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As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy after I Transitioned
By Paula Stone Williams. 2021
This moving and unforgettable memoir of a transgender pastor&’s transition from male to female is an &“audacious, gripping, and profoundly…
real journey that speaks to the mind, heart, and soul&” (Joshua J. Dickson, director of Faith Based Initiatives, Biden Campaign)—perfect for fans of Redefining Realness and There Is Room for You.As a father of three, married to a wonderful woman, and holding several prominent jobs within the Christian community, Dr. Paula Stone Williams made the life-changing decision to physically transition from male to female at the age of sixty. Almost instantly, her power and influence in the evangelical world disappeared and her family had to grapple with intense feelings of loss and confusion.Feeling utterly alone after being expelled from the evangelical churches she had once spearheaded, Paula struggled to create a new safe space for herself where she could reconcile her faith, her identity, and her desire to be a leader. Much to her surprise, the key to her new career as a woman came with a deeper awareness of the inequities she had overlooked before her transition. Where her opinions were once celebrated and amplified, now she found herself sidelined and ignored. New questions emerged. Why are women&’s opinions devalued in favor of men&’s? Why does love and intimacy feel so different? And, was it possible to find a new spirituality in her own image?In As a Woman, Paula&’s &“critical questions about gender, personhood, and place are relevant to anyone. Her writing insightfully reveals aspects of our gender socialization and culture that often go unexamined, but that need to be talked about, challenged, and changed&” (Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her) in order to fully understand what it means to be male, female, and simply, human.Journal of Near Eastern Studies, volume 83 number 1 (April 2024)
By Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 2024
This is volume 83 issue 1 of Journal of Near Eastern Studies. The Journal of Near Eastern Studies (JNES) is…
devoted to the study of the civilizations of the Near East from prehistory to the early modern period in 1922. JNES embraces a uniquely broad scope of time, place, and topic, including contributions from scholars of international reputation on topics in Assyriology, Egyptology, Hittitology, Hebrew Bible, and adjacent ancient studies, as well as a second area of emphasis in early, medieval, and early-modern Islamic studies. The disciplinary range of the journal runs from history and language to religion and literature to archaeology and art history. Every issue includes new scholarly work as well as a book review section, which provides a critical overview of new publications by emerging and established scholars.The final chapter in the definitive, three-volume history of the world's first known stateArchaeologist John Romer has spent a lifetime…
chronicling the history of Ancient Egypt, and here he tells the epic story of an era dominated by titans of the popular imagination: the radical iconoclast Akhenaten, the boy-king Tutankhamun and the all-conquering Ramesses II. But 'heroes' do not forge history by themselves. This was also a time of international trade, cultural exchange and sophisticated art, even in the face of violent change.Alongside his visionary new history of this, the most famous period in the long history of Ancient Egypt, Romer turns a critical eye on Egyptology itself. Paying close attention to the evidence, he corrects prevailing narratives which cast the New Kingdom as an imperial state power in the European mould. Instead, he reveals - through broken artefacts in ruined workshops, or preserved letters between a tomb-builder and his son - a culture more beautiful and beguiling than we could have imagined.Romer carefully reconstructs the real story of the New Kingdom as evidenced in the archaeological record, and the result - the final volume of a lifelong project - secures his status as Ancient Egypt's finest chronicler.A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back
By David Hallberg. 2017
David Hallberg, the first American to join the famed Bolshoi Ballet as a principal dancer and the dazzling artist The…
New Yorker described as &“the most exciting male dancer in the western world,&” presents a look at his artistic life—up to the moment he returns to the stage after a devastating injury that almost cost him his career.Beginning with his real-life Billy Elliot childhood—an all-American story marred by intense bullying—and culminating in his hard-won comeback, Hallberg&’s &“moving and intelligent&” (Daniel Mendelsohn) memoir dives deep into life as an artist as he wrestles with ego, pushes the limits of his body, and searches for ecstatic perfection and fulfillment as one of the world&’s most acclaimed ballet dancers.Rich in detail ballet fans will adore, Hallberg presents an &“unsparing…inside look&” (The New York Times) and also reflects on universal and relatable themes like inspiration, self-doubt, and perfectionism as he takes you into daily classes, rigorous rehearsals, and triumphant performances, searching for new interpretations of ballet&’s greatest roles. He reveals