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Robert Woods

By on December 3, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Woods, Robert  and Kevin Healy, eds. Prophetic Critique and Popular Media: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications, New York: Peter Lang , 2013.

Prophetic CritiqueThis book positions the «prophetic» as an organizing concept that can bridge religious and secular criticism of popular media. Drawing from philosophical ethics and moral psychology, the book argues that prophetic critique engages a complex set of universal human capabilities. Whether religious or secular in origin, prophetic critique requires developmentally complex modes of critical reflection, imagination, empathy, and communication. Although this book is diverse in perspective, each author seeks to expose how the content, institutions, and technologies of popular media alternately support – or undermine – the basic values of equality, human dignity, and social justice. By foregrounding such universal principles, the authors distinguish their arguments from critical/cultural scholarship that fails to acknowledge its own normative foundations and implicit theology of culture. The authors demonstrate the efficacy of this framework by applying it to specific case studies in popular media including theater, film, music, journalism, and digital culture. The book argues that the prophetic critique of mass media is essential to maintaining a productive tension between religious communities and the institutions of secular democracy. More broadly, in outlining an inclusive understanding of prophetic critique, this book builds bridges between religious and secular scholarship and generates a unique vision for a revitalized, mass-mediated public sphere.

Paul Patton

By on December 3, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Patton, Paul. “The Prophetic Imagination and Passion of David Mamet.” In Prophetic Critique and Popular Media: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Applications, edited by Robert Woods and Kevin Healy. New York: Peter Lang , 2013.

Prophetic CritiqueLong after playwright and filmmaker David Mamet had left the home of his mother and stepfather, his younger sister sat down at the family table for dinner just before leaving to perform as lead in her high school play. Pre-occupied with the jitters and joys that accompany opening nights, Lynn just picked at her food. Her mother asserted that since she had cooked the food, it had to be eaten and insisted that no one would be excused until the meal was consumed. Upon seeing her orders were not followed, her mother called the school, asking for the drama teacher, and then informed the director that her daughter would not be able to attend the opening night performance. No, Lynn was not sick; she had not finished her vegetables.

Michael Buratovich

By on December 1, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Auday, Bryan C., Michael A., Buratovich, Geraldine F. Marrocco, and Paul Moglia. Magill’s Medical Guide 7th edition. Ipswich, Massachusetts : Amenia, NY: Salem Press, 2013.

Magill's Medical Guide 7th editionNow in its seventh edition, Magill’s Medical Guide contains 1,200 entries in five volumes. Many essay topics are completely new to this edition, and all entries from the previous edition have been evaluated and updated by a panel of Medical Editors to ensure their currency and accuracy, as needed. All cross-references to other relevant entries in Magill’s Medical Guide have been revised. Every bibliography has been updated with the latest editions and sources, including Web sites for relevant organizations. All appendixes from the previous edition have been updated and checked for accuracy, and the “Medical Journals” list has been expanded to include standard title abbreviations, now serving as a key for users.

Brenda McGadney

By on November 16, 2013 in Faculty Publications

McGadney, Brenda F. “Benjamin Hooks.” In Encyclopedia of Social Work, edited by Cynthia Franklin. Oxford University Press, November 2013. 10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1091.

Abstract: Benjamin L. Hooks (1925–2010) was best known as an African American civil rights leader, lawyer, Baptist minister, gifted orator, and a businessman (co-founder of a bank and chicken fast-food franchises), who was executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (1977–1992). Hooks was appointed by President Richard Nixon as one of five commissioners (first African American) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1972, commencing in 1973 with confirmation by the Senate.

Jeffrey Bilbro

By on October 16, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Bilbro, Jeffrey. “The Form of the Cross: Milton’s Chiastic Soteriology.” Milton Quarterly 47, no. 3 (2013): 127-148. doi: 10.1111/milt.12043

Abstract: While Milton’s mastery of rhetorical figures has long been admired and discussed (see Pallister, Wood, Broadbent, and George Smith), scant attention has been given to his use of chiasmus. Understanding how Milton employs this figure can illuminate his ideas about the Crucifixion. In turn, recognizing the medieval and Renaissance association between the event of the Crucifixion and the crossing structure of chiasmus can lead to a reassessment of the role the Crucifixion plays in Milton’s soteriology and a new appreciation for the vital connection between Milton’s poetics and his theology. In essence, the inverted shape of chiasmus enables Milton to enact the Son’s overturning work of redemption on the cross, and the contrasts drawn by the repetitions produced by this rhetorical figure depict the way this redemption reconciles seeming opposites.

