The hostess of a popular Parisian salon, the role of presidential power, and bullying and aggression among teenage girls are among the topics examined in new books by Rochester faculty. Here’s a summer New Reads selection of recent work.
Mother of the Church: Sofia Svechina, the Salon, and the Politics of Catholicism in 19th-Century Russia and France
By Tatyana Bakhmetyeva ’06 (PhD)
Northern Illinois University Press, 2016
Bakhmetyeva, a lecturer at the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, tells the story of Madame Sofia Svechina, a Russian émigré who ran one of the most popular salons in early 19th-century Paris. A recent convert to Roman Catholicism, Svechina gave her salon a religious character. Bakhmetyeva’s book examines liberal Catholicism, religious conversion, nationalism, and the role of the European salon.
The Enigma of Presidential Power: Parties, Policies, and Strategic Uses of Unilateral Action
By Fang-Yi Chiou and Lawrence Rothenberg
Cambridge University Press, 2017
Rothenberg, the Corrigan-Minehan Professor of Political Science and the director of the W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, and Chiou, a researcher at Academia Sinica, the national academy of Taiwan, examine presidents’ reliance on unilateral actions in the face of gridlock. They argue that presidents contemplating the use of executive orders are often constrained by concerns about challenging the legislature and the courts. Most notably, the ability of Congress to employ extrastatutory means—efforts by legislators and their parties that don’t require passing a law—limits how presidents use their powers.
Downed by Friendly Fire: Black Girls, White Girls, and Suburban Schooling
By Signithia Fordham
University of Minnesota Press, 2016
For two and a half years, Fordham, an associate professor of anthropology, studied female-specific bullying, competition, and aggression at a predominantly white suburban high school in upstate New York. Her objective was “to excavate, to resuscitate, and to rehabilitate the meaning of violence, with the major focus being rehabilitation.” Fordham examines particularly verbal violence and pays special attention to female students who interact across racial lines as “frenemies,” in relationships where boundaries between the categories of friend and enemy dissolve.
An Introduction to the Theory of Wave Maps and Related Geometric Problems
By Dan-Andrei Geba and Manoussos Grillakis
World Scientific Publishing Company, 2016
Wave maps—mathematical objects that model interactions between subatomic particles in nuclear physics—are among the most challenging nonlinear hyperbolic systems in mathematics. Geba, an associate professor of mathematics, and Grillakis, a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, offer an introduction for advanced graduate students and professional mathematicians and physicists. The book presents an up-to-date overview of the wave maps system and recent developments of the theory.
Statistical Methodologies with Medical Applications
By S.R.S. Rao Poduri
Wiley, 2016
Poduri, a professor of mathematics and the director of the statistics program, presents statistical methods as applied to the medical field. Topics include immunization, obesity, diet, and the harmful effects of smoking and air pollution. Designed for graduate students in statistics and biostatistics, the book also offers exercises and solutions constructed from practical situations, the research findings of medical journals, and summary reports of the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.
Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness
By Richard Ryan and Edward Deci
Guilford Press, 2017
Ryan, a professor of clinical and social sciences in psychology, and Deci, the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowan Professor in the Social Sciences and a professor of psychology, are the cofounders of self-determination theory, an internationally recognized and researched theory of motivation and wellness. The theory addresses how people’s basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—affect their development, productivity, and happiness. The volume provides a comprehensive research overview, historical background, description of the theory’s core concepts, and chapters in which the theory is applied to education, psychotherapy, sports, parenting, virtual environments, and the workplace.
