Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 24, 2004|Volume 33, Number 4

Stephen R. Anderson contends that animals are incapable of using human language in his new book, published by Yale University Press.

Yale Books in Brief

The following is a list of books recently or soon-to-be published by members of the Yale community. Descriptions are based on material provided by the publishers.

Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle
Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, associate professor of genetics
(Pluto Press, distributed in the United States by the University of Michigan Press)

In "Sharing the Land of Canaan," Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, who is also a human rights activist, examines the core issues of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians and argues that the only hope of a lasting peace in the region is the creation of a shared state for Israelis and Palestinians. Qumsiyeh recounts the history and mythology of the fabled "Land of Canaan," and voices his view that only a multiethnic and multicultural region is feasible, and that only co-existence in the form of a shared state can bring enduring peace and a humane and fair solution to the conflict.

Alternatives: The United States Confronts the World
(Paradigm Publishers);

The Uncertainties of Knowledge
(Temple University Press);

World Systems Analysis: An Introduction
(Duke University Press)

Immanuel Wallerstein, senior research scientist in sociology

Immanuel Wallerstein is the author of three recent books.

In "Alternatives: The United States Confronts the World," he argues that globalization, especially in terms of America's ability to dominate economically, has been occuring over the last 200 years and is now actually on the decline. He claims that the Bush administration has broken the pattern of foreign policies set by six presidents before him, and that precedents set by Bush will make it difficult for future presidents to practice the kind of "soft" multilateralism in foreign policy that American leaders have used in the past.

In "The Uncertainties of Knowledge," Wallerstein argues that the disciplinary divisions of academia have created a paradigm that assumes that knowledge is a certainty and that it can help humans explain the social world. He offers a new conception of the social sciences, one whose methodology allows for uncertainties.

In "World Systems Analysis" Wallerstein provides a comprehensive introduction to world systems analysis, a methodology he pioneered 30 years ago as an approach to understanding the history and development of the modern world.

Doctor Dolittle's Delusion: Animals and the Uniqueness of Human Language
Stephen R. Anderson, professor of linguistics, psychology and cognitive science
(Yale University Press)

Stephen R. Anderson demonstrates in "Doctor Dolittle's Delusion" that while animals have interesting properties of their own communication system, they are not capable of acquiring or using human language. Drawing on material from the scientific literature in a range of fields, Anderson discusses the fallacies in common thinking about the relationships between human and animal communication. He uses Hugh Lofting's "Doctor Dolittle" series as background in his book to illustrate how animals can communicate but do not share the unique human trait of being able to talk.

The Genuine Article: A Historian Looks at Early America
Edmund S. Morgan, Sterling Professor Emeritus of History
(W.W. Norton)

Historian Edmund S. Morgan describes his newest book -- a collection of 24 book essays and reviews that were first published in the New York Review of Books -- as an "intellectual autobiography," covering topics he has "thought about early Americans during nearly 70 years in their company." In these essays, he examines the history of the American colonies from the arrival of the first settlers to the changes brought forth by the American Revolution. He also discusses such American leaders as Winthrop, Franklin, Jefferson, Washington and Madison, and covers subjects that range from the sex lives of the Puritans to the witch trials in Salem and to the effects of slavery on Virginia.

Leave No Child Behind: Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's World
Dr. James Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry, Child Study Center
(Yale University Press)

Dr. James Comer is the pioneer of the 35-year-old School Development Program, which engages teachers, parents and administrators in a cooperative and personal relationship for the benefit of children. In "Leave No Child Behind," he argues that support for proper development of children -- psychological, ethical, cognitive, linguistic, social and physical -- is what is missing from the educational system. Drawing on his own experience growing up in a supportive, low-income, African-American family, Comer explores the ways that poor children can prosper when development is fostered. "Leave no child behind," he maintains, "must be more than a political slogan; instead, it must involve the educational system stepping in to forge beneficial relationships between parents, teachers, administrators and children, and to create environments that foster development and learning."

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Grant to support research on role of viruses in cancer

Series honors graduation of Yale's first Chinese student 150 years ago

Program marks 35th anniversary of Afro-American Cultural Center

Study: Recreational gambling can be good for seniors' health

Yale launches $1 million United Way drive

Symposium to explore past and future of suburbanization

Event honors late historian of American South

New bioscience company at Science Park offering . . .

Exhibit showcases work of long-ignored landscape artist

Mayhew lauded for his studies of party politics

Congress' only Holocaust survivor to discuss . . .

Noted playwright to speak about his life, Jewish religion

Prize-winning poet Adrienne Rich will read from her work

Older marathon runners are making greater strides . . .

Cultivating a culture of trust was topic of inaugural conference

Dwight Hall interns devote the summer to causes in New Haven

Reimbursements now available through direct deposit

IN MEMORIAM