Faculty Publications

The bible is, above all other things, a record of God's love for the human race. In its words and through its stories God reveals himself and calls those who hear the word into communion with him. When we first approach the bible, however, we encounter a variety of literary styles -- histories, poetry, sagas, moral advice and visionary productions. There is often a problem of discerning the simple theme of call-and-response in all these styles, or of finding a connection in the bible to our 20th century existence. This book opens the door to the deep message the bible conveys to individual Christians today. Putting aside for a moment questions of doctrine or historical interpretation, it concentrates on the spiritual teaching of the Old and New Testaments. It begins with God's call to humanity and to each of us individually. Then it considers the human adventure of our journey through life. Finally it looks at our ultimate homecoming to the Father. The many references to biblical passages and daily life make this an invaluable book for those who want to know about the bible -- but even more, who want to live it.

The show's message of kindness, simplicity, and individual uniqueness made Rogers a beloved personality, while also provoking some criticism because, by arguing that everyone was special without having to do anything to earn it, the show supposedly created an entitled generation.

In Mister Rogers and Philosophy, thirty philosophers give their very different takes on the Neighborhood phenomenon.

● Rogers's way of communicating with children has a Socratic dimension, and is compared with other attempts to cultivate philosophy in children.

● Wonder is the origin of philosophy and science, and Mister Rogers always looked for wonder.

● Did Mister Rogers unwittingly create the Millennials by his message that everyone is special?

● What Martin Buber's I-Thou philosophy can tell us about Fred Rogers's attempt to rehabilitate children's television.

● X the Owl obsesses, Daniel Tiger regresses, Lady Elaine displaces anger, King Friday controls--how puppets can be used to teach us about feelings.

● Fred Rogers's indirect communication is key to the show, and most evident in the land of make-believe, where he doesn't make himself known.

● How Mister Rogers helps us see that the ordinary world is extraordinary, if we're willing to open ourselves up to it.

● How does Mister Rogers's method of teaching compare with Maria Montessori's?

● Fred Rogers and Carl Rogers have a lot in common: The Neighborhood is observed in the light of Rogerian therapy.

● Mister Rogers's view of evil is closer to Rousseau than to Voltaire.

● Fred Rogers gave a non-philosophical interpretation of the philosophical approach known as personalism.

● Daoism helps us understand how Fred Rogers, the antithesis of a stereotypical male, could achieve such success as a TV star.

● In the show and in his life, we can see how Rogers lived "the ethics of care."

● Puppets help children understand that persons are not isolated, but interconnected.

● Mister Rogers showed us that talking and singing about our feelings makes them more manageable.

Based on archival sources, this study considers political activities in Suffolk's two main constituencies over the course of the 18th century. Mining the records of an unusually rich provincial press, Sommers addresses many key questions of Hanoverian political historiography: the press, popular political expressions, women in politics, deference, and elite behavior. She focuses primarily on the second half of the century, a time marked by an increasingly sophisticated electorate that left considerable documentary evidence, to determine how politics actually developed in East Anglia, as recorded in public and private documents.

In addition to a description of the variety and nature of Suffolk politics, the work elaborates upon a number of important collateral themes. These include the appearance of intense political awareness and enthusiastic participation in popular activities among those not possessing the vote, coupled with a political use of the press that grows dramatically in scope over the course of the century. Other sections detail the sustained development of the independence of the electorate and the connection between religious affiliation and partisan identification locally, as well as that between local and national parties.

Six years into the papacy of Pope Francis, Catholics are still figuring out how to respond to his image of the church as a field hospital --a church that goes into the streets rather than remaining locked up behind closed doors. Marriage and family are primary sites of the field hospital, called to meet people's need for healing and accompaniment with compassion and love. The authors of this collection --all lay, a mix of single and married, traditional and progressive Catholics --take up this work. They offer practical wisdom from and critical engagement with the Catholic tradition but avoid rehashing decades-old theological debates. Instead, their essays engage with and respond to realities shaping contemporary family life, like religious pluralism, technology, migration, racism, sex and gender, incarceration, consumerism, and the call to holiness. The result is a collection that envisions ways that families can be places of healing and love in and for the world.

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