Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Five Stylish Recent Books

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As New Year’s is often a time of glitz and glamour (and last-minute holiday giving), we thought we would feature a few books that often include text with smart things to say, but would also be worth getting just for the pictures.

1. Lynn Pan’s Shanghai Style: Art and Design Between the Wars

An examination of the polyglot artistic influences in early twentieth century Shanghai, by one of the city’s acute observers.

2. Claire Roberts and Geremie R. Barme eds.,The Great Wall of China

This book features essays by many scholars about the varied history and uses of the Great …

Whiteside Family Papers, 1797-2008

NEARA finding aids

This collection includes both the Whiteside family Bible and a 27-page family genealogy study of the descendants of Thomas J. Whiteside. This includes information from the birth of Whiteside in Virginia on 24 March, 1797, and continues with information to 2008. The record contains marriage, birth and death information, lists of sources, and cemetery locations.

Voices Unheard Project Collection, 1955-2008

Finding aids

The collection contains five videotaped oral histories, news clippings, and other materials.

Afro-American Historical And Genealogical Society Records, 1995-2008

Finding aids

The collection consists of materials submitted by several contributors, including conference syllabi, publications, early minutes, and other material related to the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society in Arkansas.

From Lakeport To Chicago Oral History Project, 2008

Finding aids

The collection contains oral histories and transcripts.

Patricia Carolina Camberlen Papers, 1996-2008

Finding aids

This collection contains genealogical research on the Carolina, Archer, Smith, Foster, Miller, and other related families.

Arkansas Department Of Health: Arkansas State Board Of Health Minutes, 1951-2008

Finding aids

The Arkansas Department of Health records contain Arkansas State Board of Health minutes from 1951 to 2008.

Rita Scott Papers, 1951-2008

Finding aids

This collection contains programs, photographs, books, and newspaper articles. There is material relating to President Barack Obama and President Bill Clinton. Much of the material is related to African American history, including items on the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Black heritage sites, and the historically Black Shorter College in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

A Living History: The Arkansas Black Hall Of Fame Exhibit Video Grant Project, 2008

Finding aids

This collection contains one DVD and one brochure on "A Living History: The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame" permanent exhibit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.

Hickman/New Dora Cemetery Preservation Association Grant Project Final Report, 2006-2008

Finding aids

This collection is comprised of the Hickman/New Dora Cemetery Preservation Association grant project final report, documentation of the preservation project, and discs containing digital images of headstones and funeral programs of the individuals buried in Hickman/New Dora Cemetery.

Memorial Garden Cemetery (Old Mound) Grand Project, 2008

Finding aids

This collection is comprised of photographs taken during the unveiling of the Old Mound Cemetery historical marker in 2008. The Black History Commission of Arkansas (BHCA) was created by Act 1233 of 1991 and is composed of seven members appointed by the governor with approval of the Senate. The BHCA is charged with preserving the history of black Arkansans and black communities in Arkansas. This commission also encourages research of Arkansas’s black history and promotes teaching black history in Arkansas schools. Grants are awarded from the BHCA in a concerted effort to ensure Arkansas’s black history is collected and preserved.

Alpine, Arkansas, Missionary Baptist Church Records, 1896-2008

Finding aids

This collection contains lists of church members, minutes of meetings, church letters, associational letters, correspondence, financial records, historical information, and other related materials.

Lonoke, Arkansas, High School Yearbooks, 1954-2008

Finding aids

This collection contains school yearbooks, 1954-2008.

Women's Emergency Committee Anniversaries Collection, 1998-2008

Finding aids

This collection contains newspaper clippings, correspondence, programs, and event planning materials from the 40th, 45th, and 50th anniversary celebrations of the Women's Emergency Committee.

