The result of a worldwide effort to assess both the current state of critical understanding of John Steinbeck’s works and the extent of his cultural influenceAs a writer who, beginning in the 1930s, illuminated the lives of ordinary people, Steinbeck came to be the conscience of America. He witnessed and recorded with clarity much of the political and social upheaval of the 20th century: The Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and Vietnam. Yet hi...

The incredible story of Benjamin Franklin’s parting gift to the working-class people of Boston and Philadelphia—a deathbed wager that captures the Founder’s American Dream and his lessons for our current, conflicted age.Benjamin Franklin was not a gambling man. But at the end of his illustrious life, the Founder allowed himself a final wager on the survival of the United States: a gift of two thousand pounds to Boston and Philadelphia, to be lent out to tradesmen o...

Journalist Michael Meyer has spent his adult life in China, first in a small village as a Peace Corps volunteer, the last decade in Beijing--where he has witnessed the extraordinary transformation the country has experienced in that time. For the past two years he has been completely immersed in the ancient city, living on one of its famed hutong in a century-old courtyard home he shares with several families, teaching English at a local elementary school--while all around him "pr...

From the highly praised author of The Last Days of Old Beijing, a brilliant portrait of China today and a memoir of coming of age in a country in transition.In 1995, at the age of twenty-three, Michael Meyer joined the Peace Corps and, after rejecting offers to go to seven other countries, was sent to a tiny town in Sichuan. Knowing nothing about China, or even how to use chopsticks, Meyer wrote Chinese words up and down his arms so he could hold conversat...

Comprehensive and balanced history of the Reform Movement.The movement for religious reform in modern Judaism represents one of the most significant phenomena in Jewish history during the last two hundred years. It introduced new theological conceptions and innovations in liturgy and religious practice that affected millions of Jews, first in central and Western Europe and later in the United States.Today Reform Judaism is one of the three major branches of ...

Providing essential support to schools and universities that offer yoga therapy training programs, this comprehensive, edited textbook develops robust curricula, enabling them to prepare yoga therapists to integrate into healthcare settings safely and effectively.The book includes a large and international list of contributors from diverse lineages and backgrounds such as Matthew Taylor, Gail Parker and Steffany Moonaz, and is the first resource on yoga therapy that aligns with the...

Rechtspopulisten sind in Europa und inzwischen auch in Deutschland massiv auf dem Vormarsch. Sie bedienen sich Ressentiments und vor allem der Ängste der Menschen, um gegen Randgruppen und auch demokratische Strukturen zu hetzen. Dabei verwenden sie auch religiöse Bezüge, die sie pervertieren. Hochkarätige Autoren beleuchten Hintergründe und Entstehungsgeschichte und blicken weiter: Was müssen die Kirchen und religiösen Gemeinschaften tun, um sich nicht zu distanzieren, sondern klar Stellu...

Revised and updated, this long-awaited second edition provides a comprehensive introduction to what the most thoughtful Americans have said about the American experience from the colonial period to the present. The book examines the political thought of the most important American statesmen, activists, and writers across era and ideologies, helping another generation of students, scholars, and citizens to understand more fully the meaning of America.This new second edition of the b...

The Oxford History of Mexico is a narrative history of the events, institutions and characters that have shaped Mexican history from the reign of the Aztecs through the twenty-first century. When the hardcover edition released in 2000, it was praised for both its breadth and depth--all aspects of Mexican history, from religion to technology, ethnicity, ecology and mass media, are analyzed with insight and clarity. Available for the first time in paperback, the History covers every era in t...

Eine Einführung in ethische Kernthemen: elementar – fachlich fundiert – didaktisch erschlossen. Verfasst von den führenden evangelischen und katholischen Religionspädagoginnen und Religionspädagogen des deutschen Sprachraums. Ethische Kernthemen bilden den Inhalt des vierten, komplett neu erarbeiteten Bandes der bewährten Reihe "Theologie für Lehrerinnen und Lehrer". Die Autorinnen und Autoren erschließen anhand von 40 Begriffen zentrale Themenbereiche christlicher Ethik. Die Auswahl orien...

The Cruel and Reparative Possibilities of Failure brings together a variety of scholars and research across disciplines, with an emphasis on communication and gender studies, to work toward reimagining the idea of failure. Contributors consider failure as both a space for growth and repair and as a space from which hope can emerge. The collection is divided into five parts, investigating failure as consumption; failure as media; failure as pedagogy; failure as narrative; and final...

Das Buch "… Weil Gott es so will - Frauen erzählen von ihrer Berufung zur Diakonin und Priesterin" ist innerhalb wie außerhalb der Kirche auf enorme Resonanz gestoßen und hat das Thema Ämter für Frauen in der Kirche erneut in den Fokus der Diskussion gerückt, auch im Synodalen Weg.Das jetzige Buch macht den nächsten Schritt: 100 Männer der Kirche, darunter viele Prominente - Priester, Diakone und Ordensleute, auch eine Reihe Bischöfe - solidarisieren sich mit dem Anliegen der Fraue...