Georgetown University Press - Böcker

This book explores the effects of global socio-economic forces on the domestic policies and administrative institutions of Japan and the United States, and it explains how these global factors have shifted power and authority downward from the national government to subnational governments. This major comparative study comprises ten pairs of essays written by leading Japanese and American scholars on parallel public policy issues, institutional patterns, and intergovernmental relations in Japan and the United States, all set in the context of globalization and its impact on decentralization in each country. The twenty contributors and the editors provide new insights into the domestic consequences of global interdependence by examining emerging strategies for dealing with environmental concerns, urban problems, infrastructure investments, financial policies, and human services issues.An important study of the changing global setting, "Globalization and Decentralization" emphasizes the innovative and adaptive roles played by Japanese and American state, provincial, regional, and local governments in responding to the dramatic economic and political power shifts created by the new world order.

Pronouncing English is a textbook for teaching English phonetics and phonology, offering an original "stress-based" approach while incorporating all the standard course topics. Drawing on current linguistic theory, it uniquely analyzes prosody first, and then discusses its effects on pronunciation-emphasizing suprasegmental features such as meter, stress, and intonation, then the vowels and consonants themselves. Distinguished by being the first work of its kind to be based on an exhaustive statistical analysis of all the lexical entries of an entire dictionary, Pronouncing English is complemented by a list of symbols and a glossary. Richard Teschner and M. Stanley Whitley present an improved description of English pronunciation and conclude each chapter with suggestions on how to do a better job of teaching it. An appendix with a brief introduction to acoustic phonetics-the basis for the perception vs. the production of sounds-is also included. Revolutionary in its field, Pronouncing English declares that virtually all aspects of English pronunciation-from the vowel system to the articulation of syllables, words, and sentences-are determined by the presence or absence of stress.The accompanying CD-ROM carries audio recordings of many of the volume's exercises, more than 100 text and sound files, and data files on which the statistical observations were based.

In 1830 philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term altruism to provide a general definition for the act of selflessly caring for others. But does this modern conception of sacrificing one's own interests for the well-being of others apply to the charitable behaviors encouraged by all world religions? In Altruism in World Religions prominent scholars from an array of religious perspectives probe the definition of altruism to determine whether it is a category that serves to advance the study of religion. Exploring a range of philosophical and religious thought from Greco Roman philia to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, from Hinduism in India to Buddhism and the religions of China and Japan, the authors find that altruism becomes problematic when applied to religious studies because it is, in fact, a concept absent from religion. Chapters on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam reveal that followers of these religions cannot genuinely perform self-sacrificing acts because God has promised to reward every good deed. Moreover, the separation between the self and the other that self-sacrifice necessarily implies runs counter to Buddhist thought, which makes no such distinction.By challenging our assumptions about the act of self-sacrifice as it relates to religious teachings, the authors have shown altruism to be more of a secular than religious notion. At the same time, their findings highlight how charitable acts operate with the values and structures of the religions studied.

The final and most advanced volume of the Al-Kitaab Arabic textbook program, Part Three is intended to help learners reach a superior level of proficiency by expanding vocabulary and providing paragraph-level activities in reading, writing, and speaking. More than thirty authentic texts by writers from across the Arab world address a range of political, social, religious, and literary themes and represent a range of genres, styles, and periods. Although the book focuses primarily on modern Arabic, classical Arabic texts have been incorporated into some of the lessons to introduce students to the continuity of the language throughout its history. Like previous books in the series, Part Three presents vocabulary-building drills and contextualized explanations of grammar, with exercises designed to push students toward independent learning. The original text and audio are now bound together in one volume along with new video material on DVD that continues the story of Maha and Khalid in Egyptian Arabic, making Part Three an invaluable textbook and reader.This book: guides learners to the superior level of proficiency; strengthens reading skills; increases vocabulary acquisition; refines and expands knowledge of sentence structure and the Arabic verb system; provides extensive writing activities; widens cultural background; and includes more than thirty authentic texts by writers from across the Arab world. Audio tracks have been remastered as MP3 files, recorded on one CD, and bound into the book. It includes all new video material on DVD that continues the story of Maha and Khalid. New video material continues instruction in the Egyptian dialect.

Kazakh, a Turkic language that uses Cyrillic script, is the official state language of Kazakhstan and is also spoken by people in parts of China, Russia, and neighboring Central Asian countries. This unique learner's dictionary features simple definitions, literal translations, English equivalents, full example sentences, and grammar and usage for over 2,000 Kazakh idioms. As students progress to the upper-intermediate and advanced levels of language learning, they come in contact with cultural concepts embedded in simple words that they have learned as part of everyday vocabulary. Thus, they expand their vocabulary into idiomatic expressions. Upper-intermediate and advanced learners of Kazakh will find this extensive reference work useful to understand those culturally bound idioms. Idioms in this reference volume are organized into categories - the human body, food, clothing, color, number, animals, and nature - that best represent the topics on which language learners focus at the beginning and intermediate levels of language study. Five indexes make finding the idiom you want - by idiom, keyword, or expression in both Kazakh and English - easier.

