Category Archives: Boston College Authors
Contemporary religion in Latin America
Boston College Associate Professor of Sociology Gustavo Morello, S,J., has spent the past six years trying to understand what the practice of religion looks like in Latin American today. His new book, Lived Religion in Latin America: An Enchanted Modernity … Continue reading
Values, valuing, and evaluating
Much applied research takes place as if complex social problems—and evaluations of interventions to address them—can be dealt with in a purely technical way. In contrast, the groundbreaking book Evaluating and Valuing in Social Research (Guilford Press, 2021) offers an … Continue reading
Reframing Marilynne Robinson’s fiction
The acclaimed novels of Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson—Housekeeping, Gilead, Home, Lila, and Jack—are explored in a new book by Boston College Professor of English Laura Tanner. The Elusive Everyday in the Fiction of Marilynne Robinson (Oxford University Press, 2021) … Continue reading
Magdalene Laundries and the campaign for justice
Between 1922 and 1996, over 10,000 Irish girls and women, specifically unmarried mothers, and those considered promiscuous, sexually abused, and/or a burden to their families or the state, were imprisoned and subjected to forced labor in Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries. The … Continue reading
Exhortation and advice
Francesco Sacchini (1570–1625) was a much-respected rhetorician, biographer, and official historian of the Society of Jesus. At his death, he left behind two essays—The Protrepticon (“exhortation”) and the Paraenesis (“advice”)—valuable, ever-ready resources for those assigned to teach the younger students … Continue reading
Key to student engagement
Education experts Dennis Shirley and Andy Hargreaves have written a new book aimed at educators looking to promote active engagement in the classroom and improve student learning. Based on examples from seven years of research, Five Paths of Student Engagement: … Continue reading
Alliance politics
Accommodative wedge strategy, a form of divisive statecraft and diplomacy designed to isolate adversaries from allies and potential supporters through inducements, is a powerful tool in the international politics arsenal. In his new book, The Power to Divide: Wedge Strategies … Continue reading
Faculty authors honored
Faculty in the Philosophy and Theology departments have been honored for their work by organizations recognizing outstanding Catholic books, magazines, newspapers, and other communications vehicles. The Catholic Media Association (formerly Catholic Press Association) … Continue reading
Spotlight on overlooked books
Writers Elizabeth Graver and Carlo Rotella, both professors in the English Department, have contributed essays to the new book B-Side Books: Essays on Forgotten Favorites (Columbia University Press, 2021). Edited by John Plotz of Brandeis University, B-Side Books pays homage … Continue reading
The end of religious empires and the rise of the modern state
Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and the Modern State (Princeton University Press, 2021), a new book by Boston College Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, explores the surprising similarities in the rise and fall of the Islamic and … Continue reading