Our Books - Ideas That Shape Scholarship

El amor personal, como realidad profundamente humana, ha sido poco explorado filosóficamente, pese a su centralidad en la existencia personal. No basta comprenderlo como pasión o sentimiento, sino como condición esencial que integra todas las dimensiones de la persona. En esta línea, Julián Marías, uno de los grandes filósofos españoles del siglo XX, ofrece una reflexión original y rigurosa sobre el amor como fundamento de la vida personal. Su pensamiento, enmarcado en la tradición personalista, permite comprender el amor como acto propio del ser personal, raíz de la plenitud, la ilusión y la felicidad humanas. A lo largo de su extensa obra, Marías aborda el amor como eje transversal de su antropología. Para él, la cuestión amorosa está vinculada a los grandes interrogantes del ser humano: “¿Quién soy yo?”, “¿Qué va a ser de mí?”, “¿Hay algo más allá de esta vida?”. De ahí que el amor revele la verdad profunda de la persona, su ser como “quién” capaz de amar y proyectarse. El presente estudio busca sistematizar esta categoría dentro del pensamiento mariasiano, articulando tres niveles de análisis: la estructura analítica de la vida, la estructura empírica y, finalmente, la vida personal. En todos ellos, el amor aparece como principio de sentido, proyecto y donación. Marías concibe la condición amorosa como una instalación vectorial que orienta la existencia hacia la plenitud y la trascendencia. Esta investigación pretende mostrar que, para Marías, el amor no es un tema accesorio, sino el núcleo que otorga consistencia a la persona y sentido a la vida. Desde una perspectiva personalista, su reflexión constituye una vía fecunda para comprender el amor como experiencia radical, fundamento de la autenticidad, la felicidad y la esperanza humanas.

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'Recovering Lost Voices' explores what recovery work looks like in the twenty-first century and why its continued practice is necessary. This collection is concerned with the volume of lost British texts and authors of the nineteenth century and offers a practical and personal approach to the act of recovery and the continued practice of re-recovery. Spanning the course of the nineteenth century, the included recovered works provide glimpses into the forgotten lives of poets, playwrights, and authors, enriching the working understanding we hold of this period. Our contributors explain their unique and original personal methods and experiences of discovering their lost work and detail the process of re-recovery. This volume ultimately functions as guidance for university students and early career scholars interested in uncovering what recovery and re-recovery work entails through personal accounts. The included contributions approach recovery in archives, street markets, digital access, and manual transcribing. Re-recovery takes the form of applied lenses of analysis, such as queer, post-colonial, gender, disability, and trauma studies.

This comprehensive study provides an essential examination of customary international law, addressing one of the most fundamental yet frequently misunderstood sources of international legal norms. The work bridges critical gaps in contemporary understanding through rigorous doctrinal analysis, extensive jurisprudential discussion, and illuminating case illustrations that demonstrate how custom operates within the global legal framework. As an authoritative reference tool, this volume serves legal scholars, practitioners, and students seeking to understand the complex mechanisms through which customary international law develops and functions, providing clear frameworks for identifying and interpreting customary norms across diverse legal contexts through its systematic approach to analyzing state practice and opinio juris. Beyond its reference value, the book offers practical methodological guidance for researchers investigating customary law formation. By examining evidentiary challenges and providing analytical frameworks, it equips scholars with robust tools for conducting empirical research on state practice and assessing the legitimacy of emerging international norms. The work’s structured approach to jurisprudential analysis serves as a valuable template for systematic legal research, while international law professionals will find the study particularly valuable for its practical applications in legal practice and policy development. The comprehensive exploration of norm formation processes, combined with detailed case studies, provides practitioners with insights essential for advocacy, treaty negotiation, and dispute resolution. Researchers benefit from the work’s contribution to theoretical understanding while gaining access to methodologies that enhance the consistency and reliability of customary law interpretation. This study ultimately advances the field by clarifying persistent ambiguities in customary international law, offering a more coherent understanding of its evolving role in contemporary global governance and legal order.

'Developing Deans: Transforming Academic Leadership' brings a fresh perspective to the development of higher education deans. Recent books on the deanship focus on ‘becoming’ or ‘being’ a dean, focusing the responsibility of the deanship ‘on the individual’. That is, if you want to become a dean or be an effective dean, this is what ‘you’ must do. This new volume places the onus of developing deans squarely on higher education itself. We know that, in the future, we will need new deans. We also know that we want those deans to be tenured full professors. What are we doing to develop new, effective deans and how might we do that ‘intentionally’ and effectively? This edited volume includes empirical research, case studies and first-person narratives aimed at highlighting methods and practices designed to develop fundamental leadership skills for university deans who create inclusive, collaborative and cross-functional organizational cultures. Practitioners, researchers and scholars address questions such as: How do deans learn to lead effectively? Is this the optimal developmental path? How might we scale leadership development as a practice across higher education? The volume is divided into an introduction plus three sections, with several chapters per section. Section One features approaches that focus on the development of department chairs as a preparation for dean-level leadership. Section Two focuses on opportunities and experiences at the campus level used in strategic ways to intentionally develop future deans. Section Three supplements the first two sections with practical suggestions for individuals who are interested in preparing themselves for a deanship. 'Developing Deans' may serve as a reference for anyone hoping to design or improve a leadership development program on their campus, including current presidents, chancellors, associate vice chancellors, provosts, deans and prospective deans. Other readers may include leadership professionals, researchers, consultants and leaders both inside and outside higher education.

