Writing a book isn’t easy, but faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences produced nearly two-dozen — for the second year in a row. Twenty faculty from the departments of psychology, history, communication studies, English, political science and public administration, computer science, foreign languages and literatures, philosophy, biology, art and art history, criminal justice, theatre and chemistry wrote books on police violence, John Milton, democracy in Bangladesh, addiction, postcommunist theatre and more.
Click through the slideshow using the thumbnails to learn more about each book.
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Frank Amthor, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
“Essentials of Modern Neuroscience”
Published by McGraw Hill, “Essentials of Modern Neuroscience” is a comprehensive guide that delivers the knowledge and insight students need to build their understanding of neuroscience quickly and easily. Divided into two parts and packed with 500 color illustrations, the guide offers a thorough treatment of the basic science of the anatomy and function of the nervous system and nervous system disorders and therapeutics in an engaging, simple-to-understand style.
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Andrew Baer, Ph.D.
Department of History
“Beyond the Usual Beating: The Jon Burge Police Torture Scandal and Social Movements for Police Accountability in Chicago”
“Beyond the Usual Beating,” published by The University of Chicago Press, explores the maligned and long-lasting influence of Chicago police commander Jon Burge, whose decades-long tenure on the Chicago police force was marked by racist, barbaric interrogation methods. For more than 30 years, a shifting coalition including torture survivors, their families, civil rights attorneys and journalists helped to corroborate allegations of violence, free the wrongfully convicted, have Burge fired and incarcerated and win passage of a municipal reparations package. “Beyond the Usual Beating” underscores the relationship between personal bigotry and structural racism in the criminal justice system and the role ordinary people played in holding perpetrators accountable in the face of intransigent local power. Read more from the UAB Reporter.
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William Benoit, Ph.D.
Department of Communication Studies
“The Rise and Fall of Mass Communication”
Published by Peter Lang, “The Rise and Fall of Mass Communication” surveys the aftermath of the splinter among television, print, film and other forms of mass media audiences. Very few modern media products have audiences above 1-2% of the population at any one time. Benoit and co-author Andrew C. Billings advance a new media balkanization theory and neither lament nor embrace the new media landscape, opting instead to pinpoint how we must consider mass communication theories and applications in an era of ubiquitous choice.
“Presidential Campaigns in the Age of Social Media”
“Presidential Campaigns in the Age of Social Media,” also published by Peter Lang, offers content analyses of the 2016 presidential candidate campaign messages from the primary and the general election, examines the use of new and traditional media employed and compares campaign phases, candidates, message forms and analyses of previous presidential campaigns.
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Alison Chapman, Ph.D.
Department of English
“Courts, Jurisdictions, and Law in John Milton and His Contemporaries”
John Milton is widely known as the poet of liberty and freedom, but his commitment to justice often has been overlooked. “Courts, Jurisdictions, and Law in John Milton and His Contemporaries,” published by The University of Chicago Press, provides literary scholars with a working knowledge of the multiple, jostling, real-world legal systems in conflict in 17th century England and brings to light Milton’s use of the various legal systems and vocabularies of the time — natural versus positive law, for example — and the differences between them.
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Akhlaque Haque, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science and Public Administration
“Governance and The Governed: Democracy and Development in Bangladesh”
“Governance and The Governed: Democracy and Development in Bangladesh,” published by The University Press Limited, is a culmination of ideas from the third and fourth International Bangladesh Development Initiative conferences at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013 and 2015. This combination of analytical perspectives and essays dwells on two major areas: politics and government and gender and development.
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Ragib Hasan, Ph.D.
Department of Computer Science
“Amazing Stories of Scientists 3”
In the third volume of “Amazing Stories of Scientists,” Hasan presents 15 more anecdotes of amazing inventions and discoveries and the brilliant scientists behind them, including Robert Goddard, Alfred Nobel, Paul Erdos and Fazlur Khan. Hasan writes about serendipity in discoveries — such as how a dog’s fur helped a scientist discover hook-and-loop fastener Velcro — and stories about how Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr’s wartime invention of spread spectrum frequency hopping is now instrumental in modern mobile and wireless communication, and how Fazlur Khan’s early structural engineering work now enables us to build monolithic skyscrapers.
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Tim Levine, Ph.D.
