The Theory Toolbox - Critical Concepts for the Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences

This text involves students in understanding and using the 'tools' of critical social and literary theory from the first day of class. It is an ideal first introduction before students encounter more difficult readings from critical and postmodern perspectives. Nealon and Giroux describe key concepts and illuminate each with an engaging inquiry that asks students to consider deeper and deeper questions. Written in students' own idiom, and drawing its examples from the social world, literature, popular culture, and advertising, The Theory Toolbox offers students the language and opportunity to theorize rather than positioning them to respond to theory...

The contemporary theory of metaphor: a perspective from Chinese

This comparative study of Chinese and English metaphor contributes to the search for metaphoric universals by placing the contemporary theory of metaphor in a broad cross-linguistic and cross-cultural perspective. The author explores to what degree abstract reasoning is metaphorical and which conceptual metaphors are culture specific, wide spread or universal in a cognitive and cultural context.

Understanding Modern Sociology

Written as a companion to 'Understanding Classical Sociology'. Covers the modern period of social theory, outlining the main changes in society and sociology following the classic period. Provides detailed accounts of four perspectives: functionalism, critical theory, structuralism, and symbolic interactionism.

The Bonds of Debt: Borrowing Against the Common Good

The credit crisis has pushed the whole world so far into the red that the gigantic sums involved defy understanding. On a human level, what does such an enormous degree of debt and insolvency mean? In this timely book the author considers the financial crisis, global poverty, media politics and radical theory to parse the various implications of a world where man is born free but everywhere is in debt.

Applied Statistics for Civil and Environmental Engineers

Civil and environmental engineers need an understanding of mathematical statistics and probability theory to deal with the variability that affects engineers' structures, soil pressures, river flows and the like. Students, too, need to get to grips with these rather difficult concepts.This book, written by engineers for engineers, tackles the subject in a clear, up-to-date manner using a process-orientated approach. It introduces the subjects of mathematical statistics and probability theory, and then addresses model estimation and testing, regression and multivariate methods, analysis of extreme events, simulation techniques, risk and reliability, and economic decision making.