University of Chicago Press: New Titles from 'Amsterdam University Press'

Conflict of the Faculties

Henk Borgdorff — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 05:00:00 GMT

The Conflict of the Faculties looks at the emerging field of artistic research as a place of crossover between the artistic and academic worlds. Henk Borgdorff carefully examines how artistic research broadens and deepens traditional academic approaches to studying art, while observing the tension between the two disparate fields in terms of methods and practices.

“Well-written and well-argued, this book will probably become a reference for many studies to come and required reading for anyone active in this domain.”—Frans-Willem Korsten, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Leiden University, the Netherlands

Paris-Amsterdam Underground

Christoph Lindner; Andrew Hussey — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 05:00:00 GMT

The postwar histories of Paris and Amsterdam have been significantly defined by the notion of the “underground” as both a material and metaphorical space. Examining the underground traffic between the two cities, this book interrogates the countercultural histories of Paris and Amsterdam in the mid to late-twentieth century. Shuttling between Paris and Amsterdam, as well as between postwar avant-gardism and twenty-first century global urbanism, this interdisciplinary book seeks to create a mirroring effect over the notion of the underground as a driving force in the making of the contemporary European city.

Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art

Vinzenz Hediger; Barbara Le Maitre; Julia Noordegraaf; Cosetta G. Saba — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This vibrantly illustrated introduction to the emerging field of the preservation and presentation of media art brings together the contributions of authors from all over Europe and the United States. This volume can serve as a textbook for students in advanced degree programs in media art and museum studies, as well as an invaluable introduction for general readers. A potent combination of incisive scholarly articles and focused case studies, Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art offers a comprehensive overview of the history, theory, and practical skills of preserving media art.

Local Portraiture

Carmen Pérez González — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This thoughtfully and meticulously researched book explores the work of indigenous Iranian photographers and the way in which their photographs reflect their society and surroundings. In order to highlight how photography reflects local culture, Carmen Pérez González, a photographer herself, offers a comparative visual analysis of nineteenth-century Iranian photographs and paintings created during the same time period and in the same place in order to show that aesthetic preferences are rooted in the socio-cultural habits of artists. This lushly illustrated book is a testimony to the unique power and historical value of photographic portraits and their enduring power to capture local realities.

David Gorlæus (1591-1612)

Christoph Lüthy — Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:00 GMT

When David Gorlæus, a prospective theology student, passed away tragically at twenty-one years old, he left behind two highly innovative manuscripts, which were published posthumously in 1620 and 1651, respectively. As his identity was unknown, seventeenth-century readers understood him both as an anti-Aristotelian thinker and a precursor of Descartes. In contrast, by the twentieth century, historians depicted him as an atomist, natural scientist, and even a chemist. David Gorlæus (1591–1612) seeks to pull together what is known of this enigmatic figure. Combining multiple historical sources, Christoph Lüthy provides a narrative of Gorlæus’s life that casts light on his exceptional body of work and places it firmly at the intersection between philosophy, the nascent natural sciences, and theology.

“Christoph Lüthy is the first to tell the complete story of David Gorlæus and to reconstruct his image on the basis of all remaining sources. Showing in a convincing way that Gorlæus is one of the key figures in the renewal of atomistic philosophy in the seventeenth century and a major influence on many philosophers that are much better known, he leaves us with the melancholy picture of someone who died too young to become one of the heroes of the scientific revolution.”—Theo Verbeek, Utrecht University

Tantalisingly Close

Imar De Vries — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

In this important new study, Imar de Vries take a historical and comparative approach in researching our intimate relationship with present-day mobile wireless technologies. By analyzing the full range of human expectations and behavior in regard to mobile devices, de Vries looks at how wireless gadgets have changed our ideas about communication, while at the same time he demonstrates how modern technology surprisingly repeats the patterns of older media. Applying a far-reaching and archaeological perspective to communication media, Tantalisingly Close looks at human desire to connect and the way that it has both shaped and been shaped by technology, past and present.

Turkish and Moroccan Second Generation and Their Comparison Group Peers in Amsterdam and Rotterdam

Nienke E. Hornstra; George Groenewold; Laurence Lessard-Phillips — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This report provides technical information from a study on the lives of the second generation of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands today. Respondents provided detailed information on cultural, social, and economic aspects of integration in Dutch society. This report has a methodological focus and is important to those wishing to further explore the collected data and examine aspects of the survey’s design and implementation.

Drama as Text and Performance

Egil Törnqvist — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This book is a study of August Strindberg’s famous drama Miss Julie, presented in both Swedish and English. Since it was first performed in 1888, Miss Julie has became one of the most successful plays written by Strindberg, widely considered one of the pioneers of modern drama. The book provides a penetrating analysis of the author’s text, followed by a close investigation of Ingmar Bergman’s much lauded 1985 production at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Drama as Text and Performance is intended as a paradigmatic illustration of similarities and differences between the two media—textand performance and their recipients, readers and spectators.