Al-'Arabiyya is the annual journal of the American Society for Teachers of Arabic. It includes scholarly articles that advance the study, research, and teaching of Arabic language, linguistics, literature, and pedagogy. The articles published in Volume 57 of Al-'Arabiyya contribute to timely topics in their own respective fields within Arabic language. This volume also includes reviews of books whose contents and scope cover a range of topics.

A challenge to common assumptions about the future of land warfareGround Combat reveals the gritty details of land warfare at the tactical level and challenges today's overly subjective and often inaccurate approaches to characterizing war. Ben Connable's motivation for writing the book is to offer an evidence-based approach to examining the future of war.Connable created and analyzed an original dataset of more than four hundred global ground combat cases, showing that there was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary shift in the characteristics of ground combat from World War II through the early 2020s. Despite advances in military technology, tanks, artillery, and infantry remain central to how war is waged on land. This book asks readers to stop and think about the implications of these findings for force planning and future predictions about military-technical revolutions.This book sets an essential evidentiary baseline for military officers, policymakers, and scholars who think about the future of modern war.

A transformative perspective on animal afterlife bridging theological reflection and moral actionWhat happens to our beloved companion animals after death? Do they and other animals have a place in the divine plan?A Heaven for Animals offers a groundbreaking theological rationale for the inclusion of animals in heaven, challenging conventional thinking about the role animals have in God's plan. Based on Biblical evidence and the doctrine of the Catholic Church, Christopher Steck reveals a radical vision of divine grace that extends far beyond human-centric perspectives, demonstrating how animals are intrinsically part of Christ's redemptive work.Accessible to both theological scholars and thoughtful readers seeking deeper spiritual insights, this book provides a rigorous and compassionate framework for understanding the sacredness of all creation and the creatures within it. A Heaven for Animals invites readers to reimagine their ethical responsibilities, suggesting that our treatment of animals should strive to reflect an anticipatory vision of God's inclusive kingdom—a transformative perspective that bridges theological reflection and moral action.

A transformative perspective on animal afterlife bridging theological reflection and moral actionWhat happens to our beloved companion animals after death? Do they and other animals have a place in the divine plan?A Heaven for Animals offers a groundbreaking theological rationale for the inclusion of animals in heaven, challenging conventional thinking about the role animals have in God's plan. Based on Biblical evidence and the doctrine of the Catholic Church, Christopher Steck reveals a radical vision of divine grace that extends far beyond human-centric perspectives, demonstrating how animals are intrinsically part of Christ's redemptive work.Accessible to both theological scholars and thoughtful readers seeking deeper spiritual insights, this book provides a rigorous and compassionate framework for understanding the sacredness of all creation and the creatures within it. A Heaven for Animals invites readers to reimagine their ethical responsibilities, suggesting that our treatment of animals should strive to reflect an anticipatory vision of God's inclusive kingdom—a transformative perspective that bridges theological reflection and moral action.

The first biography of the remarkable historical figure who challenged perceptions of women's experiences in the early American RepublicIn 1831 Sister Gertrude Wightt, the directress of Georgetown Academy (now Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School), donned the hat and cape of one of her students and abruptly left the academy and life as a nun. She soon became a fixture on the Washington social scene and an intimate of Dolley Madison.The Two Worlds of Ann Gertrude Wightt is the first comprehensive biography of the enigmatic Wightt. Drawing from a rich cache of previously overlooked primary sources, the book meticulously explores Wightt's transformation from respected academy directress to celebrated "parlor politician" in the nation's capital. It delves deeply into her innovations in female education, her unprecedented departure from convent life, and her remarkable social reinvention. The author reveals a complex narrative of the opportunities and limitations that Catholic religious life posed for this gifted, ambitious, and socially prominent young woman.Scholars of American women's history and Catholicism, as well as general readers, will find an illuminating exploration of how one woman navigated and transcended the rigid boundaries of her time. This book also offers a profound window into the intersections of gender, class, and institutional power in nineteenth-century America, resurrecting this forgotten historical figure who challenges our understanding of women's experiences in the early American Republic.

The first biography of the remarkable historical figure who challenged perceptions of women's experiences in the early American RepublicIn 1831 Sister Gertrude Wightt, the directress of Georgetown Academy (now Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School), donned the hat and cape of one of her students and abruptly left the academy and life as a nun. She soon became a fixture on the Washington social scene and an intimate of Dolley Madison.The Two Worlds of Ann Gertrude Wightt is the first comprehensive biography of the enigmatic Wightt. Drawing from a rich cache of previously overlooked primary sources, the book meticulously explores Wightt's transformation from respected academy directress to celebrated "parlor politician" in the nation's capital. It delves deeply into her innovations in female education, her unprecedented departure from convent life, and her remarkable social reinvention. The author reveals a complex narrative of the opportunities and limitations that Catholic religious life posed for this gifted, ambitious, and socially prominent young woman.Scholars of American women's history and Catholicism, as well as general readers, will find an illuminating exploration of how one woman navigated and transcended the rigid boundaries of her time. This book also offers a profound window into the intersections of gender, class, and institutional power in nineteenth-century America, resurrecting this forgotten historical figure who challenges our understanding of women's experiences in the early American Republic.

