From the Preface:
ROBERT WOODS BLISS began collecting Pre-Columbian art because he was lured by the beauty of the materials, the fineness of the craftsmanship, and the fascination of the iconography of the first Pre-Columbian objects hesaw. The Bliss Collection has been, since its beginning in 1912, primarily an estheticone - probably the first esthetically oriented collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts - so it seemed appropriate to organize a conference that would focus on a cross-cultural,art-historical approach. When we sought for a theme, the first that came to mind was that great unifying factor in Pre-Columbian cultures, the feline. Large cats such as the jaguar and puma preoccupied the artists and religious thinkers of the very earliest civilizations, the Olmec in Mesoamerica and Chaven in Peru. The feline continued to be an important theme throughout much of the New World until the European conquests. We are indebted to Barbara Braun for the title, “The Cult of the Feline.”

The theme of this book is how ethnomethodology provides for an 'alternate' sociology by respecifying sociological phenomena as locally accomplished members' activities. This theme is explained in the first two chapters, which comprise an introduction by the editors and a seminal statement of ethnomethodology's analytic stance by its founder, Harold Garfinkel. In his chapter, Garfinkel sets out his conception of the 'corpus status' of ethnomethodological studies as an alternative mode of inquiry into the organization of social life. The remainder of the book comprises original research studies by leading scholars in the field.

From epic to limerick, novel to anecdote, literary narratives engage and entertain us. From autobiography and biography to accounts of familial generations, narratives define communities. Myths and histories loom large in religious traditions as well. Recently, the importance of narrative to ethics and religion has become a pervasive theme in several scholarly disciplines. In the essays presented here, a distinguished roster of scholars addresses a range of issues associated with this theme, focusing especially on questions concerning narrative's contribution to knowledge.

In contrast to many other books which are organized by party theme (dog, princess, superhero, etc.), this book is helpful because it is organized first by age and then by type of activity. The age ranges are preschool (2-5), school age (6-9) and preteen (10-12). The activities are grouped by traditional games, contemporary games, group activities, outings and events (which are closer to the theme parties you get in other books) and entertainers. Each game identifies not just the target range, but how far you can stretch to encompass older kids, the number of players needed, game objective and what materials to have on hand. It also gives ideas for creative ways to modify the game to fit children's disparate interests or different settings, prizes, favors, and trouble-shooting tips.

This volume explores connections between diachrony, dialectology and typological linguistics, focusing on the ways in which historical linguists and dialectologists may learn from insights offered by typology, and vice versa. As the title of the collection suggests, the underlying theme of the chapters is linguistic variation, and its implications for the research questions addressed.