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Showing 1 - 7 of 7 items
Music: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Nicholas Cook. 2000
Cambridge University professor of music proposes a framework for thinking about all kinds of music--world, folk, classical, jazz, rock, and…
pop--by examining the personal, social, commercial, and cultural values music embodies. Challenges the reader to learn to understand music in historical context and question received musicological thought. 1998
Comedy: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Matthew Bevis. 2013
Scholar examines comedy, from the ancient Greeks to the present, through recurring elements and themes: the physical body, marriage, pain,…
the humdrum of existence, death. Discusses the idea that comedy and tragedy are not true opposites; comedy presupposes rather than precludes tragedy. 2013.
Sociology: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Steve Bruce. 1999
Professor of sociology asserts the value of his discipline for understanding the modern world. Draws on studies of social class,…
crime and deviance, work in bureaucracies, and changes in religious and political organizations. Explores the tension between the individual's role in society and society's role in shaping the individual. 1999
Slang: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Jonathon Green. 2016
Noted lexicographer provides a wide-ranging survey of this subset of standard English. Green ponders the obscure origins of the word…
"slang" itself, classifies themes and objects to which most slang adverts, and presents a history of slang's many dictionaries. Offers examples, from Shakespeare and Dickens to the digital revolution. 2016
Sociolinguistics: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By John Edwards. 2013
Psychology professor describes the discipline that studies language in its social and cultural contexts--how words and sentences are influenced by…
our social environment. Discusses the importance of accents and dialects, the significance of names, the relationship between language and gender, the language of poverty, and the intertwining of language and religion. 2013
Witchcraft: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Malcolm Gaskill. 2010
Professor of early modern history explores the origins and history of witchcraft, from prehistory to present day paganism and popular…
media, asking why it still features so heavily in our culture. Considers the classic period (1500-1900) of witchcraft trials and witch-hunting, including the infamous Salem panic of 1692. 2010
Work: a very short introduction (Very Short Introductions)
By Stephen Fineman. 2012
Professor of organization studies draws on psychology, sociology, management, and social history for this multidisciplinary account of work--as a concept…
and as practical experience. Examines the cultural and social factors that influence the way we work, the ethics of certain types of work, and factors affecting work's future. 2012