In the 1990s, American civil society got upended and reordered as many social, cultural, political, and economic institutions were changed forever. Pretty People examines a wide range of Hollywood icons who reflect how stardom in that decade was transformed as the nation itself, signaling significant changes to familiar ideas about gender, race, ethnicity, age, class, sexuality, and nationality.

Steven Gould Axelrod, Camille Roman, and Thomas Travisano continue the standard of excellence set in Volumes I and II of this extraordinary anthology. Volume III provides the most compelling and wide-ranging selection available of American poetry from 1950 to the present. Its contents are just as diverse and multifaceted as America itself and invite readers to view the world of poetry in the larger historical context of American culture. Nearly three hundred poems allow readers to explore canonical works by such poets as Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath, as well as song lyrics from such popular musicians as Bob Dylan and Queen Latifah.

The decade from 2000 to 2009 is framed, at one end, by the traumatic catastrophe of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and, at the other, by the election of the first African-American president of the United States. In between, the U.S. and the world witnessed the rapid expansion of new media and the Internet, such natural disasters as Hurricane Katrina, uprisings around the world, and a massive meltdown of world economies. In American Cinema of the 2000s, essays from ten top film scholars examine such popular series as the groundbreaking Matrix films and the gripping adventures of former CIA covert operative Jason Bourne; new, offbeat films like Juno; and the resurgence of documentaries like Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. 

In The Battle for the B’s, Blair Davis analyzes how B-films were produced, distributed, and exhibited in the 1950s and demonstrates the new possibilities that existed for low-budget filmmaking at a time when many in Hollywood abandoned the B’s. B-movies innovated such industrial components as demographic patterns and marketing approaches, created such genres as science fiction and the teen-oriented films of the early and mid fifties, and led to the emergence of “New Poverty Row,” a movement now known as underground cinema.

In Honor Bound, David Leverenz argues that in the United States, the rise and decline of white people’s racial shaming reflects the rise and decline of white honor. To explore the implications of this argument, he casts an unusually wide net, from ancient and modern cultures of honor to social,  political, and military history to American literature and popular culture.

New Jersey for Kids is a handy reference guide offering hundreds of educational and entertaining ideas for parents and their children to explore and enjoy in the Garden State. Activities are designed specifically for kids ages 12 and under and cover a wide array of fun ways to enrich their intellectual lives, build their athletic skills, express themselves creatively, or just have room to play. Chapters are organized by category so it is easy to locate just the right activities to suit an individual child’s interests. Along with descriptions and commentary, all listings include recommended age ranges, handicap accessibility, and estimated durations of activities as well as practical information on hours, price ranges, web sites and phone numbers.

Genetics and the Unsettled Past considers the alignment of genetic science with commercial trends in genealogy, with legal and forensic developments, and with pharmaceutical innovation to examine how these trends lend renewed authority to biological understandings of race and history.  Essays by scholars across a wide range of disciplines—biology, history, cultural studies, law, medicine, anthropology, ethnic studies, sociology—explore the emerging and often contested connections among race, DNA, and history.

The New Jew in Film is grounded in the study of over three hundred films from Hollywood and beyond. Nathan Abrams explores these new and changing depictions of Jews, Jewishness, and Judaism, providing a wider, more representative picture of this transformation. Chapters explore masculinity, femininity, passivity, agency, and religion as well as a departure into new territory—including bathrooms and food.  Abrams reveals how the representation of the Jew is used to convey confidence or anxieties about Jewish identity and history as well as questions of racial, sexual, and gender politics.

Narrative Landmines explores how rumors fit into and extend narrative systems and ideologies, particularly in the context of terrorism, counter-terrorism, and extremist insurgencies.  Beyond face-to-face communication, this book also addresses the role of new and social media in the creation and spread of rumors. Its concern is to foster a more sophisticated understanding of how oral and digital cultures work alongside economic, diplomatic, and cultural factors that influence the struggles between states and non-state actors in the proverbial battle of hearts and minds.  By providing fresh data from Singapore, Iraq, and Indonesia, the authors make a compelling argument for understanding rumors in these contexts as “narrative IEDs”, weapons that can aid the extremist cause.

Exploring Nature’s Bounty invites us to share the rich array of agricultural delights that Lucy D. Rosenfeld and Marina Harrison have discovered within a two-hour radius of New York City, from beautiful vineyards to the latest in hydroponic green houses to peach-filled orchards to community farms and historic sites. Readers will find a list of festivals featuring local produce as well as a guide to choosing an outing that will best fit readers, their families, and their taste buds. Directions and information on schedules, guided tours, and walks within many sites are provided.

Valerie Leiter argues that there are crucial missing links between federal disability policies and youth’s lives. Her argument is based on thorough examination of federal disability policy and interviews with young people with disabilities, their parents, and rehabilitation professionals. Attention is given to the diversity of expectations, the resources available to them, and the impact of federal policy and public and private attitudes on their transition to adulthood.

Cultural Genocide establishes a theoretical basis for understanding why groups can be readily brought to seek the elimination of out-groups using the tactic of cultural destruction. Lawrence Davidson applies his theory to four uses of cultural genocide, with two pre-Holocaust case studies and two post-Holocaust case studies. He examines the mechanisms that may be used to combat today’s cultural genocide as well as the contemporary social and political forces at work that must be overcome in the process.

In Transatlantic Spectacles of Race, Kimberly Manganelli argues that the tragic mulatta and tragic muse, who have heretofore been read separately, must be understood as two sides of the same phenomenon. Bringing together an impressive array of cultural texts that includes novels, melodramas, travel narratives, diaries, and illustrations, the book reveals the value of transcending literary, national, and racial boundaries.

In Transatlantic Spectacles of Race, Kimberly Manganelli argues that the tragic mulatta and tragic muse, who have heretofore been read separately, must be understood as two sides of the same phenomenon. Bringing together an impressive array of cultural texts that includes novels, melodramas, travel narratives, diaries, and illustrations, the book reveals the value of transcending literary, national, and racial boundaries.

Inspired by a stirring e-mail exchange with his father, award-winning essayist and cultural commentator , Ilan Stavans decided to do something bizarre: revisit his hometown, Mexico City, accompanied by a tour guide.  With the same linguistic verve and insight that has made him one of the most distinguished voices in American literature today, Ilan Stavans invites readers along for a personal journey that is not only his own, but that of an entire culture. Return to Centro Histórico makes it possible for readers to understand the intimate role that Jews have played in the devleopment of Hispanic civilzation.