In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the internal migration of a growing population transformed Britain into a “society of strangers.” The coming and going of so many people wreaked havoc on the institutions through which Britons had previously addressed questions of collective responsibility. In her new book, Trust Among Strangers: Friendly Societies in Modern Britain (Cambridge University Press, 2018), Cooney Family Assistant Professor of History Penelope Ismay re-centers problems of trust in the making of modern Britain. In this groundbreaking account, she examines the ways in which upper-class reformers and working-class laborers fashioned and refashioned the concept and practice of friendly society to make promises of collective responsibility effective – even among strangers. Read an essay drawn and adapted from Trust Among Strangers in the fall issue of Boston College Magazine.
A matter of trust
A Jesuit Cossack
Before assuming the presidency of Boston College in 1932, Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., spent 15 months on a mission of danger and diplomacy in Russia. His adventure is recounted in the newly published memoir A Jesuit Cossack: A Memoir by Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., edited by retired University Secretary and Jesuit Community rector Joseph P. Duffy, S.J. Fr. Gallagher served as an assistant to the director of the Papal Relief Mission, helping to distribute food, clothing, and medicine in famine-stricken Russia. He also was a diplomatic courier—for both the Soviet government and the Vatican—bringing the remains of then-Blessed Andrew Bobola (later canonized by Pope Pius XI) from Moscow to Rome. Read more from BC News.
Understanding taxation
The sixth edition of Partnership Income Taxation (Foundation Press), co-authored by BC Law’s William J. Kenealy, S.J. Professor James Repetti, William H. Lyons, and Charlene D. Luke, has been published. The text is described as an accessible introduction to an intricate body of law, with 145 examples illustrating key principles. Focused on simple partnerships holding few assets and engaging in routine transactions, Partnership Income Taxation is designed to help students begin to understand and work with a statute that was drafted for (and by) experienced practitioners. Repetti was one of six “master teachers” profiled by Boston College Magazine in 2011.
Saint Alberto Hurtado, S.J.
Saint Alberto Hurtado (1901-1952), a Jesuit priest from Chile who ministered to the poor, is highly regarded in Latin America, but less well-known in the English-speaking world. BC Law Professor Scott FitzGibbon and BC Law alumna Fernanda Soza hope to bring St. Hurtado’s prophetic voice to a wider audience with their new publication, Social Morality. Saint Alberto Hurtado, S.J. (Convivium Press, 2018). Edited by FitzGibbon and Soza, Social Morality. Saint Alberto Hurtado, S.J., is the first English translation of St. Hurtado’s posthumously published work, originally published in Spanish some 50 years after his death. This annotated translation features introductory comments and more than 600 footnotes. FitzGibbon and Soza’s publication was showcased at an international conference organized earlier this semester by BC Law and the School of Theology and Ministry on “Catholic Social Thought in the Era of Pope Francis: Roots in the Work of Saint Alberto Hurtado.”
Posted in Alumni Authors, Boston College Authors
Tagged Boston College Law School, Jesuit, Latin America, saint
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In conversation with Emma Donoghue
Bestselling author Emma Donoghue will talk about her writing with Burns Visiting Scholar of Irish Studies Ciaran O’Neill on Dec. 1. The event, which will be held in Devlin Hall, room 101, from 4:45 to 6 p.m. is supported by the Thomas J. Flatley fund. Donoghue is the writer of the novel Room and the Oscar-nominated screenplay for the motion picture of the same name. Room was an international bestseller and a finalist for the Man Booker, Commonwealth, and Orange prizes. Her most recent work, The Wonder, is a historical novel inspired by the stories of Victorian era “fasting girls.” She is adapting The Wonder into a feature film.
Posted in Guest Authors
Tagged Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies, Irish, novelist
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Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
Professor Boris Lanin of the Russian Academy of Education, Moscow will present “Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: Why Do Russian Secondary School Students Read and Study Them?” on Nov. 29 at 3 p.m. in Lyons Hall, room 207. A scholar of Russian-Jewish literature, Lanin is a leading literary historian and author of a series of widely used literature textbooks for middle and high school. He has given invited talks at universities and research centers across the U.S., and in Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Israel and Russia. Sponsors: Department of Slavic and Eastern Languages and Literatures, East European Studies Program, and the Heinz Bluhm Memorial Lectures Fund.
Posted in Guest Authors
Tagged literature, Russia, Slavic and Eastern Languages Dept
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Book launch: God in the Qur’an
The Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College is hosting a book launch event on Nov. 28 at noon for God in the Qur’an (Knopf, 2018) by Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Miles, who holds the 2018-19 Corcoran Visiting Professorship in Christian-Jewish Relations at BC. Miles is a well-known religious scholar whose writings have appeared in The Atlantic, New York Times, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. His new book offers a portrait of the God of Islam, the world’s second largest religion. Miles is also the author of God: A Biography, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996 and has been translated into 16 languages, and Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. Miles is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English & Religious Studies at the University of California/Irvine and a recipient of both Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships. This event, which is free and open the public, will be held in McElroy Commons, Room 237. Email cjlearning@bc.edu to register.
Harold Petersen
Harold Petersen, a retired associate professor of economics, taught at Boston College from 1960 to 2016. He has published a personal reflection of his journey through BC and also the journey of BC as seen through his eyes. 56 Years: Two Journeys: How a Lutheran became Ignatian in his Years at Boston College and how Boston College stayed Ignatian as it Grew offers Petersen’s account of the University from its days as a commuter school, through a financial crisis, to its emergence as an international university still very much committed to its Catholic and Jesuit heritage. A highly regarded professor, Petersen was recognized with the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award from BC’s PBK chapter in 2014.
Practitioners and academics
What is the optimal mixture of real-world experience and scholarly research that produces the best educational preparation for business students? The sharp divide between practitioners and academics that once existed has been largely erased, but there is still much progress to be made in the arena of scholarly engagement within the world of business education. In their book, Academic-Practitioner Relationships: Developments, Complexities and Opportunities (Routledge, 2017), editors Jean Bartunek of the Boston College Carroll School of Management and Jane McKenzie of the Henley Business School at the University of Reading, UK, highlight the sorts of capabilities academics need to collaborate effectively with practitioners and illustrate case studies that demonstrate how successful academic-practitioner relationships can produce research of rigor and relevance. Bartunek is the Robert A. and Evelyn J. Ferris Professor of Management and Organization and a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart, a women’s Roman Catholic religious order. Carroll School Professor Sandra Waddock, the Galligan Chair of Strategy, and Professor Richard Nielsen are contributors to the volume. Bartunek discussed the book in this BC Libraries video.
Posted in Boston College Authors
Tagged business schools, Carroll School of Management, research
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Engaging first-gen college students
Digital tools can help ensure the academic success of students who are first in their families to go to college, according to a new book co-authored by BC Lynch School of Education Associate Professor Heather Rowan-Kenyon, Lynch School of Education Professor and Associate Dean Ana M. Martinez Alemán, and BC grad Mandy Savitz-Romer of Harvard University. Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students (Rutgers University Press, 2018) is based on a four-year study of how first-gen college students use web technology, including social media sites, to improve their transition to and engagement with their university. Students were better able to maintain close ties with family and friends from home, as well as engage more with social and academic programs at their university. Technology and Engagement is the recipient of the Association for the Study of Higher Education Outstanding Book Award for 2018. The authors discussed their book in a BC Libraries video and wrote an opinion piece outlining digital strategies higher education faculty and administrators for Inside Higher Ed.
BC Bookmarks 