Both a historical recovery and a critical rethinking of the functions and practices of textbooks, Archives of Instruction: Nineteenth-Century Rhetorics, Readers, and Composition Books in the United States argues for an alternative understanding of our rhetorical traditions. The authors describe how the pervasive influence of nineteenth-century literacy textbooks demonstrate the early emergence of substantive instruction in reading and writing. Tracing the histories of widespread educational practices, the authors treat the textbooks as an important means of cultural formation that restores a sense of their distinguished and unique contributions.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, few people in the United States had access to significant school education or to the materials of instruction. By century’s end, education was a mass—though not universal—experience, and literacy textbooks were ubiquitous artifacts, used both in home and in school by a growing number of learners from diverse backgrounds. Many of the books have been forgotten, their contributions slighted or dismissed, or they are remembered through a haze of nostalgia as tokens of an idyllic form of schooling. Archives of Instruction suggests strategies for re-reading the texts and details the watersheds in the genre, providing a new perspective on the material conditions of schooling, book publication, and emerging practices of literacy instruction. The volume includes a substantial bibliography of primary and secondary works related to literacy instruction at all levels of education in the United States during the nineteenth century.
Asian American History provides a comprehensive historical dive into Asian immigration to the United States, exploring it in international and domestic contexts and alongside the significant elements that define Asian America: imperialism and global capitalist expansion; labor and capital; race and ethnicity; immigration and exclusion; family and work; community and gender roles; assimilation and multiculturalism; panethnicity and identity; transnationalism and globalization; and new challenges and opportunities. Huping Ling traces the roots of Asian immigration from the late 1700s through intervening centuries of racial prejudice, wartime experiences, legal restrictions, and social mobility into the 2010s. It is an up-to-date and easily accessible resource for high school and college students as well as anyone who is interested in Asian American history.
This new textbook gathers an international roster of top security studies scholars to provide an overview of Asia-Pacific’s international relations and pressing contemporary security issues. It is a suitable introduction for undergraduate and masters students' use in international relations and security studies courses. Merging a strong theoretical component with rich contemporary and historical empirical examples, Asia-Pacific Security examines the region's key players and challenges as well as a spectrum of proposed solutions for improving regional stability. Major topics include in-depth looks at the United States' relationship with China; Security concerns presented by small and microstates, the region's largest group of nations; threats posed by terrorism and insurgency; the region's accelerating arms race and the potential for an Asian war; the possible roles of multilateralism, security communities, and human security as part of solutions to regional problems.
This English translation of the second edition of Christian Frevel’s essential textbook Geschichte Israels (Kohlhammer, 2018) covers the history of Israel from its beginnings until the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). Frevel draws on archaeological evidence, inscriptions and monuments, as well as the Bible to sketch a picture of the history of ancient Israel within the context of the southern Levant that is sometimes familiar but often fresh and unexpected. Frevel has updated the second German edition with the most recent research of archaeologists and biblical scholars, including those based in Europe. Tables of rulers, a glossary, a timeline of the ancient Near East, and resources arranged by subject make this book an accessible, essential textbook for students and scholars alike.
Recently publishers on the Christian Right have been reprinting nineteenth-century children's history books and marketing them to parents as “anchor texts” for homeschool instruction. Why, Gregory M. Pfitzer asks, would books written more than 150 years ago be presumed suitable for educating twenty-first-century children? The answer, he proposes, is that promoters of these recycled works believe that history as a discipline took a wrong turn in the early twentieth century, when progressive educators introduced social studies methodologies into public school history classrooms, foisting upon unsuspecting and vulnerable children ideologically distorted history books.
In History Repeating Itself, Pfitzer tests these assertions by scrutinizing and contextualizing the original nineteenth-century texts on which these republications are based. He focuses on how the writers borrowed from one another to produce works that were similar in many ways yet differed markedly in terms of pedagogical strategy and philosophy of history. Pfitzer demonstrates that far from being non-ideological, these works were rooted in intense contemporary debates over changing conceptions of childhood.
Pfitzer argues that the repurposing of antiquated texts reveals a misplaced resistance to the idea of a contested past. He also raises essential philosophical questions about how and why curricular decisions are shaped by the “past we choose to remember” on behalf of our children.
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Honoring Tradition, Embracing Modernity, created in partnership between the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Union for Reform Judaism, is for readers who seek to deepen their knowledge of Judaism--its wisdom, its practices, its beliefs, its customs, its people, and our story. This sourcebook includes selections from Judaism's rich library of wisdom literature, classic and contemporary, in a format designed for use with the URJ's Introduction to Judaism classes.
Honoring Tradition, Embracing Modernity includes five units, as listed below:
- Beginnings: What is Judaism? What are the ethics and values of the Jewish People? How can we understand humanity and human potential through our relationship to God?
- Creating a Jewish Life in Time: An exploration of the Jewish calendar of celebration and sanctity, as well as how life in the community connects and intertwines with life at home.
- The Cycle of Jewish Life: Relationship and marriage traditions, raising a family, growing into later adulthood, and the central role of learning for all generations.