Department of Communication Studies
“Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception”
“Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception,” published by the University of Alabama Press, recounts a decades-long program of empirical research that culminates in a new theory of deception — truth-default theory, which holds that the content of incoming communication is typically and uncritically accepted as true, and most of the time, this is good, because it allows humans to function socially. And because most deception is enacted by a few prolific liars, so-called truth-bias is not truly a bias.
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John T. Maddox IV, Ph.D.
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
“Challenging the Black Atlantic: The New World Novels of Zapata Olivella and Gonçalves”
Published by Bucknell University Press, “Challenging the Black Atlantic: The New World Novels of Zapata Olivella and Gonçalves” examines how the historical novels of Manuel Zapata Olivella and Ana Maria Gonçalves map journeys from Africa to the Americas in a way that challenges the Black Atlantic paradigm that has become synonymous with cosmopolitan African diaspora studies.
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Kevin McCain, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy
“Epistemic Duties: New Arguments, New Angles”
“Epistemic Duties: New Arguments, New Angles,” published by Routledge, includes original essays written by top epistemologists that address moral, legal and prudential constraints on behavior, epistemic constraints on belief and requirements arising from intellectual considerations alone, plus closely related questions from a variety of new, sometimes unexpected angles.
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Stephen Miller, Ph.D.
Department of History
“Feudalism, venality, and revolution: Provincial assemblies in late-Old Regime France”
Published by Manchester University Press, “Feudalism, venality, and revolution” challenges Alexis de Tocqueville’s influential work on the Old Regime and the French Revolution by showing that, when Louis XVI convened assemblies of landowners in the late 1770s and ’80s to discuss policies needed to resolve the budgetary crisis, he faced widespread opposition from lords and office holders, who upheld inequality on behalf of the nobility and bred the discontent motivating the French Revolution.
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John K. Moore Jr., Ph.D.
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
“Mulatto · Outlaw · Pilgrim · Priest: The Legal Case of José Soller, Accused of Impersonating a Pastor and Other Crimes in Seventeenth-century Spain”
“Mulatto · Outlaw · Pilgrim · Priest: The Legal Case of José Soller, Accused of Impersonating a Pastor and Other Crimes in Seventeenth-century Spain,” published by Brill, is both a critical study and scholarly translation of a legal case from the late 17th century in which the Hapsburg empire brought charges against a man on pilgrimage from Lisbon, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The book illuminates an era of faith and devotion during which religious pilgrims would frequently make long journeys to sacred sites such as Santiago de Compostela, and it gives readers a view of the discrimination and mistreatment faced by Iberians of black African ancestry. Read more at CAS News.
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Greg Pence, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy
“Overcoming Addiction: Seven Imperfect Solutions and the End of America’s Greatest Epidemic”
“Overcoming Addiction: Seven Imperfect Solutions and the End of America’s Greatest Epidemic,” published by Rowman and Littlefield, explores the billion-dollar industry of addiction treatment and proposes a combination of various treatment approaches, from Alcoholics Anonymous to methadone clinics, to provide a more viable framework for long-term solutions. Overcoming Addiction reveals how seemingly contradictory treatment theories must come together to understand and end dangerous substance abuse. Read more in the UAB Reporter.
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Jeffrey Pouncey, Psy.D.
Department of Psychology
“The Anatomy of Psychology: Exploring the Themes of General Psychology”
Published by Kendall Hunt, “The Anatomy of Psychology: Exploring the Themes of General Psychology” addresses the field, science and discipline of psychology from the “macro to the micro.” In contrast to traditional general psychology texts that present the topic from what Pouncey calls the “building blocks to the building,” The Anatomy of Psychology approaches the dimensions and body of psychology from the perspective of an anatomical dissection: exploring and surveying the layers and intrinsic domains of the subject and sets a kind of general psychology discipline dissection table for the researcher, student and intellectually curious toward resecting, excising and studying applications to infrastructure.
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Rob Sorge, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
“Dynamics of Pain”
Pain is one of the most common reasons that people visit their primary care physician and the most common reason people seek treatment in the emergency room. Published by Great River Learning, the “Dynamics of Pain” textbook will take students through the various aspects of pain medicine from basic anatomy and intracellular machinery to clinical conditions and novel treatments, intending to fill the gap in medical knowledge related to pain and provide a resource for those interested in the field on a personal or professional level.