the loneliness he felt as a teenager leaving America to join the Paris Opera Ballet School, the ambition he had to tame as a new member of American Ballet Theatre, and the reasons behind his headline-grabbing decision to be the first American to join the top rank of Bolshoi Ballet, tendered by the Artistic Director who would later be the victim of a vicious acid attack. Then, as Hallberg performed throughout the world at the peak of his abilities, he suffered a crippling ankle injury and botched surgery leading to an agonizing retreat from ballet and an honest reexamination of his entire life.Combining his powers of observation and memory with emotional honesty and artistic insight, Hallberg has written a great ballet memoir and an intimate portrait of an artist in all his vulnerability, passion, and wisdom. &“Candid and engrossing&” (The Washington Post), A Body of Work is a memoir &“for everyone with a heart&” (DC Metro Theater Arts).Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America
By Mel White. 1994
&“Compelling…eloquent and compassionate…We learn as much about growing up in the Christian right as we do about gay life in…
Mel White&’s heartfelt and revealing memoir.&” —San Francisco ExaminerUntil Christmas Eve 1991, Mel White was regarded by the leaders of the religious right as one of their most talented and productive supporters. He penned the speeches of Oliver North. He was a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, worked with Jim Bakker, flew in Pat Robertson&’s private jet, walked sandy beaches with Billy Graham. What these men didn&’t know was that Mel White—evangelical minister, committed Christian, family man—was gay. &“An engrossing journey to unite sexuality with faith&” (Dallas Morning News), Stranger at the Gate details Mel White&’s twenty-five years of being counseled, exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong. But his salvation—to be openly gay and Christian—is more than a unique coming-out story. It is a chilling exposé that goes right into the secret meetings and hidden agendas of the religious right. Told by an eyewitness and sure to anger those Mel White once knew best, Stranger at the Gate is a warning about where the politics of hate may lead America…an important book by a brave man whose words can make us both richer in spirit and much wiser too.Michigan’s Venice: The Transformation of the St. Clair Maritime Landscape, 1640–2000
By Daniel F. Harrison. 2024
Few maritime landscapes in the Great Lakes remain so deeply and clearly inscribed by successive cultures as the St. Clair…
system—a river, delta, and lake found between Lake Huron and the Detroit River. The St. Clair River and its environs are an age-old transportation nexus of land and water routes, a strategic point of access to maritime resources, and, in many ways, a natural impediment to the navigation of the Great Lakes. From Indigenous peoples and European colonizers to the modern nations of Canada and the United States, this work traces the region’s transformation through culturally driven practices and artifacts of shipbuilding, navigation, place naming, and mapmaking. In this novel approach to maritime landscape archaeology, author Daniel F. Harrison unifies historiography, linguistics, ethnohistory, geography, and literature through the analysis of primary sources, material culture, and ecological and geographic data in a technique he calls "evidence-based storytelling." Viewed over time, the region forms a microcosm of the interplay of environment, culture, and technology that characterized the gradual shift from nature to an industrial society and a built environment optimized for global waterborne transport.Sustainability in Ancient Island Societies: An Archaeology of Human Resilience (Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology)
By Scott M. Fitzpatrick, Jon M. Erlandson, Kristina M. Gill. 2024
Examining dynamic interactions between humans and island environments This volume explores the impacts humans have made on island and coastal…
ecosystems and the ways these environments have adapted to anthropogenic changes over the course of millennia. Case studies highlight how island populations developed social and political strategies to effectively manage their ecosystems, ensuring the long-term survival of their societies and the persistence of their cultural traditions. In case studies from islands in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic, contributors apply resilience theory, historical ecology, niche construction theory, and human behavioral ecology to foreground Indigenous resiliency and sustainability. Modern island and coastal societies face daunting challenges in the decades to come, including climate change, sea level rise, and the loss of habitable lands and heritage resources. Sustainability in Ancient Island Societies argues that the study of past human responses to such changes, especially practices rooted in Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, can inform solutions to manage these threats today.Contributors: Rebecca Boger | Emira Ibrahimpasic | Frederique Valentin | Stuart Bedford | Davide Marco Zori | William Jeffery | Denise Elena | Edith Gonzalez | Mark Horrocks | Anaëlle Jallon | Sophia Perdikaris | Iarowoi Philip | Takaronga Kuautonga | Lindsey E. Cochran | Christopher Wolff | Todd Braje | Craig Shapiro | Allison Bain | Dr. Torben C. Rick | James Flexner | Tim Denham | Jon M. Erlandson | Robert Williams | Victor D. Thompson | Scott M. Fitzpatrick | Julie Field | Kristina M. Gill | Sandrine Grouard A volume in the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited by Victor D. Thompson and Scott M. FitzpatrickAfter 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations (Turning Points In Ancient History Ser. #12)
