Iconic images of medieval pilgrims, such as Chaucer’s making their laborious way to Canterbury, conjure a distant time when faith was the only refuge of the ill and infirm, and thousands traveled great distances to pray for healing. Why, then, in an age of advanced biotechnology and medicine, do millions still go on pilgrimages? Why do journeys to important religious shrines—such as Lourdes, Compostela, Fátima, and Medjugorje—constitute a major industry? In Miracle Cures, Robert A...

The disability of blindness is a learned social role. The various attitudes and patterns of behavior that characterize people who are blind are not inherent in their condition but, rather, are acquired through ordinary processes of social learning. The Making of Blind Men is intended as a systematic and integrated overview of the blindness problem in America. Dr. Scott chronicles which aspects of this problem are being dealt with by organizations for the blind and the effectiveness of this...

A completely updated guide to helping university trustees become effective stewards of their institutions.Boards of trustees hold immense responsibility in guiding the future of colleges and universities. They hire and fire presidents, approve and monitor strategy, oversee finances, and safeguard institutional missions and autonomy. Yet many trustees enter this role with limited understanding of the distinct culture, structure, and values of the academic institutio...

It was the fall of 1940, and Americans turned to college football for relief from the turbulent world around them. The Depression still had its grip on the nation and, across the Atlantic, the Battle of Britain raged. As war crept closer every day, the nations first peacetime draft called Americans to the defense of the country. While the great Tom Harmon of Michigan set new standards on the gridiron, on other fields black stars struggled for the right to play. At Stanford, coaching genius...

The great Gothic cathedrals of Europe are among the most astonishing achievements of Western culture. Evoking feelings of awe and humility, they make us want to understand what inspired the people who had the audacity to build them. This engrossing book surveys an era that has fired the historical imagination for centuries. In it Robert A. Scott explores why medieval people built Gothic cathedrals, how they built them, what conception of the divine lay behind their creation, and how religi...

In Why We Remain Jews, Dr. Vladimir Tsesis describes the path he traversed from religious ignorance to strong belief in the Jewish religion. Tsesis assigns a special place to the proof of his conclusion that religion and science—especially in light of recent discoveries—are not antagonists but are in fact in complete harmony, supplementing and not excluding each other. In the spirit of ecumenism, Tsesis speaks about coexistence of different religions, which share the common object...

With the beautiful red pointe shoe of On Thin Ice, cover artist Ann-Marie Brown offers this issue’s poignant opening act. Just as a dancer en pointe appears weightless, suspended in a moment of grace, so too do our authors, balancing the weight of beauty and sorrow.Blood and booze set the stage in ‘Wrap Party’ as featured author AM Dellamonica takes us behind the scenes of community theatre.It’s turtles all the way down as ...

A year ago, Tyrone "Ty" Pendleton connected with Kendra "Kiki" Simmons due to their friends' dilemma. They shared months of hot passion that neither will ever forget. An emotional difference of opinion created a rift the couple could not overcome.Proud and stubborn, literary agent Kiki moved to New York to work with her father's publishing company and to put distance between her and the man who controls her heart. Successful entertainment agent Ty accepted Kiki's decision to walk a...

With the beautiful red pointe shoe of On Thin Ice, cover artist Ann-Marie Brown offers this issue’s poignant opening act. Just as a dancer en pointe appears weightless, suspended in a moment of grace, so too do our authors, balancing the weight of beauty and sorrow.Blood and booze set the stage in ‘Wrap Party’ as featured author AM Dellamonica takes us behind the scenes of community theatre.It’s turtles all the way down as ...

The book provides a comprehensive discussion of the major issues and events surrounding all American presidential elections, from the earliest years of the Republic through the campaign of 2008.Presidential Campaigns, Slogans, Issues, and Platforms: The Complete Encyclopedia is an easy-to-use reference work designed to encourage students and anyone interested in democratic politics to undertake a greater understanding of this complex aspect of American pol...

Our brain is the source of everything that makes us human: language, creativity, rationality, emotion, communication, culture, politics. The neurosciences have given us, in recent decades, fundamental new insights into how the brain works and what that means for how we see ourselves as individuals and as communities. Now – with the help of new advances in nanotechnology – brain science proposes to go further: to study its molecular foundations, to repair brain functions, to create mind-mac...

Cofounder of The Carlyle Group, patriotic philanthropist, and bestselling author of The American Experiment David M. Rubenstein takes readers on a sweeping journey across the grand arc of the American story through revealing conversations with our greatest historians.In these lively dialogues, the biggest names in American history explore the subjects they’ve come to so intimately know and understand.- David McCullough on John Adam...