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Kecia Thomas, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
“Diversity Resistance in Organizations”
This new volume revisits diversity resistance 10 years following the first printing, examining its fluidity in workplaces. Contributors provide insight about the motivations to resist diversity and inclusion and offer strategies to prevent and derail resistance and enhance inclusion in organizations. “Diversity Resistance in Organizations,” published by Routledge, functions as a framework for understanding the continuum of exclusion, harassment and discrimination that occurs within organizational settings and the impact upon individual and organizational performance.
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Trygve Tollefsbol, Ph.D., D.O.
Department of Biology
“Epigenetics Methods”
In recent years, the field of epigenetics has grown significantly, driving new understanding of human developmental processes and disease expression and in diagnostics and therapeutics. Methods and technologies have multiplied, resulting in a wide range of approaches and tools researchers might employ. Published by Science Direct, “Epigenetics Methods” offers comprehensive instruction in methods, protocols and experimental approaches applied in field of epigenetics. Throughout 35 chapters, specialists offer step-by-step overviews of methods used to study various epigenetic mechanisms as employed in basic and translational research.
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Noa Turel, Ph.D.
Department of Art and Art History
“Living Pictures: Jan van Eyck and Painting’s First Century”
Published by Yale University Press, “Living Pictures: Jan van Eyck and Painting’s First Century” is a significant new interpretation of the emergence of Western pictorial realism. This book explores Van Eyck’s pivotal work and panels by Rogier van der Weyden and their followers to understand how viewers came to appreciate a world depicted in two dimensions. Through careful examination of primary documents, Turel reveals that paintings were consistently described as au vif: made not “from life” but “into life,” and therefore animation, not representation, drove Van Eyck and his contemporaries.
“Picturing Death 1200–1600”
Published by Brill, “Picturing Death 1200–1600” explores the visual culture of mortality through imagery focused on the themes of death, dying and the afterlife and sheds light on issues that unite the Middle Ages and the Renaissance — periods that often are understood as diametrically opposed. The studies collected in Picturing Death cover a broad visual terrain, from tomb sculpture to painted altarpieces, manuscripts to printed books and minute carved objects to large-scale architecture. Together they evidence the ways that images helped humans understand their own mortality and incorporate the deceased into the communities of the living.
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Sergey Vyazovkin, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry
“Thermal Analysis Kinetics for Understanding Materials Behavior”
Changing the temperature of a substance can stimulate dramatic changes of its state — changes that can be intermolecular and intramolecular in nature. Published by MDPI Books, “Thermal Analysis Kinetics for Understanding Materials Behavior” is a series of papers that reflect recent developments in the field of thermal analysis kinetics and highlight the essential role of the field in understanding the processes responsible for the thermal behavior of various materials.
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Jeff Walker, Ph.D.
Department of Criminal Justice
“Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice”
Published by Jones & Bartlett Learning, the fifth edition of “Statistics in Criminology and Criminal Justice" guides students on ways to collect, organize, record, analyze, interpret and apply statistical information using examples from research projects by the authors, Walker and Sean Maddan, Ph.D.
“Briefs of Leading Cases in Law Enforcement”
The 10th edition of “Briefs of Leading Cases in Law Enforcement,” published by Routledge, offers extensive updates on the leading U.S. Supreme Court cases affecting law enforcement. All cases are briefed in a common format to allow for comparisons among cases and include facts, relevant issues and the court’s decision and reasoning; the significance of each case also is explained, making clear its impact on citizens and law enforcement. The book provides historical and social context for roles in criminal justice and legal guidelines that should be followed in policing activities.
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Vessela Warner, Ph.D.
Department of Theatre
“Staging Postcommunism: Alternative Theatre in Eastern and Central Europe after 1989”
Theatre in Eastern and Central Europe was never the same after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the transition to a postcommunist world, alternative theatre found ways to grapple with political chaos, corruption and aggressive implementation of a market economy. “Staging Postcommunism,”published by the University of Iowa Press, is the first comprehensive examination of alternative theatre in 10 former communist countries. The essays focus on companies and artists that radically changed the language and organization of theatre in the countries formerly known as the Eastern European bloc.
