Columbia College Books

I bought this book because of my high opinion of two of the authors, Headrick and Crossley. The approach is extremely good, but there are great weaknesses in coverage of the histories of the United States, Russia, and China. This is a very useful reference work on modern history, and there are many absorbing chapters. But it can't be used without additional reading --add Geoffrey Freeze on Russia, Immanuel Hsu on modern China, and Edmund Morgan on the U.S.

The short stories are the best output of a workshop in 2005 held in Columbia College, Chicago. They highlight promising writers, presumably fairly young. The stories cover varied themes, and are mostly based in contemporary United States. Nothing really experimental, in the sense of weird written or visual special effects splayed out across the printed page.

The word "literacy" in the title is meant in the broadest sense, as it is not about basic reading instruction. It provides antecdotal examples of writing and communication inquiries/exercises/lesson plans to engage students outside of the typical American cultural construct, which the author claims led to better results with measures such as standardized tests. Although the subjects were fifth graders, the pedagogy seems to apply to a wide range of ages. Reviewer's recommendation: Try a "search within" the book to see if it is relevant to your needs.

Blitzers' step by step is very helpful but does not always use the best path to the solution. He could use more examples of different types of the same problem, ie. What occurs when using negetives on this problem? Great book, but with anything, could be better.

The first half of Woodring's slender tome traces the development of English as an academic discipline: from its philological beginnings to the historicist thirties and then to the emergence of New Criticism in the forties. However, of paramount interest to the budding literature student is the chapter that deals with the rise of poststructuralist theory and cultural studies--i.e., the quagmire from which literary studies has not yet entirely extricated itself. Subsequent chapters deal with administrative bloating, the lack of marketability of the PhD, tenure track trauma, political correctness running rampant on campuses everywhere, and a whole assortment of new challenges from outside the university proper: distance learning, remedial education, ESL, relaxing of foreign language requirements, and a general decline in the quality of and emphasis on the primacy of writing in undergraduate education. To each of these issues Woodring proposes solutions, some sensible and some frankly drastic, such as his suggestion that older professors retire sooner to make room for younger and that the publish or perish dictum that has hounded academics for so long be banished in favor of increased attention to teaching and to preparing undergraduates for lives of civic duty and personal empathy. Throughout, Woodring maintains the value of literature, and the humanities in general, in a technocratic, highly material age that often looks askance at its apparently insular, highly esoteric concerns and values.

Woodring is basically saying nothing new in this deceptively thin volume. He sounds many of the same alarms that others have for quite some time now. His plea to those in the academic establishment who would seek to de-center the canon either through deconstructuralist nihilism or cultural studies revisionism to curb their excesses and to reconnect with the concerns of the average reader--i.e., plot, character, theme, etc.--breaks no new ground. (Camille Paglia's "Junk Bonds and Corporate Raiders" is a more entertaining tour of the ridiculous excesses of academic theory and political maneuvering.) And his contention that a solid background in the humanities prepares students for lives of civic duty appears rather old-fashioned and naive in today's cynical, commercial culture. But perhaps the bid for comprehensive overview is the value of Woodring's book; he shows us literary studies yesterday and today and gives us a glimpse of what the future may hold.

Of somewhat lesser concern is Woodring's organization, tone, diction and language. His discussion is not always succinct: he repeats himself occasionally and sometimes his chapters seem to ramble. For the most part, he holds to his own dictum to write with "clarity of thought, vigor of expression, pursuit of truth, and recognition of beauty." He is occasionally witty and frequently shrewd in some of his observations. However, he could have benefitted from an able proofreader: his text occasionally suffers from obfuscating, unnecessarily complex sentence structure (including his fondness for overinflated metaphors, the passive voice and for piling clause upon clause). The book also contains a number of minor grammatical blunders. Yet a major concern is Woodring's audience--most, if not all, of his book will be of little interest to the lay person, save those seeking corroboration of the generally absurd state of the humanities nowadays. The return to the concerns of the common reader that Woodring espouses may fall on deaf ears. For he appears to lack the coarseness of mind and spirit that would put him in contact with a greater reading public. His audience appears to be those academics who either already agree with him but who can do little to change things or those who will dismiss his claims as hopelessly outdated and backward looking.

Fans of women's basketball should add this book to their libraries. Cathy Rush of Immaculata started what was to become women's basketball. Several of her players went on to become coaches of leading college teams and a few became involved in the WNBA.

Byrne tells the story with loving detail, based mostly on interviews with players, coaches and teachers. If anything,, she can be faulted for being too much in love with her subject, so she ends up being more descriptive than analytical. I would have liked to see more interpretation of the material. O God of Players lacks the immediacy of true journalism (see In These Girls Hope is a Muscle, an account of a high school team's championship year) and also the scholarship associated with academic history.

Just as historians ask what events came together to spark World War I, we could ask what events ame together to spark a mighty basketball team in a small backwater women's college? Just a few small coincidences or a convergence of social trends?

As Byrne points out, most religions attempt to make rules to control the body, especially the female body. So why did Catholicism embrace basketball, while other religions did not? Was there a unique relationship between pre-Vatican Catholic doctrine and basketball values?