An engaging introductory textbook of Catholic theology presented through the thought of Ignatius of LoyolaWho Will You Become? reimagines an introduction to Catholic theology through the framework of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. In this textbook, Ryan G. Duns, SJ, and Conor M. Kelly draw on the concept of discernment—praying and meditating before making decisions—in the Jesuit tradition, and they invite readers to engage with the formative potential of theological studies.This book explains the foundations of Catholic theology in a relatable fashion with practical spiritual exercises for discernment and spiritual growth. Grounding theological concepts in contemporary examples, Duns and Kelly present this accessible introduction to Catholic theology as both a "way of thinking" and a "way of living."

A fascinating exploration of religious belief as the key to understanding ourselves and other people, societies, and culturesWhen we explore the problem of God, we are exploring issues that force us to dig down into the very foundation of who we are, why we are who we are, and why we believe what we believe. Does God exist? What do we mean by "God"? Why believe?The Problem of God explores the challenges of religious belief and spirituality through the lenses of both historical and contemporary sources from religious traditions around the globe, including the Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Confucian, and Daoist traditions. This book engages with the fundamental concerns of belief in God, including the existence of God, the nature of God, different forms of theism and alternatives to theism, warranted belief, and the challenges posed by the problem of evil, pain and suffering, modern science, atheism, and religious pluralism. Cline invites readers to consider different religious beliefs through compelling stories that foster an understanding of human actions and motivations throughout history.The curious and the spiritually hungry will benefit from discovering that there is not one problem of God but many, and that understanding the spiritual dimension of human life holds the key to better understanding ourselves and one another.

An innovative model for understanding how emotion shapes perceptions of Japan and influences its diplomacyFor countries, national image matters. Although Japan is often ranked among the most popular countries in the world, its negative image in China and South Korea bedevils its diplomacy with these two close neighbors. If Japan wishes to improve its image in these two countries—one, its largest trading partner; the other, a key strategic ally—it must gain a better understanding of how this image is formed.Japan and the Emotional Politics of National Image examines the way emotion shapes perceptions of Japan and influences its diplomacy. Kowert traces how the emotional dynamics of international relations delineate shifts in national image that cannot be explained solely by geopolitics, domestic politics, or historical memory. With evidence drawn from case histories, statements by leading politicians, and text analyses of newspapers, the book reveals that Chinese and Korean attitudes toward Japan are more variable than is commonly appreciated and vary in ways that can be predicted by improved models of political emotion.With this book, scholars of international relations and of Japanese and Asian politics will gain new insights into Japan's anxieties about its own image abroad.

How a key period in American Catholic history connects with contemporary populismCatholics fought on both sides of the American Civil War, but few supported the war's evolving aim of emancipating the enslaved. After the war, white Catholics played decisive roles in creating and promoting the ideology of the Lost Cause, a romantic distortion that the war had been a noble Southern fight for freedom, not caused by secession to preserve slavery.Catholics, the Civil War, and the Problem of the Lost Cause sheds light on the surprising legacy of white American Catholics during and after the war years. Curran also explores other topics, such as church-state relations, anti-Catholic nativism, chaplains and nun nurses in wartime, the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Catholic colleges, and Catholic prisoners of war.General readers, scholars, and students interested in the Civil War era and the history of American Catholicism will benefit from a deeper understanding of this history and how it predisposed conservative Catholics to respond positively to today's populist movement, which brought about the election of Donald Trump.

A portrait of the Catholic Church's role in today's geopolitical framework through the eyes of the first Latin American popeIn an interconnected world marked by a "piecemeal world war" and dominated by apocalyptic perspectives, how did Pope Francis see the role of the Church? What are the roots of his "diplomacy of mercy"? How does a desire for mediation align with his vigorous denunciation of today's evils? And what specifically characterized the gestures and words of this pope who "came from the ends of the Earth"?In The Diplomacy of Pope Francis, Antonio Spadaro, SJ, highlights Pope Francis's geopolitical approach. Spadaro draws from personal interviews, official documents, and the pope's numerous cultural and intellectual references to reconstruct a map of Francis's actions through apostolic journeys, synodal events, and the Holy See's international policies. The result is an analysis of the achievements, orientations, and ongoing challenges that shaped Francis's legacy: the commitment to a new humanism in Europe, efforts to end conflicts and the tragedy of migrants, interreligious and international dialogues, the experience of the first global pandemic in the digital age, and attention to regions marked by sharp political contradictions.From this book, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the Church, of the global challenges it faces, and of the pope who sought Christ at the center of the relations between the two.