The purpose of this book is to demonstrate that Cathar doctrine is the main source of Dante's poem and to encourage readers to approach this work with fresh eyes, beyond the interpretative frameworks that are often worn. With detailed references to Dante's text, persuasive arguments, lucid and concrete exposition, and a direct and easy-to-follow style, Maria Soresina progressively presents the links between the ‘Divine Comedy’ and Catharism, which she has been investigating since the end of the last century. The text analyzes Cathar characters with respect to the doctrine. The Cathars were Christians, but their beliefs were very different from those of the Catholic Church. The author analyzes their philosophy, followed by verses of Dante that demonstrate agreement with it and distance from the Catholic Church. In addition to the great doctrinal questions, there are many Cathar beliefs and customs, all of which, such as their being vegetarians, find precise confirmation in the verses of the ‘Divine Comedy’. The Cathars had only one sacrament, the ‘consolamentum’. A long chapter is dedicated to demonstrating that Dante's journey through Purgatory corresponds to the various phases of this sacrament, within which the figure of Beatrice has a particular meaning, a woman whom Dante probably never met and never loved. This text offers non-Italian-speaking readers the chance to engage with these interpretive theories, destabilizing the canonical criticism and forcing a re-examination of sources and historical context.

Este es uno de los pocos manuales en español enfocados, de principio a fin, en la escritura sobre literatura a nivel universitario, si no es que quizá el único, hasta el momento de su publicación. Influido por el movimiento Writing in the Disciplines (WID), plantea que la escritura sobre literatura es distinta a la de otras carreras, incluso de las humanísticas (p. ej., historia o filosofía), por lo que un estudiante de literatura necesita familiarizarse con las prácticas propias de su campo. Escrito en un lenguaje claro, expone en detalle los temas que un estudiante debe conocer para escribir crítica literaria en español: desde ortografía y gramática hasta los géneros más comunes que los profesores piden en clase, pasando por procesos de escritura, tipos de evidencia en la crítica literaria y los usos y lineamientos del formato MLA en español. Su tesis básica es simple: para escribir en los estudios literarios, debemos leer, pensar y escribir como críticos literarios. Compuesto por trece capítulos, el libro está diseñado para acompañar al estudiante en todo momento de sus estudios: desde los primeros semestres de la licenciatura hasta la tesis doctoral, si es que decide convertirse en académico profesional. El manual está pensado para estudiantes de distintos niveles (pregrado y posgrado), tanto hablantes nativos como no nativos. Parte del hecho de que existen diversos manuales de teoría literaria que enseñan distintos enfoques para leer literatura, pero pocos enseñan a escribir sobre literatura en español. Con una perspectiva interdisciplinaria, este libro explora el punto de convergencia de tres actividades interrelacionadas —la escritura, la lectura y la crítica literaria— para producir textos. Además, argumenta que nuestras emociones —como la ansiedad o el bloqueo del escritor— influyen en nuestra habilidad para escribir, por lo que ofrece estrategias generales para lidiar con ellas y con la procrastinación. Todo esto con el fin de compartir con los estudiantes del siglo XXI el mayor número posible de herramientas para escribir en los fascinantes pero exigentes estudios literarios y hacerlo con éxito.

In an era where digital transformation is reshaping education, this book is a vital guide for educators, researchers, and policymakers navigating technology integration into learning. It explores educational technology’s theoretical foundations and practical applications, emphasizing innovative strategies to enhance teaching and learning. From artificial intelligence and machine learning to blended learning models and virtual reality, the book provides actionable insights into leveraging cutting-edge tools effectively while addressing critical issues like the digital divide, ethical technology use, and equitable access. Positioned at the intersection of pedagogy and technology, the work draws on global case studies and frameworks such as TPACK to present adaptable solutions for diverse educational contexts. It is unique in its focus on foundational and emerging trends, and it supports educators in building digital competencies and fostering student-centered learning environments. Designed for classroom adoption, professional development, and research, this book is an indispensable resource for teacher educators, in-service teachers, policymakers, and educational researchers committed to transforming education for the digital age. Its blend of actionable strategies, ethical considerations, and future-focused discussions equips readers to embrace technology as a tool for innovation and inclusivity in teaching and learning.

'The Gendered Self: LGBTQ+ Narratives in Global Media, Volume II' challenges the restrictive frameworks that have long defined gender and sexuality. Moving beyond simplistic dichotomies, this volume explores how LGBTQ+ identities are shaped, represented, and contested across diverse cultural, historical, and political contexts. Through case studies from Turkey, the United States, China, and India, contributors reveal the lived complexities of queer experience. Chapters trace transgender journeys of identity transformation, dissect the weaponization of queer bodies in moral panics, and analyze the digital self-representations of Chinese gay men. Others investigate how Indian OTT platforms and Malayalam cinema expand space for queer narratives, while historical accounts of activists like Paula Grossman illustrate the fraught relationship between representation, activism, and backlash. Across these explorations, the volume highlights how media, politics, and cultural traditions simultaneously affirm and erase queer lives. It uncovers the deep roots of erasure in mythology and religion, while also showing how digital platforms and popular culture create new opportunities for resistance and recognition. This collection insists that the “gendered self” must be understood as fluid, intersectional, and culturally situated, pushing readers to reimagine identity beyond binaries and toward broader visions of inclusion and justice.