In Touring China: A History of Travel Culture, 1912-1949 (Cornell University Press, 2021), BC Assistant Professor of History Yajun Mo explores how early 20th century Chinese sightseers described the destinations that they visited, and how their travel accounts gave Chinese readers a means to imagine their vast country. When railroad and steamship networks expanded into the coastal regions of China, it propelled many Chinese from the eastern seaboard to its peripheries and beyond. In her book, Mo considers not only overseas travel and voyages across borderlands, but also trips within China. According to the author: On the one hand, via travel and travel writing, the unity of China’s coastal regions, inland provinces, and western frontiers was experienced and reinforced. On the other, travel literature revealed a persistent tension between the aspiration for national unity and the anxiety that China might fall apart. Mo teaches courses on modern China and women’s and gender history. Her research focuses on China’s production of its national image.
Touring China
Deciphering the criminal mind
Armed with scholarly knowledge of sex crimes, victimology, and criminal psychology, as well as research skills, Connell School of Nursing Professor Ann Wolbert Burgess worked alongside FBI agents and helped them to identify, interview, and track down dozens of notoriously violent offenders and serial killers. Her role in the evolution of criminal profiling and her career as pioneering forensic and psychiatric nurse are detailed in the new book, A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind (Hachette Books, 2021), written by Burgess and Steven Matthew Constantine, associate director of marketing and communications at the Connell School of Nursing. Read more in BC News.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged Connell School of Nursing, crime, forensics, serial killers
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Moved by mercy
Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late 20th century and the Catholic Church’s crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear (Broadleaf Books, 2021) shines a light on the quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society—and so much of the Catholic Church—told them to look away. Hidden Mercy author Michael O’Loughlin will talk about and sign copies of his book at a Feb. 3 event co-sponsored by the Boston College Jesuit Institute and Saint Ignatius Church. The event, which begins at 7 p.m. ET, will be held in-person at St. Ignatius Church and will be available via livestream. O’Loughlin is an award-winning journalist and the national correspondent for America Media.
Helping stressed out kids
Kids today are growing up in a world that runs on stress. From bullying, peer pressure, and demanding academic expectations, modern-day kids are often faced with obstacles that can feel insurmountable. In The Stress-Buster Workbook for Kids (PESI Publishing, Inc., 2021), licensed clinical social worker Katie Hurley delivers evidence-based strategies, activities, and scripts to help children navigate the stressors of everyday life, overcome challenges, and build self-confidence. Hurley is a child and adolescent psychotherapist and parenting educator. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1997. Her book is a resource for parents, teachers, therapists, and any other professionals working with kids ages 4–11. Hurley is also the author of the award-winning No More Mean Girls: The Secret to Raising Strong, Confident and Compassionate Girls and The Happy Kids Handbook, among other titles.
Christian ethics in an age of inequality
In Wealth, Virtue, and Moral Luck: Christian Ethics in an Age of Inequality (Georgetown University Press, 2021), Boston College graduate Kate Ward addresses the issue of inequality from the perspective of Christian virtue ethics, arguing that moral luck— or economic status—impedes the ability of both the wealthy and the poor to pursue virtues such as prudence, justice, and temperance, and extreme inequality exacerbates the impact of wealth and poverty on virtue. Ward shows how Christians and Christian communities should respond to the challenges inequality poses to virtue and how a world can be created where all people can pursue and achieve virtue. Ward received a Ph.D. in theological ethics from Boston College and is an assistant professor of theology at Marquette University. Read more in this Q&A from Marquette.
Kelly Brown Douglas on ‘Resurrection Hope’
The Lowell Humanities series presents the Very Reverend Kelly Brown Douglas for a webinar presentation on her new book Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter, followed by a moderated Q&A. The event, cosponsored by Theology Department and the PULSE Program, will be held on February 2 at 7 p.m. (ET). In Resurrection Hope, Douglas reflects on how a “white way of knowing” has come to dominate American identity and even to shape the consciousness of Christians. Douglas is the dean of the Episcopal Divinity School and the Bill and Judith Moyers Chair in Theology at Union Theological Seminary. She also serves as the Canon theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and theologian in residence at Trinity Church Wall Street. She is the author of Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective and Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, among other titles. Registration link and more information.
Posted in Guest Authors, Lowell Humanities Series
Tagged Christianity, racism, Theology Department
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What Makes Education Catholic
In his new book What Makes Education Catholic: Spiritual Foundations (Orbis Books, 2021), internationally renowned religious education expert Thomas Groome offers brief overviews of some of the important voices in the Catholic intellectual tradition and Catholicism with whom he feels Catholic educators should be familiar, such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Ignatius of Loyola, Angela Merici, and Mary Ward. He shows how these foremothers and fathers of Catholic education can ground and shape the spirituality of Catholic educators in today’s postmodern world. Groome is a professor of theology and religious education in the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and founding director of the Ph.D. program in theology and education. “Catholic schools educate from a faith perspective and for a faith perspective,” he said. He added that it doesn’t mean imposing Catholicism on students, but rather “giving access to a faith-inspired education that engages the souls as well as the minds of participants and leans them into a gracious Transcendent Horizon of meaning, purpose, and values, [that] can offer heightened hope for life lived well and for the common good. of all.” Groome is an award-winning author whose other publications include Educating for Life, What Makes Us Catholic, Will There Be Faith?, Faith for the Heart, and a widely-used textbook series. Read more about his latest book from BC News.
Unglamored
Carroll School of Management student Jessie Cheng explores the mental health struggles and entertainment industry pressures faced by pop stars in her new novel, Unglamored. Rose B.D., a young Chinese American singer, seems to have it all. But when symptoms of an eating disorder become too much to ignore, Rose finds herself having to choose between the life she has worked so hard to build and the severe aftermath of neglecting her needs. Cheng’s novel shines a light on the need to have better conversations surrounding mental health and highlights the power of vulnerability, resilience, and meaningful human connection. More from The Heights | Carroll School News.
Moments of illumination along El Camino de Santiago
In a new memoir, Boston College alumna Suzanne Maggio shares the story of her 500-mile trek along the Camino, Spain’s ancient pilgrimage. Although she wasn’t sure exactly what drove her to walk the Camino, Maggio felt the need for a reset as she contemplated the beginning of her 60th year. Estrellas: Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago (Adelaide Books, 2021) relates a journey that extends beyond the month of walking to one that brought Maggio inward to see the vital values of her heart. By writing about a handful of sparkling moments with the people she met along the way, Maggio challenges the reader to appreciate their own constellations of human connection. A licensed clinical social worker, Maggio is also a lecturer at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College. She is the author of The Cardinal Club, a finalist in both the 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and the 2020 IAN Book of the Year.
White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege
Growing up white and middle class, Fr. Daniel P. Horan, O.F.M., was shielded from seeing persistent, pervasive racism, and never thought much about racial justice except for what he read in history books. In the spring and summer of 2020, U.S. cities erupted in protests and racial tensions ran high following several high-profile killings of Black women and men at the hands of white police officers. Like many white Americans, Fr. Horan watched and listened. In his new book, A White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege, (Ave Maria Press, 2021), he shares what he has learned about uncovering and combating racial inequity and shows his fellow white Catholics how to become actively anti-racist and better allies to Black brothers and sisters. Fr. Horan earned a doctorate in systematic theology from the Boston College Theology Department and is the director of the Center for Spirituality and professor of religious studies and theology and philosophy at Saint Mary’s College in Indiana.
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