- Creating a Jewish Theology: Different understandings of God, and the diverse roles that synagogue, prayer, and sacred texts play in our lives.
- The Jewish Story and Creating a Jewish Journey: The historical journey of the Jewish People, and the many identities that have emerged from it.
[Note: This is the PDF version, and is for individual use only. It is not to be copied, distributed, or sold without express written permission from CCAR Press.
For bulk orders of 10 or more, contact info@ccarpress.org. Orders consisting of 10 or more will receive a special bulk discount of $23 per PDF.]
An advanced Kaqchikel textbook that blends language learning with Maya culture.
About half a million Maya in the highlands of Guatemala speak Kaqchikel, making it one of the most widely used Mayan languages. Following the 2006 publication of ¿La ütz awäch?, an introduction to Kaqchikel, Kik’aslemal ri Kaqchikela’ offers guidance for advanced students. Unlike many language textbooks, it is designed with not only fluency but also cultural competency in mind.
Inspired by conversations with native speakers, Kaqchikel teachers, and anthropologists focused on Maya communities, Kik’aslemal ri Kaqchikela’ supports language learning through readings on topics important to speakers in Guatemala, including Maya’ Nimab’äl K’u’x (Maya cosmology); Ri Tiko’n (agriculture); Yab’il rik’in Aq’om (disease and medicine); Samaj pa Jay, pa Tinamït (work at home and in town); and more. Chapters present readings on each theme, alongside worksheets, discussion questions framed around Maya history and culture, and a contextualizing essay in English. A Kaqchikel/Spanish/English glossary, extensive grammar appendix, and English translations of the readings support learning. The result is not the usual explanation of language mechanics but instead a nuanced lesson in communication across porous boundaries of cultural difference.
In this critical history of the gendered politics of rhetoric and the rise of composition, Miriam Brody argues that nothing about words or their arrangement is innately gendered. Yet since the English Enlightenment, teachers have encouraged their students to admire and imitate "manly" writing, writing that is plain, forceful, cogent, and true. Similarly, students have been enjoined to avoid so-called effeminate or feminine writing—writing characterized as vague, unorganized, ornate, and deceitful.
Such advice, part of what Brody terms the hidden curriculum, has served the interests of discourse communities as various as the early Enlightenment Royal Society in seventeenth-century London (by urging a clear and masculine style for the work of science) and the land-grant universities of nineteenth-century America (by claiming that the work of writing was similar to clearing the land and pushing back the frontier). Brody’s discussion in fact becomes a social history of canonical rhetorical essays and important late Enlightenment, nineteenth-century, and early modern school texts. She points out that in their advice to writers even the Strunks and Whites and Peter Elbows of more recent times have extolled masculine virtues and urged control over invasive and problematic feminine qualities.
Brody’s book not only clarifies rhetoric’s inheritance and transformation of the classical ideal of manliness, it also is the first critical work to explore the ideological significance of gendered imagery and to interpret in light of this imagery rhetorical essays and hard-to-locate early composition texts against a background of previously unpublished archival materials.
The past decade has been characterized by remarkable advances in meteorological observation, computing techniques, and data-visualization technology. However, the benefit of these advances can only be fully realized with the introduction of a systematic, applied approach to meteorological education that allows well-established theoretical concepts to be applied to modernized observational and numerical datasets.
A groundbreaking study of Yorùbá-language print culture in colonial Lagos
Much Matter in a Penny Paper offers the first in-depth exploration of the emergence of an African-language print culture in early twentieth-century Lagos, Nigeria. Focusing on the 1910s and 1920s—a period of rapid experimentation and innovation—Karin Barber examines the rise of Yorùbá-language newspapers and the vibrant civic sphere they helped create.
The 1910s was notable for an upsurge of local Yorùbá-language history books, and during the 1920s entrepreneurial editors and writers launched five Yorùbá-language weeklies in quick succession. These publications drew in readers beyond the educated elite, expanding public discourse and experimenting with new genres of writing. From moralizing pamphlets and dramatic sketches to serialized narratives voiced by women, Yorùbá print producers reimagined oral and written traditions, blending popular songs, anecdotes, and poetic forms into a dynamic new medium.
This book is about not only what was printed but also how and why. It investigates the material practices of print production, the motivations of its creators, and the expectations of its audiences. Drawing on editorials, reader correspondence, and other paratextual commentary, it reveals how Yorùbá writers and readers understood the role of print in capturing the present, preserving the past, projecting the wisdom of the day forward for the benefit of future generations, and generating deep Yorùbá texts rich in poetic energy.
Through detailed portraits of key figures—editors, pamphleteers, and a mysterious oral historian—Barber traces the interconnections between publications and genres, showing how they formed an active bilingual sphere of communication. The interplay between Yorùbá- and English-language media, as well as the creative exploitation of both languages, emerges as a defining feature of this period’s print culture. By treating the Yorùbá print archive as a “transcript of emergence,” this study offers new insights into how cultural innovations take shape. It is essential reading for scholars of African history, media studies, sociolinguistics, and print culture.