Michael Buratovich

By on October 9, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Buratovich, Michael A. The Stem Cell Epistles: Letters to My Students about Bioethics, Embryos, Stem Cells, and Fertility Treatments. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2013.

The Stem Cell EpistlesHuman embryos, it has been said, “have no muscles, nerves, digestive system, feet, hands, face, or brain; they have nothing to distinguish them as a human being, and if one of them died, no one would mourn as they would for one of us.” Consequently, early human embryos are being dismembered in laboratories around the world to produce embryonic stem cells, which, we are told, are the tools that will lead to the next quantum leap in medicine. Should Christians support such small sacrifices for something that might potentially relieve the suffering of millions, or should we vigorously oppose it?

Developmental biologist and professor of biochemistry Michael Buratovich was asked such a question (among others) by his students. This book contains his measured answers and provides support from the scientific literature to substantiate his claims. He shows that embryonic stem cells are unnecessary, since the renaissance in regenerative medicine is occurring largely without them. Furthermore, he sets forth the scientific and historic case that the embryo is the youngest and most vulnerable member of humanity, and that ones such as these are precisely those whom the Christian church worked to protect in the past—and should champion in the present.

Charles Sanders

By on October 9, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Sanders, Charles G. “Book Review: The Myth of Leadership (2004) by Jeffrey S. Nielsen.” International Journal of Leadership Studies 8, no. 1 (2013).

Abstract:This provocative book is an excellent presentation of an alternative leadership perspective which is long overdue. Nielsen (2004) argues that the common elite hierarchical leadership perspective actually robs many individuals in an organization of the opportunity to contribute and share in the elements of organizational success, productivity, and more cohesive teamwork.

Thomas Kuntzleman & Bruce Baldwin

By on October 8, 2013 in Faculty Publications

Kuntzleman, Thomas S., Kristen N. Rohrer, Bruce W. Baldwin, Jennifer Kingsley, Charles L. Schaerer, Deborah K. Sayers, and Vivian B. West. “Constructing an Annotated Periodic Table Created with Interlocking Building Blocks: A National Chemistry Week Outreach Activity for all Ages.” Journal of Chemical Education 90, no. 10 (Oct 08, 2013): 1346.

Abstract: An activity for a National Chemistry Week outreach event has been designed in which children construct a periodic table out of LEGO building bricks. During the activity, children followed simple instructions to build the symbol of a particular element onto a 5.25 in. x 5.25 in. LEGO base plate. Squares for all elements were constructed in this manner, resulting in a periodic table composed of over 6000 LEGO pieces. The finished product has been hung on a wall in the science center at Spring Arbor University. The table has unexpectedly become a unique conversation piece that allows for informal chemical education. In addition, high school students and others have added to the charm of the table by designing LEGO creations to place on the squares of certain elements. These LEGO creations are built so as to represent the element on the square on which it is placed. How the table was built, how the construction of the table was used as a hands-on activity at an outreach event, and how people were invited to build LEGO creations to donate to the table are described.

Charles White

By on October 3, 2013 in Faculty Publications

White, Charles Edward. “Charles Wesley and the Making of the English Working Class.” Journal of Markets and Morality 16, no. 2 (2013): 603-614.

Although their workload varied from place to place and from time to time, Europeans in the Middle Ages worked roughly two-thirds of the year, with about 80 full days and 70 partial days off. The leading theologian before the Reformation, Thomas Aquinas, had taught them that work, while not a curse, was a necessary evil to be avoided when possible. When not faced with hunger, often they did avoid it. Max Weber twice cites seventeenth-century Dutch economist Pieter de la Court saying that people only work because, and so long as, they are poor.8 How could workers such as these be induced to work long hours more than 300 days a year in the factories of the industrial revolution? They sang the hymns of Charles Wesley.