IWU Authors Bookshelf

The Illinois Wesleyan University Authors Bookshelf collection represents the breadth of research and scholarship produced by faculty from nearly all departments, programs and schools on campus.

Printing is not supported at the primary Gallery Thumbnail page. Please first navigate to a specific Image before printing.

Switch View to Grid View Slideshow

At Quarry Farm

James Plath

From the press release, linked above:

"Although my project (as a Quarry Farm Fellow) was to do research for an essay on how Twain modeled being a professional writer for both Hemingway and Updike, I found myself captivated by the house, its objects and its spirits,” said Plath. “I felt compelled not only to do the research I was there to do, but also to write creatively about the house and its former inhabitants. If I hadn’t done so, it would have been an opportunity lost." (James Plath)
Guiding God's Marriage Faith and Social Change in Premarital Counseling

Courtney Ann Irby

From the publisher's website:

"It is well-known that the institution of marriage has changed dramatically in the past few decades. However, very little research has focused on the role of religious institutions in helping couples form and maintain their relationships.

Guiding God’s Marriage offers an examination of Christian marriage preparation programs, exploring their efforts to stabilize the institution of marriage and highlighting the tension between individualism and community in people’s relational lives. Marriage preparation programs offer a useful lens through which to trace shifts in both religious and family institutions because they set out clear and intentional articulations of marriage ideologies and gendered relationship scripts by faith communities. By documenting the changes in content and practices of Christian premarital education along with its advice regarding what makes a good marriage, the book charts the ways that religious communities have been transformed by and have helped to contribute to the individualization of faith and relationships.

Featuring archival research as well as first hand observations of four marriage preparation courses—two Protestant and two Catholic—along with seventy interviews with participating couples and leaders of these and other programs, the book offers a rare view of visions about how to realize a successful and faith-filled relationship. This examination of marriage classes offers key insight into how religious communities have responded to cultural changes in marriage, gender, sexuality, and intimacy."
San Sebastian 1911

Robert Irons

From the publisher's website:

"The international tournament held in San Sebastian, Spain in 1911 is one of the legendary chess tournaments of all time. Of the top ten players in the world at that time, only Emanuel Lasker was missing; he was getting married.

This remarkable book has all 105 games played, and each one is annotated. Rounds are introduced with an overview of the results and the significance of game. Based on the original work in German by Jacque Mieses, other contemporary sources are also used to give the reader the complete picture and feel of the tournament. And Andy Soltis’s Foreword gives historical depth to the competition and its participants.

"San Sebastian 1911 is one of the most influential tournaments in history. It prompted other organizers to try to get the world’s top ten players. It introduced “hospitality” and the financial basis for the careers of professional players. And it firmly established Capablanca’s claim to be a future world champion." – From the Foreword by Andy Soltis

Capa stepped onto the world stage in this powerful event and demonstrated beyond any doubt that he would be someone to be reckoned with. And now you are invited to follow the rise of the young Cuban in his dazzling debut, as he does battle with some of the strongest players of the era. The momentous tournament of San Sebastion 1911 is now available in English, in a fine, hard cover edition."
Arte de cocina, pastelería, vizcochería y conservería [The art of cooking, pie making, pastry making and preserving]

Carolyn Nadeau

From the publisher's website:

"Taking readers back to the Spanish Habsburg court, this critical edition and translation of Arte de cocina presents a nuanced understanding of what foods were prepared and consumed during a monumental time in Spain’s culinary history.

In 1611 Francisco Martínez Montiño, chef to Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV of Spain, published what would become the most recognized Spanish cookbook for centuries: Arte de cocina, pastelería, vizcochería y conservería. This first English translation of The Art of Cooking, Pie Making, Pastry Making, and Preserving will delight and surprise readers with the rich array of ingredients and techniques found in the early modern kitchen.

Based on her substantial research and hands-on experimentation, Carolyn A. Nadeau reveals how early cookbooks were organized and read and presents an in-depth analysis of the ingredients featured in the book. She also introduces Martínez Montiño and his contributions to culinary history, and provides an assessment of taste at court and an explanation of regional, ethnic, and international foodstuffs and recipes. The 506 recipes and treatises reproduced in The Art of Cooking, Pie Making, Pastry Making, and Preserving outline everything from rules for kitchen cleanliness to abstinence foods to seasonal banquet menus, providing insight into why this cookbook, penned by the chef of kings, stayed in production for centuries."
40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology

Joanne Diaz

From the publisher's website:

