One of the central challenges to contemporary political philosophy is the apparent impossibility of arriving at any commonly agreed upon “truths.” To understand the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary radical relativism, scholars turn to the sophists of antiquity—the most famous and challenging of whom is Protagoras. In Sophistry and Political Philosophy: Protagoras’ Challenge to Socrates (University of Chicago Press, 2016), Behrakis Professor of Hellenic Political Studies Robert C. Bartlett provides the first close reading of Plato’s two-part presentation of Protagoras. Bartlett’s critical interpretation offers a significant tool for understanding the history of philosophy, and, in tracing Socrates’s response to Protagoras’ teachings, he also builds toward a richer understanding of both ancient sophistry and what Socrates meant by “political philosophy.” He discusses his book with Nina Bogdanovsky of BC Libraries.
Protagoras’ Challenge to Socrates
Best Book Award
Associate Professor of History Ling Zhang‘s book The River, the Plain, and the State: An Environmental Drama in Northern Song China, 1048-1128 (Cambridge University Press, 2016) has received the 2017 George Perkins Marsh Prize as the best book on environmental history from the American Society for Environmental History, the premier organization in this emerging, interdisciplinary field. The book centers on an event in northeast China in 1048, when the Yellow River breached its banks. The river drastically changed its course and turned the Hebei Plain into a delta, altering – and in many cases destroying – the lives of millions in Hebei. Zhang drew on elements of geography, hydraulic engineering and political science, as well as scientific data, to write the book. Read more from BC News.
Burns Visiting Scholar Kevin Barry
Award-winning writer Kevin Barry will present “A Writer’s Apprenticeship” on April 12 at 4:30 p.m. at Burns Library. Barry, who is the Burns Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies, will outline the forces, influences, and circumstances that have shaped him as a writer and will offer short readings from his works. He is the author of the story collections Dark Lies The Island and There Are Little Kingdoms (Rooney Prize for Irish Literature) and the novels Beatlebone (Goldsmiths Prize) and City Of Bohane (International Dublin Literary Award). Co-sponsors: Boston College Libraries and Center for Irish Programs. Read a Q&A with Barry conducted by BC Chronicle Editor Sean Smith.
Posted in Guest Authors
Tagged BC Libraries, Center for Irish Programs, Ireland, Irish, novelist
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Does Terrorism Work?
Historian Richard English will present “Does Terrorism Work?” on April 10 at 4:00 p.m. in Devlin Hall, Room 101. English is the author of several books, including Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland, and Does Terrorism Work? A History (Oxford University Press, 2016). He is professor of politics at Queen’s University Belfast, where he is also Distinguished Professorial Fellow in the George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice and the University’s Pro-Vice Chancellor for Internationalization and Engagement. English is a Fellow of the British Academy, a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Sponsor: Irish Studies Program. Register here.
A conversation about religion, identity, and exclusion in a new political era
The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy will present a symposium organized around Libby Professor of Law and Theology Cathleen Kaveny’s book, Prophecy without Contempt: Religious Discourse in the Public Square. The conversation will take April 7 from 1:30–5:00 p.m. at 2101 commonwealth avenue on Brighton Campus and will feature Rowan Williams, the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury and master at Magdelene College, University of Cambridge; McGill University Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Charles Taylor, and University of Chicago John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor Jonathan Lear. Using Kaveny’s book as a starting point, the scholars will offer their insights on the challenges of facilitating fruitful dialogue across religious and political divides of contemporary society. Kaveny will then offer a response, followed by discussion.
Poetry reading: Kim Garica
Award-winning poet Kim Garcia, a faculty member in the English Department, will read from her new poetry collection, Drone, on April 6 at 5 p.m. in Stokes Hall S461. Drone is winner of the 2015 Backwaters Prize. Garcia is also author of The Brighter House, winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize, and Tales of the Sisters, winner of the Sow’s Ear Chapbook Contest, among other titles. Garcia teaches creative writing at BC. Sponsors: English Department and Poetry Days.
Irish Studies Lecture Series: Julia Wright
The 2017 Thomas J. Flatley Irish Studies Lecture Series presents University Research Professor at Dalhousie University Julia M. Wright who will give a talk on “Supporting the Female Right to Literature: Irish Writing on Education & Authorship, 1775-1830.” Her lecture will take place April 6 at 5:00 p.m. in Connolly House. Registration is REQUIRED. Wright is the author of Ireland, India, and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Representing the National Landscape in Irish Romanticism, and the editor of a number of volumes, including Irish Literature, 1750-1900: An Anthology.
Getting to zero
The important role social work has played across the globe in fighting the HIV pandemic is captured in the new e-book, Getting to Zero: Global Social Work Responds to HIV. Vincent Lynch, who served as BC School of Social Work’s director of continuing education, is the North America editor for the volume, which is a joint publication of the International Association of Schools of Social Work and UNAIDS. He also authored a chapter on “The social work response in the United States of America to the AIDS epidemic: 1989 to 2016.” In addition, BC School of Social Work Associate Professor Margaret Lombe, alumna Harriet Mabikke, and doctoral student Ngozi Enelamah contributed a chapter titled “Getting to Zero: A conversation on the label OVC and the welfare of children in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Posted in Alumni Authors, Boston College Authors
Tagged HIV/AIDS, research, School of Social Work
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Author/journalist Nicholas Gage
Influential Greek American writer Nicholas Gage will give a talk titled “A Writer’s Odyssey” on Apr. 3 at 6 p.m. in Gasson Hall, room 306. His acclaimed memoir, Eleni, describes life in Greece during the civil war and the execution of Gage’s mother in retaliation for helping Gage and his sisters escape their village. His subsequent memoir, A Place for Us, relates the experience of Gage’s family as immigrants in America. An investigative journalist, Gage wrote for both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, covering the Mafia and political corruption in the Nixon Administration, among other topics. He also was an executive producer of “The Godfather Part III.” Sponsor: Hellenic Society.
Managing for Social Impact
Carroll School of Management Professor Mary Cronin and BC School of Social Work Professor of Macro Practice Tiziana Dearing are editors of Managing for Social Impact (Springer Press, 2017), which debuted as an Amazon #1 New Release in business ethics. Managing for Social Impact presents innovative strategies for sustainable, socially responsible enterprise management from leading thinkers in the fields of corporate citizenship, nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship, impact investing, community-based economic development and urban design. The book’s integration of research and practitioner perspectives with focused best practice examples offers an in-depth, balanced analysis, providing new insights into the social issues that are most relevant to organizational stakeholders. The editors also provide a chapter describing a new strategic framework for enhancing the Return on Social Innovation (ROSI) through four pillars of social change: Open Circles, Focused Purpose Sharing, Mutuality of Success, and a Persistent Change Perspective. Read a Q&A with Dearing in the BC School of Social Work blog.
BC Bookmarks 