E-Textbooks are now available to purchase or rent through VitalSource.com! Please visit VitalSource for more information on pricing and availability.
As of January 1, 2021, Smart Sparrow Companion Websites are no longer available for any of our textbook programs. New companion websites are coming soon, and will be hosted by Lingco. When it becomes available, instructors may sample the new companion websites by visiting GUPTextbooks.com/companionwebsites. The full websites will be available for fall 2021 course adoption.
Until the new companion websites become available, eBook Workbooks with exercises from the Smart Sparrow Electronic Workbook are available for purchase on the GUP website and VitalSource.com, as are Workbook Answer Keys. They will both be sold in eBook format only.
Rodnaya rech', an introductory textbook for heritage learners, addresses the unique needs of students who have at least intermediate-level listening and speaking skills on the ACTFL scale but who have underdeveloped or nonexistent literacy skills. With an emphasis on conceptual understanding of vocabulary and grammar, Rodnaya rech' builds students' literacy skills and teaches them to strategically use the linguistic intuition they have gained as heritage speakers while strengthening all four skill areas.
Essential to learning with Rodnaya rech’ is the workbook, which includes all of the homework activities and texts for reading comprehension (sold separately). These practice activities allow students to practice what they are learning in the textbook.
With this textbook designed for in-class work and the accompanying workbook, Rodnaya rech' can be used as the main course material either in an intensive one-semester class or at a more measured pace over two semesters. This book is flexible enough to be used in specialized heritage or in mixed classes. It can also support independent study and learning in less formal settings, such as community schools.
For Teachers:
Exam copies of the textbook are available free of charge to instructors and can be ordered on this page. To request a print sample, please use the "print" exam copy button. To request a digital sample, instructors should log onto VitalSource.com, select "Faculty Sampling" in the upper right-hand corner, and select the desired products.
Voices & Votes: How Democracy Works in Wisconsin invites upper elementary school students to explore the intersection of American civics and Wisconsin history. This sixth and final book in the New Badger History series introduces students to the basic structures of American democracy, state government, and Wisconsin's road to statehood. The first seven chapters help students grasp how the three branches of government function at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels, while tying these structural notions to Wisconsin history. Students will learn that citizens' voices and votes help government evolve to meet ever-changing societal needs. The last chapter emphasizes how young people can actively engage in their communities to bring about positive change.
Voices and Votes: How Democracy Works in Wisconsin; Teacher's Guide and Student Materials features several activities for each chapter to engage students in a more in-depth exploration of the book. These activities, designed for both individual and small groups, demand the use of higher-level thinking skills while integrating a wide range of learning styles, and all have culminating components that can be used for assessment. The guide also features easily reproducible student pages, including maps, charts, and interesting illustrations.
"Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story" brings history to life! Thinking Like a Historian questions in each chapter encourage critical thinking. Scores of artifacts and documents invite students to become eyewitnesses to the past.
Lively, classroom-tested text will engross students. The rich content aligns with relevant, cross-curricular Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. The specially designed Teacher's Edition and Student Activity Guide provide additional tools to reach all learners.
"Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story" brings history to life! Thinking Like a Historian questions in each chapter encourage critical thinking. Scores of artifacts and documents invite students to become eyewitnesses to the past.
Lively, classroom-tested text will engross students. The rich content aligns with relevant, cross-curricular Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. The specially designed Teacher's Edition and Student Activity Guide provide additional tools to reach all learners.
"Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story" brings history to life! Thinking Like a Historian questions in each chapter encourage critical thinking. Scores of artifacts and documents invite students to become eyewitnesses to the past.
Lively, classroom-tested text will engross students. The rich content aligns with relevant, cross-curricular Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. The specially designed Teacher's Edition and Student Activity Guide provide additional tools to reach all learners.
Lucille M. Schultz's The Young Composers: Composition's Beginnings in Nineteenth-Century Schools is the first full-length history of school-based writing instruction. Schultz demonstrates that writing instruction in nineteenth-century American schools is much more important in the overall history of writing instruction than we have previously assumed.
Drawing on primary materials that have not been considered in previous histories of writing instruction—little-known textbooks and student writing that includes prize-winning essays, journal entries, letters, and articles written for school newspapers—Schultz shows that in nineteenth-century American schools, the voices of the British rhetoricians that dominated college writing instruction were attenuated by the voice of the Swiss education reformer Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Partly through the influence of Pestalozzi's thought, writing instruction for children in schools became child-centered, not just a replica or imitation of writing instruction in the colleges.
It was also in these nineteenth-century American schools that personal or experience-based writing began and where the democratization of writing was institutionalized. These schools prefigured some of our contemporary composition practices: free writing, peer editing, and the use of illustrations as writing prompts. It was in these schools, in fact, where composition instruction as we know it today began, Schultz argues.
This book features a chapter on the agency of textbook iconography, which includes illustrations from nineteenth-century composition books as well as a cultural analysis of those illustrations. Schultz also includes a lengthy bibliography of nineteenth-century composition textbooks and student and school newspapers.
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