"40 Short Stories offers a diverse selection of classic and contemporary short fiction for a low price. This book's compact size, low price, and versatility make it an ideal anthology for a variety of courses, including introduction to fiction, creative writing, introduction to literature, or literature-based composition. Stories are arranged chronologically to help students trace the evolution of the short story genre, with brief biographical headnotes providing historical contexts. A critical apparatus on reading and writing precedes the stories, helping students develop the skills they need to engage with and closely read the stories. This edition adds stories by celebrated contemporary writers Carmen Maria Machado, Jamil Jan Kochai, Rebecca Roanhorse, and more." Co-edited with Beverly Lawn.
Thunder in the Soul: To Be Known By God

Robert Erlewine

The book explores the life and philosophy the great American rabbi and civil rights leader Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Medicare and Medicaid: A Reference Handbook

Greg Shaw

Professor of Political Science Greg Shaw takes on the behemoth question of how to pay for healthcare in the United States in a new book titled Medicare and Medicaid: A Reference Handbook (ABC-CLIO, Contemporary World Issues). Shaw charts the history of Medicare and Medicaid since 1965, examining strengths, shortcomings and major controversies at an introductory level targeted at high school and college students, as well as the general public.
The Saints and the State: The Mormon Troubles in Illinois

James Simeone

From the publisher's website:

"A compelling history of the 1846 Mormon expulsion from Illinois that exemplifies the limits of American democracy and religious tolerance. When members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as Mormons) settled in Illinois in 1839, they had been persecuted for their beliefs from Ohio to Missouri. Illinoisans viewed themselves as religiously tolerant egalitarians and initially welcomed the Mormons to their state. However, non-Mormon locals who valued competitive individualism perceived the saints‘ western Illinois settlement, Nauvoo, as a theocracy with too much political power. Amid escalating tensions in 1844, anti-Mormon vigilantes assassinated church founder Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. Two years later, the state expelled the saints. Illinois rejected the Mormons not for their religion, but rather for their effort to create a self-governing state in Nauvoo. Mormons put the essential aspirations of American liberal democracy to the test in Illinois. The saints’ inward group focus and their decision to live together in Nauvoo highlight the challenges strong group consciousness and attachment pose to democratic governance. The Saints and the State narrates this tragic story as an epic failure of governance and shows how the conflicting demands of fairness to the Mormons and accountability to Illinois’s majority became incompatible."
Hans Christian Andersen in Russia

Marina Balina, Mads Sohl Jessen, Ben Hellman, and Johs. Nørregaard Frandsen

From Amazon: Hans Christian Andersen’s longstanding canonical status among his Russian readers is owed specifically to his fairy tales. For the nearly two centuries of their presence in Russian culture, these stories have become an organic part of the cultural memory of generations of readers, his texts constituting a particular cultural code that is employed in various artistic fields. The scholars involved in the “Andersen in Russia” project, whose works are published here, aimed to analyze the cultural code of Russian Anderseniana. They have explored specifically the legacy of Andersen’s fairy tales, which has influenced the most diverse spheres of Russian culture: literature, literary criticism, music, film, theater, various media forms, and the art of illustration.
Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind

Ellen Furlong

Read by the author, this audiobook takes listeners on a deep dive into the minds of dogs. As listeners learn about the canine brain, they also gain a deeper understanding of canine feelings and thoughts.

Part of the Great Courses series from audible.com
Critical Insights: Conspiracies

James Plath

From the publisher's website:

"This volume explores touchstone moments in conspiracy fiction -- in film as well as in classic and popular works -- and delves into the socio-political aspects of conspiracies while examining them at the heart of some of the most beloved canonical literature in English.

Widespread or limited, motivated by individual benefit or public betterment, conspiracies -- and the secrecy, plotting, and unlawfulness that accompany them -- have played a prominent role in human interaction and are featured in literature from the Bible to Shakespeare to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.

This volume, like all others in the Critical Insights series, is divided into several sections. It begins with an introductory piece, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Conspiracy,”—an allusion to the Declaration of Independence—by editor James Plath, which introduces the topic of conspiracies and conspiracy theories within the broader contexts of history, politics, psychology, literature, and American life."
Hindu Kingship Rituals: Power Relation and Historical Evolution

Nawaraj Chaulagain

In recent decades, Nepal has witnessed a dramatic shift from its ancient form of Hindu kingship to a federal republican democratic secular order, with the official dissolution of monarchy in 2008. This study deals with the religious lives of the Śāh kings of Nepal, concentrating on such major rituals as the “coronation” (rājyābhiṣeka) and the autumnal navarātri (Goddess-centered) festival. This study unravels how religion and politics were deeply intertwined in the ritual activities, and how the rituals, in their traditional deeply religious and devotional settings, exerted a maximum of socio-political powers for the king and his institutions.
Mathematical Physics in Theoretical Chemistry