Review Of Patrick Heelan, Space-Perception And The Philosophy Of Science, Cliff Hooker

Research Resources

Heelan has taken a rich philosophical framework and within its categories woven a marvellously detailed and wondrously wide tapestry. That tapestry includes an exciting illumination of Western art and pictorial understanding generally; the sweep of history, scientific and cultural; the enterprise of science and the nature and roles of technology in both science and culture. Heelan's book then has interest at several different levels; in ascending order: there are the specific theses about vision and about science; there is the connecting of philosophy of visual art and philosophy of science; there is Heelan's attempt to set both of these latter …

Taiwan Top Five, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As we prepare to ring out 2008, here are a few thoughts about some of the leading stories that have shaped Taiwan during the past year:

1. Back and Blue: Ma Ying-jeou sweeps into office as Taiwan’s new president, winning a convincing majority of the popular vote based on a platform promising a more stable relationship with China, economic prosperity, and clean government. Cross-Straits tensions have declined markedly, while the opening of direct links should bring great benefits to the citizens of both China and Taiwan. At the same time, however, the economy remains in the doldrums (see #2) …

Educator Materials From The Zillman Art Museum, Zillman Art Museum

General University of Maine Publications

Educator materials and classroom activities from Zillman Art Museum including lessons for creating landscapes and portraits, and lessons in printmaking and watercolor painting. Lessons include Maine Learning Results information.

Rock Is Not Revolution, Part Ii, Chris Heselton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the early rock musicians to make the jump to mainstream and become a household name was Xu Wei. His popularity is probably due to a style that some have called Chinese country or folk rock. This style does not have the explosive rage of heavy metal that many in the popular audience find hard to accept. Instead, he Xu Wei style is a more calm and relaxing melodic rock. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Xu Wei’s music is how similar it is to many of the romantic and nostalgic lyrical themes of pop music. Hometown (故乡, 2000), …

Zeng Jingyan Accepts Hu Jia’S Sakharov Prize

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In late October, the European Parliament announced that it would award this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Hu Jia, an activist for HIV/AIDS and the environment currently imprisoned in Beijing. Hu and his wife, Zeng Jingyan, have been adept at using new media to share their message of human rights activism with an international audience, making Hu Jia better known outside China than inside it.

The award ceremony was held December 17. China has continued to protest the award.

Zeng Jingyan, who remains under surveillance at the couple’s apartment, accepted the award via video, subsequently posted on …

Love And Responsibility In Family Life, Lawrence Frizzell

Department of Religion Publications

Cycle B liturgical readings for Holy Family Sunday, December 28, 2008: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14; Ps 128; Col 3:12-21; Lk 2:41-51.This article was previously published in The Catholic Advocate.

A Precautionary Tale: Separating The Infant From The Fetus, Lawrence Torcello

Articles

This article confronts growing conservative opposition to abortion based on the slippery slope claim that abortion is morally equivalent to infanticide. By examining the relationship between moral skepticism and precautionary ethics the article promotes completely the permissive position on abortion from conception to birth while consistently rejecting the possibility that such a position entails permissive implications for infanticide. The article introduces and traces the implicit relationship between moral skepticism, the precautionary principle and political liberalism.

Philosophical Tours Of China, From Dewey To Derrida, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Peter Zarrow’s piece last month on Bertrand Russell’s writing on and travels to China may have gotten some of our readers curious about the other two members of the triumverate of famous philosophers mentioned in the introduction to that post: the Indian poet and thinker Rabindranath Tagore and the American pragmatist and educational theorist John Dewey. What each of these two men thought about and did while in China could be well worth a posting. And perhaps in 2009 the blog will run such pieces, as it would be a very appropriate year to do so, at least in Dewey’s …

Rock Is Not Revolution, Chris Heselton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Rock is revolution! Rock is rebellion! Rock is democracy! Well, at least Axl Rose seems to think so with his new album Chinese Democracy. A rock legend singing to democracy in China seems almost poetically fitting. When people tend to think of China and rock music, it almost always comes back to democracy, more specifically, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Rock was the theme genre of the liberal, underground democratic movement. Ever since Cui Jian (崔健) played “I Have Nothing” (一无所有)—sometimes translated as “Nothing to My Name”—at the protest, rock music has been associated with democracy in China, and …

More Last Minute Gifts: Books From China Beat Contributors

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Many of our regular contributors have recent books out on China as well. We highly recommend the following as gifts for those many China non-experts in your life.

1. Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang

For: The Worldly Progressive

Chang’s book, published this year to positive reviews (including this one at the New York Times by Howard French, where Factory Girlswas also recently named one of the Times‘ 100 notable books for 2008), follows the lives of young factory workers in Dongguang. Read an excerpt, published earlier at China Beat, here.

2. Socialism is Great!, Lijia Zhang

For: The Memoir Maven …

Currier And Ives Trotting Horses: The Maine Connection, Clark P. Thompson

Maine History Documents

According to one source, nearly one out of every ten prints published by Currier and Ives had the trotting horse as its subject. The so-called "Golden Age of Trotting" in America, from 1840 to 1895, corresponded with the time that the prints of Currier and Ives were most popular. This article provides a brief description of some Currier and Ives trotters with a connection to Maine, including Mac, Tacony and Zachary Taylor, Pelham, Daniel D. Tompkins and Blanc Negre, Trustee, Stella, Flora Temple, Hopeful, Lady Maud, Camors, Smuggler, Emma B, Jay-Eye-See, Pallas, Kremlin, and Nelson.

Autonomous Military Robotics: Risk, Ethics, And Design, Patrick Lin, George Bekey, Keith Abney

Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Divine Justice, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As China ascends to its place as a leading nation on the world stage, questions have arisen concerning the role of its legal system. As Joseph Kahn noted in a feature article entitled Deep Flaws, and Little Justice, in China’s Court System, “Justice in China is swift but not sure.” Many protests in China today center on the issue of justice, with one blogger responding to the January 2008 fatal beating by parapolice officials of a man trying to videotape a protest by lamenting “Where is justice? Where is the law? Aren’t there any rules in China?”

My newest book, …

Last Minute Gifts: China Books

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

So you’ve put off holiday shopping until now. If you’d like to share your love of China this year, here are a few recommendations for old classics and more recent releases for the recipients on your list. All these books are widely available and relatively affordable.

1. Fortress Besieged, by Qian Zhongshu

For: The Literature Lover

We’ve written about this 1947 novel at China Beat before. It is a classic of Chinese literature, but not particularly well known in the West, making it the perfect gift for a well-read friend or relative.

2. The Question of Hu, Jonathan Spence

For: …

Interview With Rich Arenberg By Brien Williams, Richard 'Rich' A. Arenberg

George J. Mitchell Oral History Project

Biographical Note
Richard A. “Rich” Arenberg, the son of Bernard and Mary Arenberg, was born on October 16, 1945, in Norwich Connecticut. He was a campus activist during his undergraduate years at Boston University, and worked on some local campaigns, including the campaign of Tom Atkins, the first African American city councilor in Boston. He received a Ph.D. in political science also from Boston University and has a background in survey research. He worked as the issues director for Paul Tsongas’s first congressional campaign in Massachusetts and continued on Tsongas’s congressional and Senate staff until Tsongas retired from the Senate …

Chinese In Laos, Caroline Finlay

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Chimes jingle on gold-painted stupas and teenagers strum guitars to the beat of passing tuk-tuks in Luang Prabang, Laos’ UNESCO World Heritage sight nestled on the Mekong. Sadly, a more obtrusive rhythm has hit the scene: the squawk of walkie-talkie phones. Like a large percentage of Lao’s motorbikes, clothes and electronics, the walkie-talkie phones are a Chinese import, strapped to the belts of the increasingly numerous Chinese tourists visiting Luang Prabang, famous for its now fragile serenity.

China has begun to re-establish ties with sparsely populated Laos, which has historically aligned with Indochina War ally Vietnam. The Chinese have made …