Park University Books

This was a great rural living memoir. I enjoyed the stories about the neighbors and the town's struggles, the different things that Parks learned about animals and plants, and the story of the success of the pottery school that he founded. He's on my list of people I'd like to meet!

The mammals are a small group and are relative newcomers. Mammals arose from reptiles. Mammals are hairy, milk-producing, warm-blooded animals. Most mammals give birth to living young.

Many mammals have a home range and a defended area, evidence of territoriality. Plants are consumed by the majority of mammals. Types of feeders are herbivores and carnivores.

No animal is safe from aggression. Flight is a commonly employed defense mechanism. Some animals may remain motionless to escape detection by a predator. Thick skin may be defensive in nature. Additional defense means are coloration and quills. Specialized defenses include noxious odors, noise, teeth, hoofs and claws, horns and antlers, poison, and warning display.

There are various levels of dormancy. In deep hibernators metabolism may sink to 1/75 of its active rate. The amount of weight loss varies with the species.

In order to have social structure among animals there must be communication. Sight communication may be of great importance in addition to or in place of sound. Sound mechanisms may be used for both communication and orientation.

Social behavior may help an animal to survive and reproduce. A population grows in the same fashion as the animal. Influences favoring population growth may be genetic or ecological. As a population increases its predators increase. Social structure helps to alleviate stress.

From the standpoint of evolutionary biology, the animal's function is to reproduce. In mating behavior animals vary from promiscuity to monogamy. Gestation in mammals ranges from eight to twelve weeks to two years. The number of young is lower in animals with a better survival potential.

Columbia University is one of the greatest classical urban spaces in this country, and this book is a detailed and well-researched discussion of how it came to be. Fascinating if you're into its topic. Also see Andrew Dolkhart's book on Morningside Heights.

If you are to visit the Land of the Maya, and the short sections on "History and Culture" in even the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guides aren't enough for you, then this is the book you'll want. The author is an expert in three keys to the Maya: (1) a thorough knowledge of the ecology of the tropical forests of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and of present day Mayans living there; (2) a command of the literature of modern Mayan studies, including the great synthesis of ecological-archeological research and the deciphering of classis Mayan writing which has overturned almost every old National Geographic cliche about "the mysterious Maya"; and (3) decades of professional experience in the creation and defense of ecological and cultural parks and reserves in the heart of the largest lowland tropical forest closest to the US.

The result is an insightful, informed window into a people and their forests, which can both benefit by your visit if you do it right. The major limitation of the book is it doesn't cover enough of the Mayan world, as it is limited to the lower elevation forests and Mayans where the Mayan Mexican states intersect the Peten of Guatemala and Belize. Many wonderful Mayans live in "cold country" in the mountain uplands of Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, but they and their pine-oak forests are not represented here, nor any of the speakers of the Huastecan branch of Mayan languages in the tropical deciduous forests of the hills of Veracruz state further north and west in Mexico. But if you are bound for the lowland forests where the ramon trees grow, this book will help you appreciate how and why the ramons have saved the Maya from famine and disaster for millenia in the past, and why the trees and their people should be protected and defended today.

Great book with diverse research and comprehensive. Easy to read and understand. Recommended for those interested in our indian past in the US.

For those of us who are interested in thinking more deeply about the church and its role in mission, Joon-Sik Park has provided a great service to us by synthesizing and summarizing the missional ecclesiologies of H. Richard Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder. He then compares and evaluates the two. He also helpfully incorporates Lesslie Newbigin's doctrine of election in the final chapter.

Unlike most books that are the product of a dissertation, this book is clear and concise. It is 180 pages but the print is large and the writing refreshingly readable.

This is the kind of book that can bring liberals, postliberals, and evangelicals together into substantive discussion about the role of the church. It takes us beyond the popular missional church and emerging church books into serious theological discussion.

I am a Th.D. doctoral student at Duke Divinity School and I have found this book very helpful in articulating some of the issues related to mission, missional, emerging, and ecclesiology. My colleagues and I are trying to articulate missional ecclesiologies related to Rowan Williams, Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Park has done us a great service by providing this framework.

People interested in missiology will find Park's appendix "Yoder as Mission Theologian" very helpful.

Even if you can't afford to buy it, put in a request that your local seminary / theological library get it.

Related resources:
I have also been delving into the work of Craig Van Gelder and Patrick Kiefert of Luther Seminary.
The Ministry of the Missional Church: A Community Led by the Spirit
The Missional Church in Context: Helping Congregations Develop Contextual Ministry (Missional Church Series)
We Are Here Now: A New Missional Era

Fuller Seminary professor Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen's describes the ecclesiology of Zizioulas, Kung, Pannenberg, Moltmann, Volf, McClendon, and Newbigin. An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives

See also Boston University School of Theology professor Bryan Stone's:
Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness

I am also thinking about how this related to the conversation surrounding "practices" (Alasdair MacIntyre)
After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, Third Edition
and "practical theology" (Don Browning)
A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals

This specialized title may find a home primarily in collections which focus on Canadian and Native American history, providing an in-depth focus on Ellesmere Island and early Aboriginal-European relations in the Arctic in the 19th and 20th centuries. From insights into natural and cultural influences on these relationships to charting historical changes, Muskox Land provides an extensive overview.

"One of the most exciting and eclectic celebrations of African American art ever published, Narratives of African American Art and Identity showcases one hundred paintings, etchings, sculptures, and photographs from the collection of David C. Driskell. A true Renaissance man, Driskell himself is an esteemed artist, educator, curator, and philanthropist. His fifty-year career has been committed to promoting African American art. Included are works by John Biggers, Sam Gilliam, Lois Mailou Jones, Keith Morrison, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Alma Thomas, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Augusta Savage, and James VanDerZee-to name just a few. Each artwork is accompanied by information about the artist and the particular work. Published in cooperation with The Art Gallery at the University of Maryland, College Park. More by David Driskell: The Other Side of Color

"192 pages, over 100 full-color reproductions, size: 9 x 12". Smythe-sewn paperbound book, with flaps. ISBN: 0-7649-0689-5."--© Pomegranate

In 1872 the first national park was founded at Yellowstone, sparking a series of early parks designed to serve as natural history museums for visitors. Natural Museums is both a survey of early parks and a scholarly study of the national park system as a whole, examining the changing purposes and significance of the parks system for future generations. An excellent survey, Natural Museums should be pursued by any visitor to a US park.