Gender, Generations and the Family in International Migration

Albert Kraler; Eleonore Kofman; Martin Kohli; Camille Schmoll — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Family-related migration is moving to the center of political debates on migration, integration, and multiculturalism in Europe. Still, strands of academic research on family migrations and migrant families remain separate from—and sometimes ignorant of—each other. This volume seeks to bridge the disciplinary divide. Collectively, the authors address the need to better understand the diversity of family-related migration and its resulting family forms and practices, to question simplistic assumptions about migrant families in public discourse, to study family migration from a mix of disciplinary perspectives, and to acknowledge the state’s role in shaping family-related migration, practices, and lives.

Making of the Humanities

Rens Bod; Jaap Maat; Thijs Weststeijn — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

While it is clear that around 1800 the humanities as a discipline rose to prominence, it is less clear what the exact nature of this shift in academia was. Was it a sudden revolution caused by a momentary but powerful change in the zeitgeist or the turning point of a much longer process? In this volume, the editors have selected a series of essays that look at the origins of the humanities and find that long before 1800 the concept of the humanities was already at the fore. The shift around 1800 was thus mostly institutional, not theoretical. The Making of the Humanities traces this new finding through a broad range of disciplines including literary theory, linguistics, art history, and musicology.

Figuring the Past

Belén Vidal — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This innovative analysis of period film presents a new way to examine the ways in which contemporary cinema recreates the historical past. Exploring the relationship between visual motifs and cultural representation, Figuring the Past is a selection of detailed case studies that explore three key figures—the house, the tableau, and the letter. Belen Vidal proposes a new aesthetic framework for the study of period film, looking at a number of important auteurs in the genre, including James Ivory, Martin Scorsese, and Jane Campion. This handsomely illustrated book seeks to position this popular but often understudied genre in its proper place within the academic discipline of cinema studies.

Holocaust and Other Genocides

Maria van Haperen — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

After the unthinkable horrors of the Holocaust, the United Nations signed the Genocide Convention in 1948. Although this convention aimed for the prevention of genocide in the future, large-scale mass murder nonetheless returned in Rwanda and Cambodia, among other nations. Genocide is incredibly difficult to fight, as its causes are complex and deeply rooted, but international courts and tribunals have begun to play an increasing role in bringing perpetrators to justice. This book offers concise information about five twentieth-century cases of genocide, while analyzing overarching issues in international justice.

Introduction to International Migration Studies

Marco Martiniello; Jan Rath — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

This essential volume is the second published in the textbook series of the International Migration and Social Cohesion Research Network. The editors have assembled a comprehensive collection of twenty-five classic papers that have had a lasting impact on studies of international migration and immigrant integration in Europe. The contributors discuss migration studies in the context of both history and theory as their base point, presenting a broad range of central topics in an accessible textbook format.

True History Full of Romance

Marga Altena — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

In this important study, Marga Altena offers a fascinating overview of racial politics in the Netherlands during the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century through three case studies of real-life multiracial couples from different socioeconomic classes and geographic regions. With particular care paid to the way news and visual media portrayed these couples, Altena has created a highly readable narrative that represents its protagonists not simply as victims of racial prejudice, but also as agents in their own self-representation. Complete with stunning images, A True History Full of Romance sheds light on a rarely explored, but undeniably fascinating aspect of Dutch history.

Science 3.0

Frank Miedema — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

When people think of a scientist, they often think of someone who has his or her head in the clouds, motivated by an entirely untainted desire for the pursuit of knowledge and truth. In Science 3.0, Frank Miedema casts aside these beliefs about scientists as needlessly naïve, and instead suggests that we rebuild our idea of the sciences, particularly the life sciences, with today’s economic reality in mind.

This book is a frank discussion of the impact of external forces on the sciences, dealing with topics as diverse as social media for the scientist, the role of academic independence, and the tension between university and business. Miedema also shows the way science shapes both economic and social progress in modern society, and how increasing pressure to solve real-world problems has forced scientists out of the ivory tower and into the corporate world. Sharply observed and exceptionally well-researched, Science 3.0 provides scientists with a powerful overview of their field that is singular in its candor and breadth.

Syntax of Dutch

Hans Broekhuis; Evelien Keizer — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Syntax of Dutch presents a synthesis of formal linguistic research of the Dutch language from over forty years of scholarship. It is primarily concerned with language description, and provides support to all researchers interested in matters relating to the syntax of Dutch. These volumes provide a dense yet highly organized description of the internal structure of the noun phrase as well as its external distribution within the clause. These works are written with a directness and lucidity that makes it accessible to linguists of all kinds, including advanced students. This work, which will be published in seven volumes total in the period 2012–2016, is an essential addition to the library of any linguist working with Dutch.

Syntax of Dutch

Hans Broekhuis; Marcel den Dikken — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Syntax of Dutch presents a synthesis of formal linguistic research of the Dutch language from over forty years of scholarship. It is primarily concerned with language description, and provides support to all researchers interested in matters relating to the syntax of Dutch. These volumes provide a dense yet highly organized description of the internal structure of the noun phrase as well as its external distribution within the clause. These works are written with a directness and lucidity that makes it accessible to linguists of all kinds, including advanced students. This work, which will published in seven volumes in the period 2012–2016, is an essential addition to the library of any linguist working with Dutch.