Pennsylvania Books

Human Rights In The Arab World: Independent Voices is an anthology of essays by learned authors about the unfortunate and longstanding marginalization of human rights in the Arab world, the obstacles that bar the way to implementing these rights, and pathways to improve human rights and welfare in the future. Individual essays also discuss the intersection of globalization and human rights, the especial plight of women's rights in the Arab world, case studies in Yemeni, Egypt, and Morocco, the difficulties faced by activists and NGOs pushing for human rights, and much more. A sober, serious-minded compilation of a vital current problem, especially recommended for library reference shelves.

A good compendium of readings for someoneinterested in the serious study of humanrights. It was used as a textbook in aclass at the University of Maryland.The appendix includes several importanthuman rights documents.

Mutua's book is a must-have for those seeking to understand why a hegemonic, westernized approach to human rights is so problematic. Speaking from the perspective of an "insider/outsider" (the author is a leading international human rights scholar and activist from Kenya), he examines both the positive aspirations and contributions of human rights as well as evidence of its limitations and even dangers in practice.

Rather than embrace a strong version of cultural relativism, Mutua clearly condemns violations of human rights in both North and South. Nevertheless, he demands that human rights leaders must spend time in self-examination with regard to the history, origins, and contemporary contexts in which violations occur if abuses are to be effectively combatted.

There is much here for debate and discussion both inside classrooms and among activists in the field. Along with works by Anghie, Gathii, Rajagopal, Woods & Lewis, Andrews, Knop, Wing, and others, Mutua's book is a foundational contribution to the loose network known as the "Third World Approaches to International Law" (TWAIL) movement.

The book contains 16 papers from the Proceedings of the International Seminar on Cultural Interconnections in the Ancient Near East, held at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Topics include textual sources (D. Redford), Hyksos Period (D. O'Connor), Egypt and Nubia during the Second Intermediate Period (P. Lacovara), Avaris (M. Bietak), The Kingdom of Sharuhen (E. D. Oren), The Hyksos (A. Kempinski), and Ebba and Syria in the Middle Bronze Age (P. Matthiae). This is an excellent book to have in one's library : it is a perfect introduction to the Hyksos and their time.

I purchased this book as part of a course in the Fort Worth Hypnoses Institute. However it is also a great addition to how to write poetry.
A paragraph of the preface by Edward D. Snyder explains the book purpose best:
The first four chapters of this volume proposes and support a certain idea about poetry, while the remaining chapters make practical applications of the idea to individual poems and to topics of a more general nature. I hope that people, who read poetry for the sheer love of it, as well as those who are teachers and professional critics, will welcome this study of the trance-inducing effect that a few poems seem to extract on the reader, and will share my interest in extending the study to poems that are less obviously hypnotic
Edward D. Snyder suggests that some Poetry does spell weaving like listening to a piece of music that stirs up an old emotion.
After reading this book you will not look at poetry the same way again.

1896 is the most eventful year of Silas Hershey's life. The Mennonite teenager works on the family's Pennsylvania farm, plays with his nearest cousins, and worships at whichever home hosts the meeting that week. He unquestioningly obeys his parents and the church elders and assumes life (with the addition of a girlfriend) will continue as it has.

Later he recognizes the early signs of change. One brother has moved to Montana to work, another wants to quit farming altogether. Sister Barbie is resisting her approaching marriage, raising fears she'll abandon the simple Mennonite lifestyle as her older sister did.

These small conflicts have a wide-reaching effect. As Silas explains, "Joining church was different in those days, something you did when you were grown-up and sure you'd decided for certain, usually after you'd been married a year or so.... That way young people had a chance to get the wildness out of their systems."

Now, though, one segment of the community wants hellfire sermons followed by public "born again" conversions and a stricter separation from the world, such as the Amish practice. This segment seizes on Barbie's tragic death to push their conviction that the unbaptized are damned.

Stambaugh is the granddaughter of Silas Hershey, which has given her access to private records and eyewitness accounts of that significant year. A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, she uses the sights, smells, and sounds of her childhood to make the Hershey farm live in the reader's mind. So does young Silas and through him, the whole question of, "How do we know we're saved?" This book is a jewel. Kathleen T. Choi, HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD

This book is so helpful when planning your vaca to hershey i would definety recomend it!

I had a chance to meet the author of this book before I read it. This is a great read. The ministry he writes about was active for a long time in York. Even the author was aided by this ministry. I recommend highly.

What a great story about growing up in the coal fields of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Characters were engaging in this well written autobiography.

An excellent source-book for anyone studying Middle English. It compiles an extensive selection of excerpts which demonstrate the ways in which medieval English writers struggled with the concept of writing in English, and defended their use of the vernacular. The accompanying essays range from excellent to mediocre, but the texts themselves make the book worth buying. By compiling texts about medieval literary theory, this book begins to fill a major gap in medieval studies.