Place your bets
In her memoir, Lay the Favorite, Beth Raymer tells the story of her years in the high-stakes, high-anxiety world of sports betting. She will speak on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. in Devlin Hall, room 101. The movie adaptation of the book, starring Bruce Willis, is slated to be released in 2012. Sponsor: Lowell Humanities Lecture Series
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
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The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan
On Oct. 27, Gerard Magliocca, author of The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash, will take part in a panel discussion on his book with BC Associate Professor of Political Science Ken Kersch, director of the Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy at Boston College; Professor Michael Kazin of Georgetown University, and Professor M. Elizabeth Sanders of Cornell University. The discussion will take place at 4:30 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 100. Magliocca is the Samuel R. Rosen Professor at Indiana University School of Law. Sponsor: Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy
Wave: a poetic journey
Award-winning poet Andrew Sofer, an associate professor in BC’s English Department, will read from his book WAVE, a poetic journey across three national landscapes linked by water, on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 305. Sponsors: English Department and Jewish Studies Program
Humanitarian hero
Eric Greitens, author of The Heart and The Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, The Making of a Navy SEAL, will give a the Chambers Lecture and conduct a book signing on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Murray Room of Yawkey Center. As a U.S. Navy SEAL, Greitens was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia. He is the recipient of several military awards, including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. A Rhodes Scholar and graduate of University of Oxford, his doctoral thesis, Children First, investigated how international humanitarian organizations can best serve war-affected children. He is also author of the award-winning Strength and Compassion, a book of photographs and essays drawn from his humanitarian work in Rwanda, Cambodia, Albania, Mexico, India, the Gaza Strip, Croatia, and Bolivia. He is the CEO of The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that helps returning veterans serve again as a citizen leaders. Sponsor: The Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics
Super Sad True Love Story
Gary Shteyngart, author of the New York Times best-seller Super Sad True Love Story, will speak on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 1oo. Shteyngart was born in Leningrad in 1972 and came to the U.S. seven years later. His first novel, The Russian Debutante’s Handbook, won the Stephen Crane Award for First Fiction and the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction. His second novel, Absurdistan, was named one of the 10 Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. Sponsor: Lowell Humanities Lecture Series
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
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The video gamer and the therapist
A new book by Graduate School of Social Work adjunct faculty member and licensed independent clinical social worker Mike Langlois challenges healthcare providers to rethink how they understand and work with patients who play video games. In Reset: Video Games & Psychotherapy, Langlois casts a psychoanalytic eye on video games, technology and the practice of psychotherapy and has some resounding criticisms of therapists’ often disdainful attitude toward gamers and the video games they love. Using examples from World of Warcraft, Epic Mickey and The Legend of Zelda among others, Langlois shows how understanding video games may not only improve therapists’ ability to treat their patients who play, but improve their clinical and business skills.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged Graduate School of Social Work, technology, teens, video games
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Political evil
The new book Political Evil: What It Is and How to Combat It by Boston College’s Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life Director Alan Wolfe (featured in BC Bookmarks last month) has recently been reviewed by the New York Times; Chronicle of Higher Education and America. Professor Wolfe also talked about his new book on WBUR.
Compelling short stories
A prolific author, Boston College Adjunct Associate Professor of Communication Michael C. Keith has recently published two acclaimed books of short stories. Many of Hoag’s Object‘s 38 tales–of the horrifying, fantastical and other-worldly—deal with mortality. In reviews by other authors, one describes the stories as memorable and affecting; another hails Keith for investing his stories with his unique knowledge of communication and its impact on our lives. Similarly, the 13 “weird, wild, and wonderful” tales in And Through the Trembling Air explore unusual themes in a volume deemed a strange and compelling collection by this consummate storyteller.
Philosopher Maurice Blondel
A biography of French Catholic philosopher Maurice Blondel, authored by Boston College Professor of Philosophy Oliva Blanchette, has been honored with a first place 2011 Catholic Book Award in the category of biography by the Catholic Press Association (CPA) of the US and Canada. The CPA called Maurice Blondel: A Philosophical Life “the first-ever, finest comprehensive, critical examination of the life and thought of Maurice Blondel. It recounts both his biographical history and philosophy, noting how this committed Catholic and critical philosopher engaged the thinkers of his era and had a tremendous impact on twentieth century theology and philosophy.” Blanchette has been on the BC faculty since 1964 and considers Blondel his “intellectual hero.” More
Posted in Awards/Honors, Boston College Authors
Tagged Catholic, Philosophy Department
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