James House and S. M. Blinder

Mathematical Physics in Theoretical Chemistry deals with important topics in theoretical and computational chemistry. Topics covered include density functional theory, computational methods in biological chemistry, and Hartree-Fock methods. As the second volume in the Developments in Physical & Theoretical Chemistry series, this volume further highlights the major advances and developments in research, also serving as a basis for advanced study.
The 100 Greatest Literary Characters

James Plath

From the publisher's website:

"Huckleberry Finn, Anna Karenina, Harry Potter, Hester Prynne . . . these are just a handful of remarkable characters found in literature, but of course the list is virtually endless! But why ponder which of these creations are the greatest? More than just a topic to debate with friends, the greatest characters from fiction help readers comprehend history, culture, politics, and even their own place in today’s world. Despite our reliance on television, film, and technology, it is literature’s great characters that create and reinforce popular culture, informing us again and again about society and ourselves.

In The 100 Greatest Literary Characters, James Plath, Gail Sinclair, and Kirk Curnutt identify the most significant figures in fiction published over the past several centuries. The characters profiled here represent a wide array of storytelling, and the authors explore the significance of the figures at the time they were created as well as their relevance today. Included in this volume are characters from literature produced around the world, such as Aladdin, James Bond, Holden Caulfield, Jay Gatsby, Hercule Poirot, Don Quixote, Lisbeth Salander, Ebenezer Scrooge, Jean Valjean, and John Yossarian.

Readers will find their beloved literary figures, learn about forgotten gems, or discover deserving choices pulled from history’s dustbin. Providing insights into how literature shapes and molds culture via these fabricated figures, The 100 Greatest Literary Characters will appeal to literature lovers around the globe."
The 100 Greatest Literary Characters

James Plath, Gail Sinclair, and Kirk Curnutt

In The 100 Greatest Literary Characters, James Plath, Gail Sinclair, and Kirk Curnutt identify the most significant figures in fiction published over the past several centuries. The characters profiled here represent a wide array of storytelling, and the authors explore the significance of the figures at the time they were created as well as their relevance today. Included in this volume are characters from literature produced around the world, such as Aladdin, James Bond, Holden Caulfield, Jay Gatsby, Hercule Poirot, Don Quixote, Lisbeth Salander, Ebenezer Scrooge, Jean Valjean, and John Yossarian.
A Critical Companion to English Mappae Mundi of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries

Dan Terkla and Nick Millea

This volume provides a comprehensive Companion to the seven most significant English mappae mundi. It begins with a survey of the maps' materials, types, shapes, sources, contents, conventions, idiosyncrasies, commissioners and users, moving on to locate the maps' creation and use in the realms of medieval rhetoric, Victorine memory theory and clerical pedagogy. It also establishes the shared history of map and book making, and demonstrates how pre-and post-Conquest monastic libraries in Britain fostered and fed their complementary relationship. A chapter is then devoted to each individual map. An annotated bibliography of multilingual resources completes the volume.
Keats's Negative Capability: New Origins and Afterlives

Michael Theune and Brian Rejack

In late December 1817, when attempting to name "what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature," John Keats coined the term "negative capability," which he glossed as "being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason." Since then negative capability has continued to shape assessments of and responses to Keats's work, while also surfacing in other contexts ranging from contemporary poetry to punk rock. The essays collected in this volume, taken as a whole, account for some of the history of negative capability, and propose new models and directions for its future in scholarly and popular discourse.

From Amazon.com
Colorblind Racism

Meghan Burke

From the publisher:

Drawing on a range of theoretical approaches and real-life examples, Meghan Burke reveals colorblind racism to be an insidious presence in many areas of institutional and everyday life in the United States. She explains what is meant by colorblind racism, uncovers its role in the history of racial discrimination, and explores its effects on how we talk about and treat race today. The book also engages with recent critiques of colorblind racism to show the limitations of this framework and how a deeper, more careful study of colorblindness is needed to understand the persistence of racism and how it may be challenged.
Physical Chemistry of Gas-Liquid Interfaces

