Ohrstrom Blog » Religion and Ethics

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:28:36 +0000

Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts edited by Joseph R. Rudolph, Jr., Greenwood, 2003.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 305.8 R83

A one-volume guide concerning the study of global ethnic conflict during the 20th Century. Each of the thirty-eight individual entries discusses the historical background of a particular ethnic conflict, how the conflict was managed, and the impact of the conflict.

Examples include:

Canada: The Nationalist Movement in Quebec
China: Ethnic Conflict and the International System
France: The “Foreigner” Issue
Middle East: The Arab-Jewish Struggle for Palestine to 1948
Rwanda: Hutu-Tutsi Conflict and Genocide in Central Africa
United States: The United States – Puerto Rico Relationship

Helpful for: Literature of Witness, Middle Eastern Voices, Gender Studies, International Studies, Social History, World Politics, Humanities

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice

Lisa Laughy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:35:42 +0000

Deb Baker – Interim Reference Librarian

Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice edited by Gary L. Anderson and Kathryn G. Herr, Sage Publications, 2007.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: Ref. 303.48 An2 v.1; Ref. 303.48 An2 v.2; Ref. 303.48 An2 v.3.

Each volume of this set includes a list of the 960 entries and a “Reader’s Guide,” which groups related articles under broad subject headings. For example, under “Environmentalism,” the guide lists 40 pertinent entries scattered across all three volumes. The third volume contains an extensive index.

HELPFUL FOR: Literature of Witness, Terrestrial Ecology, Religion and Ethics, Leadership for Social Justice, Biomedical Ethics, Community Outreach

FUN FOR: Eco-Action members, protest song writers, activist poets

Sustainability at SPS: Inspirations for Sustainable Living Part I

Deb Baker — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:00:48 +0000

Deb Baker – Interim Reference Librarian

Were you inspired to shrink your environmental footprint after listening to Anne Stephenson of Clean Air Cool Planet at chapel yesterday? Do you want to know what a locavore is, how to calculate food miles, or why global hunger persists? Ohrstrom library’s Concord Reads/SPS Community Partner display, “Inspirations for Sustainable Living,” can help you sort through the facts, read compelling arguments from many points of view, and learn about the environmental, ethical, and health impact of what you eat.

If you’re interested in the connections between American culture and farming, read Wendell Berry’s essays in The Unsettling of America or The Gift of Good Land. For an ethical perspective, try Jane Goodall’s A Harvest for Hope: a Guide to Mindful Eating. Concerned about the politics, economics, or science of food production? Read Peter Singer’s The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, Gary Paul Nabhan’s Coming Home to Eat: the Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods, or Dan Imhoff’s Food Fight: the Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill. A selection of recent articles from The New York Times, New Yorker, Yale Daily News, Grist.org and Environmental Science and Technology provide additional perspectives.

If you want to know where your food comes from and how to eat well in all senses of the word, enjoy Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; Ann Vileisis’s Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need to Get It Back, or Brain Halweil’s Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket. Looking for an informative film to enjoy with your organic snacks? Watch American Farm, which explores the struggle of small farmers, told through the story of the director’s own family.

This is just a sampling of the library’s extensive resources on sustainability. Whether your interests are aesthetic, ethical, political, nutritional, or environmental, we have something for you.

HELPFUL FOR: Religion and Ethics, Leadership for Social Justice, American Domestic Policy, American Foreign Policy, Topics in Global Events

FUN FOR: locavores, activists, tree huggers, journalists, future organic farmers, future policy makers, Eco Actioners, people who love to eat, debaters, devil’s advocates

Check back tomorrow on Ohrstrom Blog for Part II of this post.

Sustainability at SPS: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Deb Baker — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:00:58 +0000

Deb Baker – Interim Reference Librarian

Concord Reads, a One Book One Community program, has partnered with area high schools and NHTI to hold discussions of the 2008 book, Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Anne Stephenson of Clean Air-Cool Planet, a NH nonprofit focused on global warming, will be on campus tomorrow, October 9th, speaking at chapel and meeting with students. Anne will review the projected changes to the New Hampshire climate, and discuss the significance of institutional greenhouse gas reductions – like those undertaken by St. Paul’s. Students have a key role in those reductions, and Anne will discuss the ways in which independent school and college students across the country have reduced their institutional footprint, as well as reducing that of their families and communities.

Barbara Kingsolver is a longtime environmental advocate, and her latest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle describes a year in which the author’s family chose to eat only what they could produce or purchase locally. Kingsolver’s skill as a storyteller makes the book a good read, and the ideas she explores are thought provoking. Her husband Steven, a scientist, adds informative essays on issues such as farm subsidies, agricultural pollution, and the impact of modern food production and distribution on global warming. Elder daughter Camille adds her own perspective on the family’s experiment including recipes for seasonal eating. Both the book and accompanying website are packed with resources for those who want to learn more.

HELPFUL FOR: Religion and Ethics, Topics in Global Events, Leadership for Social Justice, Eco Action

FUN FOR: locavores, climate change activists, journalists, future organic farmers, future policy makers, Eco Actioners, people who love to eat, debaters, devil’s advocates

Stay tuned this week on Ohrstrom Blog for more posts on sustainability.