Pages 23-24: Must Read, Must See, Must Hear

Fixin’ to Git: One Fan’s Love Affair with NASCAR’s Winston Cup
James D. Wright
Provost Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology
In the past twenty years, big-time stock car racing has become America’s fastest growing spectator sport. Winston Cup races draw larger audiences than any other sport, and drivers have become cultural icons whose endorsements command millions. In his new book, Fixin’ to Git, Dr. Wright (a NASCAR fan, himself) explores the question: what accounts for NASCAR’s surging popularity?

2004 National Art Education Lecture
Each year members of the Studies in Art Education Review Board nominate and elect a notable scholar to give the Studies Lecture at the National Art Education Association Conference. This year the conference will take place in Denver in April, and Kristin G. Congdon will have the honor of giving the 20th presentation in the lecture series. Topics are selected by the scholars and are rooted in their years of research in a given area of expertise. Studies in Art Education is widely acknowledged to be the premier journal in the field and being a Studies Lecturer is one of the highest distinctions the field of art education has to offer.

The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing
Carroll Parrott Blue
Professor of Film & Digital Media at UCF, and Kristy H.A. Kang
The Dawn At My Back DVD-ROM is the recipient of the first-ever 2004 Sundance Online Film Festival Jury Award in the New Forms Gallery category. Documentary Filmmaker Carroll Parrott Blue authored The Dawn At My Back as a Book, DVD-ROM, and Website. The story chronicles 20th century racism’s impact on a mother and daughter, against the backdrop of Blue’s hometown of Houston, Texas.

History of the American Cinema - 10 Volume Set
Charles Harpole, editor
Professor of Film
This ground-breaking set, consisting of over 5,000 pages, chronicles the birth and maturation of American motion pictures as a business and an art form. The series of books are sumptuously published with many unique historic photos and documentary records not found in any other source.

Philosophy in America - 2 Volume Set
Nancy A. Stanlick
Assistant Professor of Philosophy,
with Bruce S. Silver
The anthology’s selected works represent some of the defining and persistent trends in the development of American thought. His-torically significant, these discussions point to the development of ideals and expectations that characterize America.

Of Time and Judicial Behavior: United States Supreme Court Agenda-Setting and Decision-Making, 1888-1996
Drew N. Lanier
Associate Professor of Political Science
Of Time and Judicial Behavior provides a wealth of insight into the agenda-setting, attitudes, opinions, and decision-making of the Supreme Court across more than a century of jurisprudence. The analysis goes beyond the scope of previous scholarship. Using a database developed with other scholars at the University of North Texas, Lanier builds on prior studies by extending attitudinal and strategic research on judicial decision-making. The analysis encompasses a broad historical period, including several wars, the Great Depression, a president’s attempt to pack the Court, and changes in the Court’s jurisdiction.

Native North American Armor, Shields, and Fortifications
David E. Jones
Prof. of Anthropology
This book offers the first systematic, comparative study of the defensive armor and fortifications of the aboriginal Native Americans. Drawing data from ethnohistorical accounts and archaeological evidence, Jones surveys the various uses of armor, shields, and fortifications—both before and during European contact. Extensive eye-witness descriptions, photos, and sketches add tangibility and a visual dimension to the text.

Innovative Approaches To Teaching Technical Communication
Karla Saari Kitalong
Assistant Professor of English, with Tracy Bridgeford and Dickie Selfe
Technical communication is a relatively new field; its first professional organization was chartered in the early 1950s and academic programs date back only to the 1970s. Grounded in the ancient art of rhetoric, technical communicators develop procedures, manuals, andother textual artifacts for users of technology. Thisbook responds to the rapidly advancing technology and changing workplace needs by offering technical communication professors a set of dynamic approaches to technical communication—designed both toenergize pedagogy andto constructively critiquecurrent practice. The chapters are theoreticallygrounded, pedagogicallysound, and readily adapt-able to a range of contexts.

A Brief History of Bolivia
Waltraud Q. Morales
Professor of Political Science
A Brief History of Bolivia offers a concise yet comprehensive account of the history of Bolivia from the time of its ancient civilizations established along the shores of Lake Titicaca to recent social and political developments. The narrative surveys Bolivia’s tangled and tumultuous past and its tentative transition to stable democratic government from the 1980s to the present. Written for a general audience the book examines the culture and history of the largely indigenous population, the challenges of nationhood and economic development, the Andean drug war, Bolivia’s relations with neighboring countries and the United States, and the current political crisis. Appendices includea chronology, a bibliography and an list of suggested readings.

QUEST 2004

DATE
Spring 2004

CONTACT
Sae Schatz
Arts & Sciences
Academic Promotions
407-823-5164
sae@cs.ucf.edu

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