Book Marks
Recent books by Indiana University faculty members
Perennials Short and Tall: A Seasonal Progression of Flower for Your Garden. Moya Andrews' Bloomington home has long been a local attraction for its lush flower gardens, reliably in full bloom from April to October. Now that she has retired from administrative and teaching duties at Indiana University, Andrews is sharing her gardening secrets. Her new IU Press book, Perennials Short and Tall: A Seasonal Progression of Flowers for Your Garden,provides practical advice along with information about the history and folklore of cultivating flowers. "I have this passion for flowers, and I've been doing it for a long time. I like to have a lot of them," said Andrews, who is dean emeritus of the faculties at IU. The 144-page paperback book, featuring 37 full-page illustrations by Bloomington artist Gillian Harris, focuses on plants that grow well in Indiana's moderate climate. Arranged according to the seasons, it explains how to site plants so that there's always something flowering, spring, summer and fall, with plant size and foliage adding to the overall impression. Andrews, a native of Australia, continues a second career that she began after retiring in 2004 as dean of the faculties and professor of speech and hearing sciences. She also writes a gardening column for Bloom magazine and produces "Focus on Flowers" segments for IU public radio station WFIU. "It sort of answers the question: 'What do academics do when they retire?'" she said. "I'm still lecturing and still writing, but it's on new topics."
The Amazonian Caboclo and the Açaí Palm: Forest Farmers in the Global Market. IU Bloomington Anthropology Chair Eduardo Brondizio tells the story of the boom in the açaí fruit economy -- from a rural staple to a chic health food delicacy in national and international markets -- and examines the development of the production systems and commodity chains required to supply the burgeoning demand for this fruit. His new book also carefully reconsiders the contested and stigmatized history of the social identity of caboclos -- Brazilians who are descended from both Amerindians and Europeans. Brondizio explains how the Amazonian caboclos who inhabit the Amazonian estuarine floodplains are forest farmers who have been transforming their forest environment, sometimes imperceptibly, for generations. The boom in açaí provides an invaluable window through which the society, ecological knowledge, and economic life of those who produce the fruit can be viewed. Brondizio is known for combining many aspects of life in his studies and books, from the unique cultural practices of the people he studies to their economy and ecological relationships. The Amazonian Caboclo and the Açaí Palm: Forest Farmers in the Global Market is published by The New York Botanical Garden Press. Charles Peters, editor of the press' series Advances in Economic Botany, said, "Author Eduardo S. Brondízio's treatment of caboclos and açaí sets a new standard in the study of people and plants."
Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge. A poet, an ecologist, a philosopher, an entomologist and a historian are among the contributors to Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge, co-edited by Lisa H. Sideris, assistant professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. The multiple points of view pay tribute to the interdisciplinary approach taken by Carson, whose 1962 book Silent Spring served as midwife to the modern environmental movement. The book includes chapters by author and naturalist Terry Tempest Williams and ecologist-activist Sandra Steingraber, along with sections by scholars of religion, ethics and gender. Sideris contributes two essays: one on the relationship between Carson's breast cancer and her understanding of the environment, the other on the religious roots of her world view. Published by SUNY Press in hardcover and paperback, Rachel Carson: Legacy and Challenge, addresses not only the contested legacy of Silent Spring but Carson's earlier nature writing, such as The Sea Around Us, and the posthumously published A Sense of Wonder. Sideris and co-editor Kathleen Dean Moore, distinguished professor of philosophy at Oregon State University, write: "Rachel Carson's life work shows us how a sense of wonder can be a virtue, perhaps a keystone virtue in our time of reckless destruction, a source of decency, hope and restraint."