By Eric H. Cline. 2024
In this gripping sequel to his bestselling 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the story of what happened after the Bronze…
Age collapsed—why some civilizations endured, why some gave way to new ones, and why some disappeared forever&“A landmark book: lucid, deep, and insightful. . . . You cannot understand human civilization and self-organization without studying what happened on, before, and after 1177 B.C.&”—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of The Black SwanAt the end of the acclaimed history 1177 B.C., many of the Late Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean lay in ruins, undone by invasion, revolt, natural disasters, famine, and the demise of international trade. An interconnected world that had boasted major empires and societies, relative peace, robust commerce, and monumental architecture was lost and the so-called First Dark Age had begun. Now, in After 1177 B.C., Eric Cline tells the compelling story of what happened next, over four centuries, across the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean world. It is a story of resilience, transformation, and success, as well as failures, in an age of chaos and reconfiguration.After 1177 B.C. tells how the collapse of powerful Late Bronze Age civilizations created new circumstances to which people and societies had to adapt. Those that failed to adjust disappeared from the world stage, while others transformed themselves, resulting in a new world order that included Phoenicians, Philistines, Israelites, Neo-Hittites, Neo-Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians. Taking the story up to the resurgence of Greece marked by the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., the book also describes how world-changing innovations such as the use of iron and the alphabet emerged amid the chaos.Filled with lessons for today's world about why some societies survive massive shocks while others do not, After 1177 B.C. reveals why this period, far from being the First Dark Age, was a new age with new inventions and new opportunities.Black Feminist Archaeology
By Whitney Battle-Baptiste. 2011
Black feminist thought has developed in various parts of the academy for over three decades, but has made only minor…
inroads into archaeological theory and practice. Whitney Battle-Baptiste outlines the basic tenets of Black feminist thought and research for archaeologists and shows how it can be used to improve contemporary historical archaeology. She demonstrates this using Andrew Jackson‘s Hermitage, the W. E. B. Du Bois Homesite in Massachusetts, and the Lucy Foster house in Andover, which represented the first archaeological excavation of an African American home. Her call for an archaeology more sensitive to questions of race and gender is an important development for the field.The Art of Museum Exhibitions: How Story and Imagination Create Aesthetic Experiences
By Leslie Bedford. 2014
Leslie Bedford, former director of the highly regarded Bank Street College museum leadership program, expands the museum professional’s vision of…
exhibitions beyond the simple goal of transmitting knowledge to the visitor. Her view of exhibitions as interactive, emotional, embodied, imaginative experiences opens a new vista for those designing them. Using examples both from her own work at the Boston Children’s Museum and from other institutions around the globe, Bedford offers the museum professional a bold new vision built around narrative, imagination, and aesthetics, merging the work of the educator with that of the artist. It is important reading for all museum professionals.Rome and the Classic Maya: Comparing the Slow Collapse of Civilizations
By Rebecca Storey, Glenn R Storey. 2017
This volume compares two of the most famous cases of civilizational collapse, that of the Roman Empire and the Classic…
Maya world. First examining the concept of collapse, and how it has been utilized in the historical, archaeological and anthropological study of past complex societies, Storey and Storey draw on extensive archaeological evidence to consider the ultimate failure of the institutions, infrastructure and material culture of both of these complex cultures. Detailing the relevant economic, political, social and environmental factors behind these notable falls, Rome and the Classic Maya contends that a phenomenon of “slow collapse” has repeatedly occurred in the course of human history: complex civilizations are shown to eventually come to an end and give way to new cultures. Through their analysis of these two ancient case studies, the authors also present intriguing parallels to the modern world and offer potential lessons for the future.Reculturing Museums: Embrace Conflict, Create Change
By Doris B. Ash. 2022
Reculturing Museums takes a unified sociocultural theoretical approach to analyze the many conflicts museums experience in the 21st century. Embracing…
