Memory's Library - Medieval Books in Early Modern England

“Libraries,” wrote Francis Bacon in 1605, “are as the shrines, where all the reliques of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved, and reposed.” But in Jennifer Summit’s account, libraries are more than inert storehouses of written tradition; they are volatile spaces that actively shaped the meanings and uses of books, reading, and the past.

Coming to Terms with Student Outcomes Assessment: Faculty and Administrators Journeys to Integrating Assessment in Their Work and Institutional Cultur

Assessment on college campuses has a sordid history, and it is fairly simple to find someone with a traumatic tale to tell. It is wise to respect that that reputation is deserved.”
“How do you modify the inner workings and culture of a massive institution with minimal resources and even less authority (other than GE course approvals), and thousands and thousands of talented people busy doing other things?”

Lord Jim

A classic of early literary modernism, Lord Jim tells the story of a young “simple and sensitive character” who loses his honor in a display of cowardice at sea — and of his expiation of that sin against his own “shadowy ideal of conduct” on the remote island of Patusan. The novel, written by Conrad for magazine serialization during an intense and chaotic ten months in 1899 and 1900, has, in the words of Thomas C. Moser, “the rare distinction of being a masterpiece in two separate genres.

Lieutenant at Eighteen

These books are all you could hope for: breathlessly optimistic stories of train wrecks, steamboat explosions, an escape from Libby Prison, secret codes deciphered, blockade runners foiled, slaveholders defied, betrayals and reverses, etc. etc.  You also get Oliver Optic’s weirdly amiable and funny narrative voice—“weird” in the context of the subject matter.  The books were written at the end of the Civil War, while the artillery barrels were still cooling and the bodies being shipped home from the battlefields for burial. 

Extendable Rationality: Understanding Decision Making in Organizations

“How do people make decisions in organizations?” is the question at the core of this book. Do people act rationally? Under what conditions can information and knowledge be shared to improve decision making? Davide Secchi applies concepts and theories from cognitive science, organizational behavior, and social psychology to explore the dynamics of decision making. In particular, he integrates “bounded rationality” (people are only partly rational).