Byrne raises the issue of conflict between religion and basketball but doesn't really dig in. We get no sense of how players interacted in class, beyond fond memories of being excused for practice. We do get a sense of how the players experienced basketball uniquely because of their religious tradition, as players recall their modesty in early locker rooms. And we get a hint of the awkwardness associated with Cathy Rush's non-Catholic status. But the author stops with description, not drawing out ironies or implications.

So we learn how players were influenced by road trips and tournaments, but what was the impact of Immaculata on women's basketball? And how did players fare after graduation, compared to non-players who also attended Immaculata?

Perhaps it's unfair to expect more than we get. God of Players is interesting, well-written and exhaustive in information. I would recommend this book to any basketball fan and perhaps to students of women's history. I just wish we had a little less meat-and-potatoes and a tad more spice.

The subject matter is covered really well. The author clearly knows what he is writing about. Highly recommended.

Ralph is a dynamic speaker and writer. This book helps teachersof all ages and subjects to tackle the complicated issues ofwriting. He is able to engage the reader with humor and wit, something technical books ever do. I read this book in a day! Another wonderful piece by him is: What A Writer Needs.

Seminal work on the Yiddish Presses role in the Americanization of Jewish immigrants, by Mordechai Soltes (1893-1957), of blessed memory. Originally a Ph.D. dissertation for a degree in sociology from N.Y.U.
Full of statistics and charts, as well as text.
Of historical interest in itself as an early work in the field of sociology and Jewish studies. The author was the father of well-know Rabbi, Avraham Soltes (o.b.m.) (author, Off The Willows), grandfather of Ori Z. Soltes (see book on Jewish Art) and me, physician of Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine.

For me, the real strength of this book is the way the presence of Eleanor Duckworth shines through her writing. I liken it more to the beacon provided by a lighthouse than to a how-to manual that describes rowing techniques. The clear direction that shown through for me was that learning is complex, and that teacher behaviors must be equally complex, but the guiding light is simple: Listen to and respect the learner and respond with your whole person, and the learning that needs to happen will occur, for both partners in the process.

This book is excellent. It is an important read for teachers today. As an educator it is extremely disheartening to see the direction of education being driven today by politicians, rather than parents and teachers. Ms. Duckworth redirects are attention where it belongs, on the students & how they learn. This book gets us (teachers) thinking about the kind of classroom culture we want to create for our children. It is about what we value as educators. Don't mistake it for a quick reference, how-to book. This is not meant to be a outline of various lesson plans to try out with your class. It is more thoughtful than that and more important

This book is packed with the interesting observations derived from much experience.
"Knowing enough about things is one prerequisite for wonderful ideas." P.14.

I agree with all the other reviews, good and bad - which in some sense is in agreement with a point ED makes. We must seek out everyone's different ways of understanding. Ironic. Reminds me somewhat of Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" in this regard.

"(P)eople sometimes use language that goes far beyond their thoughts. Some people can dazzle us with elaborate words when they do not really know what they are talking about." (p. 17). (But remember the Postmodern Generator!) I wonder how much familiarity with philosophy of language educators attempting to understand language learning in children have. A look at the references reveals no sign of folks like Quine, Wittgenstein, or even Chomsky. This alone suggests what benefit there might be in interdisciplinary efforts. Contemporary understanding of the nature of language shared with those who have practical experience teaching children and vice versa. Imagine what Wittgenstein might have said about the section on "Language and Thinking" (p. 16- 18) and on "Constructing What We Know" (p. 18-22) "In order to know something, or to think about something, then, we do not have to use words." or "Logic Is Deeper Than Language"! This is too much fun. One book that discusses a similar comparison is "Wittgenstein, Mind and Meaning: Towards a Social Conception of Mind" by Meredith Williams, as well as in "Constructive Evolution: Origins and Development of Piaget's Thought" by Michael Chapman. It seems that Piaget was influenced only by the earlier Wittgenstein when the later Wittgenstein would have been a much better fit. This seems so apparent to some that aspects of Piaget (genetic epistemology) are a "closed chapter in the history of science." (p. 127 in "Piaget-Vygotsky: The Social Genesis of Thought" by Anastasia Tryphon.

But this seems very good advice: "Words that people hear-and the younger the child is, the stronger the case-are taken into some thoughts that are already in their minds, and those thoughts may not be the ones the speaker has in mind." (p. 22)

As a parent and teacher, I strongly recommend this book to everyone concerned about children's learning. The main point of the main essay is that when children think and come up with their own ideas, it's the same fundamental process that scientists do when they are doing science, what inventors do when they are inventing, what creative artists do when they are creating, etc. Although the ideas may not seem like much to us (and may, in fact, turn out to be incorrect), they often seem wonderful to the children--and we should be supportive of children having ideas, rather than squelching them because it can be helpful in their learning. Moreover, Duckworth believes that children who are encouraged to generate ideas are more likely to grow up to be adults who come up with ideas that are true innovations in science or art, and that the world will benefit from them.

"The Having of Wonderful Ideas", by Eleanor Duckworth, was not quite what I expected. Although I learned from some aspects of the book I expected more "ideas" that could easily be understood and incorporated into classroom activities. I felt that the essays on the many experiments conducted by the author and Piaget were far too lengthy, almost drowning out any real "wonderful ideas". This book is not easy to read, and may leave the reader struggling to read to the end. However, as I stated previously, I did learn a few things, but they came too far and few between the lengthy essays.