Religion has been a central part of human experience since at least the dawn of recorded history. The gods change, as do the rituals, but the underlying desire remains-a desire to belong to something larger, greater, most lasting than our mortal, finite selves. But where did that desire come from? Can we explain its emergence through evolution? Yes, says biological anthropologist Barbara J. King-and doing so not only helps us to understand the...

Americans are turning to popular culture to make sense of the American political system, a trend that explains the success of television shows such as The Simpsons, The West Wing, The Daily Show, and Chapelle's Show and films such as Election, Bulworth, and Wag the Dog. In Homer Simpson Goes to Washington: American Politics through Popular Culture, Joseph J. Foy has assembled a multidisciplinary team of scholars with backgrounds in political science,...

A young author shares an insider's perspective on what it means to be Generation Z-and what Generation Z means for the world. Born at the turn of the millennium, the members of Generation Z are no strangers to today's fast-paced, hyperconnected world. They were born in the Digital Age. They grew up online. Their identities, attitudes, and perspectives have all been uniquely integrated with technology. Now, as they stand at the brink of adulthood,...

The legends of early Rome are among the most memorable of any in the world. They are also highly instructive. They taught generations of Romans about duty and obedience. Duty and obedience might not seem to amount to much these days, but it was precisely these virtues that made Rome great. The legends are not, however, merely self-congratulatory and they are rarely simple exercises in nationalist propaganda. On the contrary, many reveal their ancestors'...

An illuminating story of a Sufi community that sought the revelation of God. In the Afghan highlands of the sixteenth century, the messianic community known as the Roshani­yya not only desired to find God's word and to abide by it but also attempted to practice God's word and to develop techniques of language intended to render their own tongues as the organs of continuous revelation. As their critics would contend, however, the Roshaniyya attempted...

After her father's death, fourteen-year-old Touba takes her family's financial security into her own hands by proposing to a fifty-two-year-old relative. But, intimidated by her outspoken nature, Touba's husband soon divorces her. When she marries again, it is to a prince with whom she experiences tenderness and physical passion and bears four children-but their relationship sours when he proves unfaithful. Touba is granted a divorce, and as her unconventional...

Underneath the dreaming spires of Oxford's world-famous university, generations of women have lived their lives, fighting for the right to study there, and for a role within the city's educational, political and social spheres. Although a few of these women's names have been recorded for posterity, they have been largely because of their association with worthy or famous men; in this book, though, their own lives are detailed, along with those who...

This book is an investigation of how cultures outside the Western tradition understand philanthropy and how people in these cultures attempt to realize "the good" through giving and serving. These essays study philanthropy in Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Jewish, and Native American religious traditions and in cultures from Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Contributors include Steven Feierman, John A. Grim, Leona Anderson,...

A powerful and moving treatise on the surprises of aging from an influential feminist writer and activist who thinks beyond stereotypes The older I get, the more intensely I feel about the world around me. Gloria Steinem has been an eloquent and outspoken voice for women's rights and equality for more than four decades. In Doing Sixty & Seventy she addresses an essential concern of people everywhere-and especially of women: the issue of aging. Whereas...

Describes the work scientists do to find out more about these huge prehistoric animals.