Monthly Archive: April, 2012

April 10, 2012

New Book Tuesday: Burma Redux, What Matters? and European Nightmares

Burma Redux: Global Justice and the Quest for Political Reform in Myanmar Ian Holliday What Matters?: Ethnographies of Value in a Not So Secular Age Edited by Courtney Bender and Ann Taves European Nightmares: Horror Cinema in Europe Since 1945...

April 9, 2012

Kenneth Goldsmith Explains Uncreative Writing on To the Best of Our Knowledge

“There’s a whole century of experimentation with language which is completely ignored. There’s many, many ways to construct novels. We actually just tend to construct novels quite similarly. Just a call to open things up. Let’s a get a little...

April 6, 2012

University Press Roundup

Our weekly roundup of recent blog posts and features from other university presses.

April 5, 2012

Nicoli Nattrass: Scientists Continue the Fight-Back

“The AIDS denialist community includes many ‘cultropreneurs’ who cast doubt on medical science whilst offering unproven remedies in its place…. It is true that science proceeds via contestation—which is why universities are reluctant to take action against contrarians. But this...

April 5, 2012

Geoffrey Kabat Breaks the Bad News About the Good News About Chocolate

A recent report that got widely disseminated claimed that “that subjects who ate chocolate more frequently had lower body mass index compared to those who consumed it less often, and this was not affected by taking calorie intake or level...

April 4, 2012

Political Philosophy and Real Politics: Part III of an interview with Albena Azmanova, author of “The Scandal of Reason”

“[Through public discussion,] we can learn how we are all complicit in the production of social injustice, even when we appear to be victims. ” – Albena Azmanova Albena Azmanova is the author of The Scandal of Reason: A Critical...

April 4, 2012

Columbia Granger's Poem of the Day App!

            Just in time for National Poetry Month, The Columbia Granger’s World of Poetry proudly presents the smartphone app Columbia Granger’s Poem of the Day, offering everybody a free daily passport to Granger’s. The free app enables users to download...

April 3, 2012

Political Philosophy and Real Politics: Part II of an interview with Albena Azmanova, author of “The Scandal of Reason”

“Preoccupation with economic redistribution, gender equality, cultural diversity, and action against sexual harassment appeared all too smug to me when set against the evils of life under political oppression and bankrupt economic systems” – Albena Azmanova Albena Azmanova is the...

April 3, 2012

Michael Mann on Barack Obama's Disappointing Record on Global Warming

“So [Obama] appointed the right people, but then he didn’t really let them move forward on this issue. He says the right things sometimes, but then appears to retreat from them.” — Michael Mann on Barack Obama’s policy on climate...

April 3, 2012

New Book Tuesday: Feminism, Animal Studies, and Suspicion

The Global and the Intimate: Feminism in Our Time Edited by Geraldine Pratt and Victoria Rosner Thinking Animals: Why Animal Studies Now? Kara Weil Under Suspicion: A Phenomenology of Media Boris Groys Storytelling in World Cinemas: Forms Edited by Lina...

April 2, 2012

Political Philosophy and Real Politics: An interview with Albena Azmanova, author of "The Scandal of Reason"

“Ideal theories of justice only stand in the way of sound judgment.” –Albena Azmanova Albena Azmanova is the author of The Scandal of Reason: A Critical Theory of Political Judgment. This post is the first of a three-part series we...

April 2, 2012

Stalking Nabokov by Brian Boyd Reviewed in the New York Times

Yesterday’s New York Times Book Review included a review of Stalking Nabokov, by Brian Boyd. The reviewer, Leland de la Durantaye, describes Brian Boyd’s discussions of his involvement (or “stalking”) of Nabokov as a reader, critic, and biographer of Vladimir...