Authors and Artists

Fall 2015

Books

How Communists Should Behave

Between 1945 and 1964, more than 6 million members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were investigated for misconduct by local party organizations and then reprimanded, demoted from full party membership, or expelled. Party leaders viewed these investigations as a form of moral education and used humiliating public hearings to discipline wrongdoers and send all Soviet citizens a message about how Communists should behave. The High Title of a Communist (Northern Illinois University Press, 2015) is the first study of the Communist Party’s internal disciplinary system in the decades following World War II. Edward Cohn, associate professor of history, uses the practices of expulsion and censure as a window into how the postwar regime defined the ideal Communist and the ideal Soviet citizen.

Into the Void

Claire Wenngren ’08, under the pen name Emma Stein, authored Into the Void, Tirgearr Publishing, released Aug. 12, 2015. The book is historical fiction with a strong focus on social justice. 

Leadership and Women in Statistics

Leadership and Women in Statistics, edited by Amanda L. Golbeck ’74, Ingram Olkin, and Yulia R. Gel, was published by Chapman and Hall/CRC Press, July 13, 2015.

Love’s Alchemy

Bryan Crockett ’76 has written Love’s Alchemy, a literary and historical novel as well as a mystery, released in March by Five Star Publishing. “It’s about the Elizabethan poet John Donne,” Crockett writes. “Set in 1604, Love’s Alchemy tells the story of Donne’s finding himself blackmailed into spying for Robert Cecil, the most powerful man, including King James, in England.” 

L’arabe comme unchant secret

Skyler Artes ’01 translated Arabic as a Secret Song (original title, L’arabe comme unchant secret) by Leila Sebbar, University of Virginia Press, 2015. 

Near Death/Near Life

Dennis Maulsby ’64 published his third book of poetry, Near Death/Near Life, through Prolific Press. The book strikes a meaningful and tender balance between the appreciation of life’s poignant memories and the human experience of war, both as a construct and a memory. He also wrote “Little Inca Sister” in Crossing Lines, the latest anthology of the Main Street Rag Publishing Co., February 2015. Maulsby’s poem depicts an Inca ice maiden, a sacrificed bride of the Andes Mountains still waiting after 500 years on her frozen perch at 20,000 feet for the world to complete its predestined cycles. His website is www.dennismaulsby.com. 

Single Digits: In Praise of Small Numbers

Why do eight perfect card shuffles leave a standard deck of cards unchanged? Are there really “six degrees of separation” between all pairs of people? How can any map need only four colors to ensure that no regions of the same color touch? Marc Chamberland, Myra Steele Professor of Natural Science and Mathematics, focuses on a different small number in each chapter. He explores number theory, geometry, chaos theory, numerical analysis, and mathematical physics. Published by Princeton University Press, July 2015.

The Thing About Jellyfish

Published by Little, Brown, and Company, this middle-grade novel by Alison Wade Benjamin ’92 earned starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. The story centers on a science-obsessed 12-year-old girl who becomes convinced that her best friend’s death was caused by a rare jellyfish sting and decides to prove it. The coming-of-age story is also about environmental destruction, ecology, the nature of hope and cruelty, family, friendship, and the scientific method.