tasty types of meat: pork.After 30 years as a professional chef, Michael Olson knows how to get the most out of his food. These days, he's also a teacher and dinner-maker-in-chief, so he understands what home cooks are looking for when it's time to eat.In Living High Off the Hog, Michael shares his wealth of knowledge and over 100 of his favorite pork recipes. First, he gives yo...

In this lyrical and deeply personal memoir, Michael Charles Olson revisits the burnt beams and smoldering memories of his Pentecostal boyhood—where faith, fire, and fatherhood collide in unexpected ways. Told with humor, heartbreak, and hard-earned wisdom, Daddy Set the Church on Fire is a coming-of-age story set against the rhythm of worship music, the scent of burnt pews, and the aching complexity of a son learning to forgive a complicated father.When a late-night blaze destroys ...

In the decades after Reconstruction, African Americans were systematically removed from the electorate in the American South using tools such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Stolen Representation draws on significant amounts of new historical data to explore how these tools of Black disfranchisement shaped state legislative politics in the American South. The book draws on contemporary scholarship to develop theoretical arguments for how disfranchisement plausibly affected roll-call voti...

Addressing core questions about prejudice and stereotyping--their causes, consequences, and how to reduce them--this noted text is now in a thoroughly revised third edition with 50% new material. Written in an engaging, conversational style, the book brings social-psychological theories and research to life with compelling everyday examples. The text explores the personal and societal impacts of different forms of prejudice. Students learn about the cognitive, emotional, m...

The two sides of the brain have different perspectives of the world and they lead us to make very different choices. Olson’s research shows that we need to blend these two for three-dimensional thinking. He discusses how we can tell when we are functioning from our right brain or our left brain.

Christopher, a 5-year-old boy, is getting ready to go to Grandma's for Thanksgiving when he discovers he can't find his shoes. With Ted E.'s help, shoes are found, and he, Ted E., and Mommy head for Grandma's. After greeting the cousins and uncles, Christopher heads to the kitchen. He finds his grandma and aunts preparing the food. As he sees each food he makes up a rhyme to show just how hungry he is. Grandma's repeating assurance lets him know that it will soon be time to eat. The family...

How financial profiteering has reshaped long-term care and jeopardized the well-being of nursing home residents.Nursing homes care for some of the nation's most vulnerable citizens. They are also increasingly controlled by financial actors whose priorities lie far from the bedside. In Financialization of the US Nursing Home Industry, Laura Katz Olson and Michael K. Gusmano examine how for-profit companies—and increasingly private equity firms and real estate invest...