James House and Jennifer Faust

Physical Chemistry of Gas-Liquid Interfaces, the first volume in the Developments in Physical & Theoretical Chemistry series, addresses the physical chemistry of gas transport and reactions across liquid surfaces. Gas–liquid interfaces are all around us, especially within atmospheric systems such as sea spry aerosols, cloud droplets, and the surface of the ocean. Because the reaction environment at liquid surfaces is completely unlike bulk gas or bulk liquid, chemists must readjust their conceptual framework when entering this field. This book provides the necessary background in thermodynamics and computational and experimental techniques for scientists to obtain a thorough understanding of the physical chemistry of liquid surfaces in complex, real-world environments.
Affect Theory and Comparative Education Discourse: Essays on Fear and Loathing in Response to Global Educational Policy and Practice

Irving Epstein

What does educational policy-making and institutional practice entail in an era of globalization? Global interactions challenge conventional assumptions governing the certainty of geographical boundedness; simplistic notions of citizenship and identity; fixed notions of time, space and movement, and clear distinctions between economic modes of production and consumption.

Irving Epstein argues that conventional educational institutions and the policies that support them tend to ignore such anxiety by affirming a belief in educational modernism to the exclusion of other possibilities. What is missing in most of these analyses is an appreciation for the role of affect in determining how our encounters with these practices become significant and how our efforts to find meaning in those policies and practices lead to their acceptance or rejection.

This book is the first application of affect theory to comparative education themes and shows how it can help to form a more robust discussion of the policy-making process and the popular reactions to it. After discussing the key concepts associated with affect theory, he presents a total of six case studies. Three of the cases depict relationships between educational, cultural, and social organizations whose purposes conflict with one another but whose presence is indicative of a loss of faith in the efficacy of public schooling. Three of the cases are illustrative of an even greater systematic rejection of educational institutional aim and purpose.
Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories about Faith and Politics

Todd N. Fuist, Ruth Braunstein, and Rhys H. Williams

The authors have compiled a series of 15 chapters following the work of liberal religious groups and movements, and the unique challenges they face in spreading messages that straddle the preconceived gap between the right and left when it comes to religion.
Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian: Case Studies and Best Practices

Merinda Kaye Hensley and Stephanie Davis-Kahl

Undergraduate research is often conflated with standard end-of-semester research papers, featuring APA style bibliographies and a certain number of sources. But in fact, undergraduate research is one of several high-impact educational practices identified by George Kuh and the Association of American Colleges & Universities, and is increasingly seen as a vital part of the undergraduate experience. Research helps students connect the dots between their interests, general education courses, writing requirements, and major coursework, and increases learning, retention, enrollment in graduate education, and engagement in future work.

In 25 chapters featuring 60 expert contributors, Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian examines how the structures that undergird undergraduate research, such as the library, can become part of the core infrastructure of the undergraduate experience. It explores the strategic new services and cross-departmental collaborations academic libraries are creating to support research: publishing services, such as institutional repositories and undergraduate research journals; data services; copyright services; poster printing and design; specialized space; digital scholarship services; awards; and much more. These programs can be from any discipline, can be interdisciplinary, can be any high-impact format, and can reflect upon an institution’s own history, traditions, and tensions.

As higher education becomes more competitive—for dollars, for students, for grant money, for resources in general—institutions will need to increase their development of programs that provide the experiential and deep learning, and increased engagement, that research provides. The scholarly and extracurricular experiences of college are increasingly becoming a major part of marketing college education. Beyond the one-shot, beyond course-integrated instruction, Undergraduate Research and the Academic Librarian is a detailed guide to how librarians can help students go beyond a foundation of information literacy toward advanced research and information management skills.

This book is available as an Open Access Edition.
Self, Other, and Context in Early Modern Spain : Studies in Honor of Howard Mancing

Carolyn A. Nadeau, Isabel Jaén, and Julien Jacques Simon

From Amazon.com:

This collection of articles from an all-star cast of Hispanists is divided into three sections: I. Cognitive Literary Studies, II. The Human Body and the Mind, and III. Author and Protagonist: Inside the Mind of a Genius. This volume, in honor of Howard Mancing, is number 49 in Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic Monograph's Homenaje series.
Everything Shapes Itself to the Sea

James Plath

A collection of poetry inspired by the author's time living and working in the Caribbean during 1995.
The Dysfunctional Politics of the Affordable Care Act

Greg Shaw

In The Dysfunctional Politics of the Affordable Care Act, Professor Greg Shaw examines the Affordable Care Act, and offers a new understanding of lawmakers’ motivations in crafting the legislation. The book also provides suggestions on how to improve dialogue as our society grapples with issues surrounding health care costs, quality and access.