conflict, Ash asks: What can practitioners and researchers do to create the change they want to see when old systems remain stubbornly in place?Using a unified sociocultural, cultural-historical, activity-theoretical approach to analyzing historically bound conflicts that plague museums, each chapter is organized around a central contradiction, including finances ("Who will pay for museums?"), demographic shifts ("Who will come to museums?"), the roles of narratives ("Whose story is it?"), ownership of objects ("Who owns the artifact?"), and learning and teaching ("What is learning and how can we teach equitably?"). The reculturing stance taken by Ash promotes social justice and equity, ‘making change’ first, within museums, called inreach, rather than outside the museum, called outreach; challenges existing norms; is sensitive to neoliberal and deficit ideologies; and pays attention to the structure agency dialectic.Reculturing Museums will be essential reading for academics, students, museum practitioners, educational researchers, and others who care about museums and want to ensure that all people have equal access to the activities, objects, and ideas residing in them.The Invisible Sex: Uncovering the True Roles of Women in Prehistory
By J. M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer, Jake Page. 2007
Shaped by cartoons and museum dioramas, our vision of Paleolithic times tends to feature fur-clad male hunters fearlessly attacking mammoths…
while timid women hover fearfully behind a boulder. Recent archaeological research has shown that this vision bears little relation to reality. J. M. Adovasio and Olga Soffer, two of the world's leading experts on perishable artifacts such as basketry, cordage, and weaving, present an exciting new look at prehistory. With science writer Jake Page, they argue that women invented all kinds of critical materials, including the clothing necessary for life in colder climates, the ropes used to make rafts that enabled long-distance travel by water, and nets used for communal hunting. Even more important, women played a central role in the development of language and social life—in short, in our becoming human. In this eye-opening book, a new story about women in prehistory emerges with provocative implications for our assumptions about gender today.Interpretive Planning for Museums: Integrating Visitor Perspectives in Decision Making
By Marcella Wells, Barbara H Butler, Judith Koke. 2013
Museum professionals' increased focus on visitors in recent years has been demonstrated by, among other things, the enhanced practice of…
evaluation and the development of interpretive plans. Yet too often, these efforts function independent of one another. This book helps museums integrate visitors' perspectives into interpretive planning by recognizing, defining, and recording desired visitor outcomes throughout the process. The integration of visitor studies in the practice of interpretive planning is also based on the belief that the greater our understanding, tracking, and monitoring of learners, the greater the impact museums will make on public understanding of the science and humanities disciplines. An approach that advocates thoughtful and intentional interpretive planning that constantly integrates visitor perspectives is the next step in working with, rather than for, our communities; a step toward truly becoming visitor-centered and impactful as essential learning institutions of the 21st century.The Archaeological Survey Manual
By Gregory G White, Thomas F King. 2007
Governmental guidelines have forced a dramatic change in the practice of archaeological surveying in recent decades. In response to public…
and private development, surveying is needed to accurately inventory the cultural resources of a region and provide guidance for their preservation and management. Greg White and Tom King provide a handy introduction to students, field novices, and land managers on the strategies, methods, and logic of contemporary survey work. In addition to providing the legal and historical context for this endeavor the book provides a heavily illustrated, practical guide to conducting a survey to help beginners understand how it works in practice. This volume is perfect for an archaeological methods class, field school, or reference collection.This edited collection explores the intersection of historical studies and the artistic representation of the past in the long nineteenth…
century. The case studies provide not just an account of the pursuit of history in art within Western Europe but also examples from beyond that sphere. These cover canonical and conventional examples of history painting as well as more inclusive, ‘popular’ and vernacular visual cultural phenomena. General themes explored include the problematics internal to the theory and practice of academic history painting and historical genre painting, including compositional devices and the authenticity of artefacts depicted; relationships of power and purpose in historical art; the use of historical art for alternative Liberal and authoritarian ideals; the international cross-fertilisation of ideas about historical art; and exploration of the diverse influences of socioeconomic and geopolitical factors. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of the histories of nineteenth-century art and culture.The Life of Rylan
