Dissonant Voices

Dissonant Voices uncovers the interracial collaboration at the heart of the postwar avant-garde. While previous studies have explored the writings of individual authors and groups, this work is among the first to trace the cross-cultural debate that inspired and energized mid-century literature in America and beyond. By reading a range of poets in the full context of the friendships and romantic relationships that animated their writing, this study offers new perspectives on key textual moments in the foundation and development of postmodern literature in the U.S. Ultimately, these readings aim to integrate our understanding of New American Poetry, the Black Arts Movement, and the various contemporary approaches to poetry and poetics that have been inspired by their examples.

Writing Across Cultures invites both new and experienced teachers to examine the ways in which their training has—or has not—prepared them for dealing with issues of race, power, and authority in their writing classrooms. The text is packed with more than twenty activities that enable students to examine issues such as white privilege, common dialects, and the normalization of racism in a society where democracy is increasingly under attack. This book provides an innovative framework that helps teachers create safe spaces for students to write and critically engage in hard discussions. Robert Eddy and Amanda Espinosa-Aguilar offer a new framework for teaching that acknowledges the changing demographics of US college classrooms as the field of writing studies moves toward real equity and expanding diversity. Writing Across Cultures utilizes a streamlined cross-racial and interculturally tested method of introducing students to academic writing via sequenced assignments that are not confined by traditional and static approaches. They focus on helping students become engaged members of a new culture—namely, the rapidly changing collegiate discourse community. The book is based on a multi-racial rhetoric that assumes that writing is inherently a social activity. Students benefit most from seeing composing as an act of engaged communication, and this text uses student samples, not professionally authored ones, to demonstrate this framework in action. Writing Across Cultures will be a significant contribution to the field, aiding teachers, students, and administrators in navigating the real challenges and wonderful opportunities of multi-racial learning spaces.

Why don't they believe the same things I do? Why don't they see things my way? We get frustrated when people hold differing opinions from ours or view life's major issues from conflicting angles. Their system of belief (their worldview) seems foreign to us as they filter the events of this world in ways that we would never have imagined and then come to conclusions that we would never even consider. When other peoples' worldviews contradict ours, both of us cannot be right. Is there a way to account for the differences and determine if one is right and the other wrong? For the Christian especially, can we defend the Christian worldview in a way that upholds our entire system of belief and then opens the door to share the gospel with those who believe differently from us? The method of worldview apologetics enables the Christian to expose the faults in other worldviews, demonstrate the truth of the Christian worldview, and build a bridge for others to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both scholarly and practical, worldview apologetics equips the Christian to assess and critique differing belief systems and fulfill the call to Great Commission outreach.

Religious diversity is a persistent theological predicament for Christian thinkers. Historically, theologians have wrestled with the relationship between believing Christians and religious others. The clash between the Christian doctrine of salvation and non-Christian belief systems often comes down to the question, can non-Christians be "saved"? In a pluralist world, a second question arises: can believers of divergent traditions reconcile their theological differences? Is the logical answer that one believer abandon her faith convictions and promote a relativistic mindset? This book draws upon original research, documenting conversations by women in an interreligious dialogue group, to show that when believers converse in honesty, empathy, and patience--in short, when engaged in virtuous dialogue--they can bridge the gap left by theory. When believers from different faiths come together in open conversation, it need not lead to relativism but, instead, can lead to strengthened belief. Sharing convictions with people who believe differently, sincere believers find they often come to hold their own core beliefs with newfound strength.

For leaders who've read every leadership book (or just feel like they have) Most leaders feel like they've read all there is to read about leadership but are still frustrated when the tools of 'professionals' fail to work. Leadership Wisdom from Unlikely Voices takes leaders off the frustrating path of doing leadership and into the more meaningful place of being a leader. Rather than focusing on new tools or techniques, author Dave Fleming draws on the 'voices' of contemplative thinkers and their views on issues that affect leaders today. Nouwen, Augustine, Underhill, Benedict, and others offer readers insight from outside the world of leadership on how to regain the humanity of being a leader. Each chapter includes interactive exercises that allow readers to reflect on what they're learning, evaluate ideas, and then implement those ideas that resonate most.