The new Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies (Routledge, 2020) explores how Ireland and, by extension, the scholarly approaches to understanding Ireland have been transformed since the global financial crisis of 2008. The volume was edited by BC Ireland Academic Director Mike Cronin, Renée Fox (University of California, Santa Cruz), and Brian Ó Conchubhair (University of Notre Dame). Chapters in the Routledge International Handbook of Irish Studies reflect the myriad ways the discipline of Irish Studies has responded to the economic precarity in the Republic, renewed instability in the North, the complex European politics of Brexit, global climate and pandemic crises, and the intense social change in Ireland. Cronin is also a contributor to the volume along with BC Professor of History Oliver Rafferty, S.J. and alumna Kate Costello-Sullivan.
Studying Ireland, after the 2008 financial crisis
Paul the Apostle
Boston College Professor Emeritus of Theology Harvey Egan, S.J., a renowned expert on Christian mysticism, has released an audio series that illuminates the mysticism of Saint Paul. In The Apostle Paul: Christianity’s Original Mystic, Fr. Egan educates listeners about the apostolic, Christological, Trinitarian, and ecclesiological dimensions of the mysticism of Paul. Paul reinterpreted—in the light of Christ—the Jewish Scriptures in terms of Jesus-Messiah and the Holy Spirit. Fr. Egan shows how much Pauline themes were foundational for later Christian mysticism. Fr. Egan taught at BC for 40 years. He is the author of several books, including Soundings in the Christian Mystical Tradition, Karl Rahner: Mystic of Everyday Life, and An Anthology of Christian Mysticism.
A different kind of Agatha Christie mystery
In 1926, mystery writer Agatha Christie was the focus of a real-life mysterious disapperance–her own. Authorities in England conducted a search for the missing Christie, whose trail included an abandoned car. The author reappeared 11 days later, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away. Boston College alumna Marie Benedict explores those unaccounted-for days in her new historical fiction novel, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie (Sourcebooks Landmark, 2020). Benedict is a bestselling author whose novels have focused on untold stories of women, including Clementine Churchill, Hedy Lamarr, and Albert Einstein’s wife, Mileva Maric. Last month, the Washington Post picked The Mystery of Mrs. Christie as one of its best reads of December, and the pop culture blog PopSugar called Benedict’s book “compelling.”
Consecrated life in today’s world
Boston College alumna Maria Cimperman is a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus whose scholarship is at the intersection of moral theology, social ethics, and spirituality. In her new book, Religious Life For Our World: Creating Communities of Hope (Orbis Books, 2020), Sister Cimperman addresses how congregations can adapt to what is being asked of them today by both people and the planet. She explores how God’s call, the needs of the world, and the charisms of consecrated life can come together in a way that dynamically engages the vows, prayer, community, and ministry for today’s world. Sr. Cimperman is an associate professor of theological ethics at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and director of CTU’s Center for the Study of Consecrated Life. Her other publications include Social Analysis for the 21st Century: Faith and Action Toward a Socially Conscious Spirituality and Engaging Our Diversity: Interculturality and Consecrated Life Today, co-edited with Roger Schroeder, SVD.
Alumna’s debut novel is a bestseller
Fifty Words for Rain (Dutton, 2020), a New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, is the debut novel of 2015 Boston College alumna Asha Lemmie. Fifty Words for Rain tells the story of Nori, the daughter of a married Japanese aristocrat and an African American GI, coming of age in post World War II Japan. Abandoned by her mother, Nori is taken in by her grandparents, only to be concealed because she is a threat to their royal pedigree. The sweeping epic spans decades and countries and tackles topics such as love and loss, prejudice, and family ties. Fifty Words for Rain was named a “Best Book of the Month” by Amazon and a “Discover Pick of the Month” by Barnes & Noble. It also was listed on USA Today‘s best-selling books list. Publishers Weekly review: “Sometimes bleak, sometimes hopeful, Lemmie’s heartbreaking story of familial obligations packs an emotional wallop.” Good Morning America interview.
Imagine…
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the murder of legendary musician John Lennon. In a new book, Boston College alumnus Dave Wedge and his frequent co-author Casey Sherman team up with bestselling novelist James Patterson to tell the story of Lennon, from his childhood days to Beatles superstardom to his maturity as an artist, husband, and father. The Last Days of John Lennon (Little Brown and Co., 2020) includes exclusive interviews with Lennon’s friends and associates, including Paul McCartney. According to the publisher: “The Last Days of John Lennon is the thrilling true story of two men who changed history: One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day—and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.” WBUR interview.Poetry from Brendan Galvin
Partway to Geophany (LSU Press, 2020) is the newest collection from acclaimed poet and Boston College alumnus Brendan Galvin. As a naturalist and environmentalist, Galvin’s poems celebrate the wildlife and landscape, particularly of his beloved Cape Cod. In Partway to Geophany, Galvin also reflects on the passage of time and love and loss. From the publisher: “His masterful use of the narrative lyric produces poems of great mystery and intimacy, in tones varying from grave to playful, as he reflects on the cruelties of time and the pleasures of being alive.” Galvin is the author of 18 poetry collections, including Habitat: New and Selected Poems, 1965–2005, a finalist for the National Book Award. In 2015, Galvin was the cover story for Boston College Magazine.
Super polluters
Award-winning BC environmental sociologist Andrew Jorgenson and colleagues Don Grant (University of Colorado Boulder) and Wesley Longhofer (Emory University) have published a groundbreaking global analysis of approximately 20,000 fossil-fueled power plants across more than 160 countries. In Super Polluters: Tackling the World’s Largest Sites of Climate-Disrupting Emissions (Columbia University Press, 2020), the researchers identify the conditions connected to the most egregious polluters in the energy generating sector and suggest that a focus on these super polluters could be an effective approach to reducing overall net carbon emissions. Jorgenson is a professor and chair of sociology and professor of environmental studies. He was awarded the 2020 Fred Buttel Distinguished Contribution Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Environmental Sociology. Read an interview with Jorgenson on BC News.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged energy, Environmental Studies, pollution, research, Sociology Department
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A case for identity in Ezekiel
In his new book Ezekiel, Law, and Judahite Identity (Mohr Siebeck, 2020), Boston College alumnus Joel B. Kemp highlights how the book of Ezekiel uses legal elements to advocate for the reconfiguration of a Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian dominance. The consistent presence of juridical diction, legal metaphors, and courtroom imagery reveals that Ezekiel 1-33 is set within a precise juridical framework. Kemp argues that focusing upon these legal elements provides greater clarity and coherence to some passages within Ezekiel 1-33 and articulates a version of Judahite identity under Neo-Babylonian hegemony. Kemp, who earned a doctorate in Biblical studies from BC’s Theology Department, is an assistant professor of Hebrew Bible at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
Minnesota murder mystery
In the latest mystery written by Boston College alumna Priscilla Paton, police detectives Erik Jansson and Deb Metzger work to solve the murder of Dan Routh, a man who rescued trafficked teen addicts from a vindictive crime boss, but was also an alcoholic and disgraced ex-cop. Kirkus Reviews calls Should Grace Fail (Epicenter Press/Coffeetown, 2020) “an ambitious mystery that tackles heavy themes, such as the darkness of addiction and the fragility of human existence.” Detectives Jansson and Metzger were first introduced to readers in Paton’s whodunit Where Privacy Dies.
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