Crimeware: Understanding New Attacks and Defenses. Information security professionals, students, technical managers and IT researchers will be interested in Crimeware: Understanding New Attacks and Defenses, a new book co-written by IU School of Informatics Adjunct Associate Professor Markus Jakobsson. The author, who is currently principal scientist at the Palo Alto Research Center in California, partnered with Zulfikar Ramzan of Symantec Security Response on the book. It examines the emerging Internet security threat called crimeware and guides readers through essential security principles, techniques and countermeasures to keep one step ahead of aggressive cyber criminals. With contributions from top experts in the security industry, the book helps readers understand what crimeware is, how to identify it, and how to prevent attacks. Jakobsson previously co-authored a much-celebrated book on phishing, Phishing and Countermeasures, with School of Informatics Assistant Professor Steven Myers. Formerly a full-time faculty member at the School of Informatics, Jakobsson received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California at San Diego. Before coming to Indiana University, he held a joint appointment at San Diego Supercomputer Center and General Atomics, worked for Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff, and was principal research scientist at RSA Laboratories.
Understanding Philanthropy: Its Meaning and Mission. Philanthropy has existed in various forms in all cultures and civilizations throughout history, yet most people know little about it and its distinctive place in our lives. Robert L. Payton, professor emeritus of philanthropic studies and the first director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, along with his former student, University of Southern California Assistant Professor Michael P. Moody, tackle the fundamental questions in philanthropic studies. Their book, published by IU Press, presents a new way of thinking about the meaning and mission of philanthropy. "In writing this book, and in our experiences thinking about and doing philanthropy in some professional capacity -- over the course of about 50 years for one of us, a mere 20 years for the other -- we have never stopped asking, 'What is philanthropy?' Our simple answer, too, has not changed. It is the same answer proposed by the senior one of us many years ago in a previous book: philanthropy is 'voluntary action for the public good,'" they write in their introductory chapter.
Native American Place-Names of Indiana. In tracing the roots of Indiana place names, Michael McCafferty, an Algonquian and Uto-Aztecan linguist in IU's Department of Second Language Studies, focuses on those created and used by local Native Americans. Drawing from exciting new sources that include three Illinois dictionaries from the 18th century, McCafferty documents the language used to describe landmarks essential to fur traders in Les Pays d'en Hut and settlers of the Old Northwest territory. His book, published by University of Illinois Press, details who created each name, as well as when, where, how and why they were used. The result is a detailed linguistic history of lakes, streams, cities, counties and other Indiana place names. Each entry includes native language forms, translations and pronunciation guides, offering fresh historical insight into the state of Indiana.
The Business of Lobbying in China. In this timely work, Scott Kennedy, director of IU's Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business, documents the rising influence of business, both Chinese and foreign, on national public policy in China. China's shift to a market economy has made businesses more sensitive to their bottom line and has seen the passage of thousands of laws and regulations that directly affect firms' success. Companies have become involved in a tug of war with the government and with each other to gain national policy advantages, often setting the agenda, providing alternative options and pressing for a favored outcome. Kennedy's comparison of lobbying in the steel, consumer electronics and software industries shows that although companies operate in a common political system, economic circumstances shape the nature and outcome of lobbying. Factors such as private or state ownership, size, industry concentration and technological sophistication all affect industry activism. Based on more than 300 in-depth interviews with company executives, business association representatives and government officials, this 257-page study identifies a wide range of national economic policies influenced by lobbying, including taxes, technical standards and intellectual property rights. These findings have significant implications for how we think about Chinese politics and economics, as well as government-business relations in general.
The Art of Teaching Music. Estelle R. Jorgensen, a professor of music at the IU Bloomington Jacobs School of Music, writes about the important aspects of music teaching from organization to serving as conductor to dealing with the disconnect between the ideal of university teaching and the reality of the classroom. Writing for both established teachers and instructors on the rise, Jorgensen opens a conversation about the life and work of the music teacher. "I seek to share principles that I see as important in the life and work of a music teacher -- principles that emerge out of my reading and reflection on my own lived experience. I focus on the music teacher, since those of us who teach music are in a crucial position to help our student develop as people, musicians and lovers of music and culture," Jorgensen writes in the book's preface. The book is grounded in the practical realities of music teaching, but Jorgensen also urges music teachers to think and act artfully and courageously. Said Patricia Campbell, the Donald E. Petersen professor of music at University of Washington: "This book will turn heads and quite likely deepen the thoughts of working musicians who teach."