By Rylan Clark-Neal. 2016
*The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller*Well hark at you, stumbling upon my autobiography. Bet you wouldn't have put money on…
that three years ago, eh?! Please don't stress yourself out too much, though, it's actually socially acceptable nowadays that you're interested. Firstly I'd like to emphasise that I have WRITTEN THIS BOOK MYSELF, so be assured you're getting the TOOTH, the WHOLE TOOTH and NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH! (Which was my original choice of title, but babe, we're so over that.) This book documents my story, year by year, from my humble beginnings growing up in the East End of London, becoming one of the nation's most talked-about people overnight to finally moving up the spectrum from guilty pleasure, and getting nearer to national treasure.It will make you laugh, cry, and most importantly you'll discover who I really am. If it doesn't do any of those things you're not legally entitled to a refund - just clearing that up ;-).I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it. This book has been like therapy, and LORD was I in need. Enjoy!Home: A Time Traveller's Tales from Britain's Prehistory
By Francis Pryor. 2014
In Home Francis Pryor, author of The Making of the British Landscape, archaeologist and broadcaster, takes us on his lifetime's…
quest: to discover the origins of family life in prehistoric BritainFrancis Pryor's search for the origins of our island story has been the quest of a lifetime. In Home, the Time Team expert explores the first nine thousand years of life in Britain, from the retreat of the glaciers to the Romans' departure. Tracing the settlement of domestic communities, he shows how archaeology enables us to reconstruct the evolution of habits, traditions and customs. But this, too, is Francis Pryor's own story: of his passion for unearthing our past, from Yorkshire to the west country, Lincolnshire to Wales, digging in freezing winters, arid summers, mud and hurricanes, through frustrated journeys and euphoric discoveries. Evocative and intimate, Home shows how, in going about their daily existence, our prehistoric ancestors created the institution that remains at the heart of the way we live now: the family.'Under his gaze, the land starts to fill with tribes and clans wandering this way and that, leaving traces that can still be seen today . . . Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it' - Guardian Former president of the Council for British Archaeology, Dr Francis Pryor has spent over thirty years studying our prehistory. He has excavated sites as diverse as Bronze Age farms, field systems and entire Iron Age villages. He appears frequently on TV's Time Team and is the author of The Making of the British Landscape, Seahenge, as well as Britain BC and Britain AD, both of which he adapted and presented as Channel 4 series.How to Read Industrial Britain
By Tim Cooper. 2011
From steam engines and suspension bridges to canals, factories and pubs, the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries…
transformed the social and material landscape of Britain. Yet how many of us know why our local pub looks the way it does or why a railway station might resemble a cathedral? This book reveals how, by 'reading' buildings, structures and townscapes, we can understand their context and significance for the society that created them.Author Tim Cooper uses themes including transport, education and religion to show how the geographical and architectural remains of industrial Britain have shaped us as a people. He sheds light on how and why the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution redesigned our towns and countryside, and draws on a wealth of British sites to explain, for instance, how canals were instrumental in the expansion of industry, or why affluent suburbs are usually situated in the west end of a town.This book is a joy for anyone wanting to investigate our industrial heritage and discover the secret history behind familiar, everyday features of our urban and rural landscapes.Hengeworld
By Michael Pitts. 2000
In November 1997 English Heritage announced the discovery of a vast prehistoric temple in Somerset. The extraordinary wooden rings at…
Stanton Drew are the most recent and biggest of a series of remarkable discoveries that have transformed the way archaeologists think of the great monuments in the region, including Avebury and Stonehenge; one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments, top tourist site and top location for summer solstice celebrations. The results of these discoveries have not been published outside academic journals and no one has considered the wider implications of these finds. Here Mike Pitts, who has worked as an archaeologist at Avebury, and has access to the unpublished English Heritage files, asks what sort of people designed and built these extraordinary neolithic structures - the biggest in Britain until the arrival of medieval cathedrals. Using computer reconstructions he shows what they looked like and asks what they are for. This is the story of the discovery of a lost civilisation that spanned five centuries, a civilisation that now lies mostly beneath the fields of Southern England.