Brandeis Magazine
On the Bookshelf
Faculty Books
Who are you wearing? Clothes express our individual personality, sure, but they can also reveal influences we consciously or unconsciously carry. A fascinating exploration of the deeper meanings woven into our threads, by a professor of philosophy.
Szobel, a professor of modern Hebrew literature, examines disability culture and disability justice by focusing on the work of Israeli and Palestinian artists with disabilities. Their creations, she finds, often serve as powerful calls to transform social norms.
This graphic novel-style e-book helps early-career professionals make a great first impression, build solid work relationships and navigate office politics. Molinsky is the Peter A. Petri Professor of Business and Society.
Alumni Books
What if one of the world’s most powerful families had an ancient demon it could summon whenever dirty work was required? In this novel, a high-flying clan reaps all the advantages of their terrifying ace in the hole — and all the disadvantages, after family members start turning on one another.
Photographer Pillar shares her moving images of the late Morrie Schwartz — the much-loved Brandeis sociology professor who inspired the book “Tuesdays With Morrie,” by Mitch Albom ’79 — taken during the six months before Schwartz died from ALS in 1995.
An amazing true story about a baby abandoned in Poland in 1942. Years later, after a genealogist researched the now-grown woman’s family tree and found more than 100 relatives living in Tel Aviv, a little girl was lost no more.
A nearly-40 single woman, depressed after the death of her father and in need of a suitable plus-one for a wedding, somehow brings an attractive golem to life from a lump of clay. A surprising series of twists and turns animates this darkly comic debut novel.
Lichtman describes this book as an attempt to “understand conservatism on its own terms by deconstructing conventional myths and revealing the true essence of what the U.S. conservative movement truly represents.” The core principles under examination include free enterprise, fiscal responsibility and states’ rights.
“The Torah is a kaleidoscope,” writes the author in his comprehensive commentary. “But a single theme undergirds all — one God.” The book explores the diversity of disciplines in the Torah that give rise to the central idea of monotheism.
A timely volume, which analyzes how we view historical monuments and how we could design memorials to reflect changes in cultural values. Senie is professor emerita of art history at the City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center.
As superintendent of the Waltham school later named for him, physician Walter Fernald (1859-1924) elevated Americans’ treatment of the intellectually disabled. Yet he also embraced (then rejected) eugenics. Green, a disability scholar and advocate, puts the doctor’s life, work and legacy into perspective.
Former class clown Appell became a comedy star in China by drawing on his fluency in Mandarin, smiling through his rookie flop sweat and researching off-beat topics that make Chinese audiences howl. A warm-hearted memoir that’s also a lesson in international diplomacy.
The free concert series presented by the Library of Congress since 1925 has kept the spotlight on important work by innovative artists, including the 1944 premiere of Martha Graham and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” Brown-Cáceres, acting chief of the library’s music division, co-authors a history of the voices and compositions the series has showcased during its illustrious run.
Written to delight children ages 3-12, “Iggy the Incredible Ice Cream” chronicles the life lessons learned by its title character, who wishes he were something more interesting than a scoop of plain vanilla in a cup. (Spoiler alert: He’s perfect the way he is.)
A collection of essays that examine how the language and images used to characterize the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, have served to amplify antisemitism and cultural toxicity around the world. Middle East political scientist Divine is an emerita professor at Smith College.
The true story of Kathleen Friel, diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby, who went on to earn a PhD in neuroscience and lead a research lab that focuses on finding new treatments for CP. An inspiring tale of defying expectations and following your dreams, for readers ages 6-10.
The quest to dig a Central American canal to link two oceans spanned generations, leading to many dead ends before the Panama Canal finally opened in 1914. Lepler, an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, shows the extent to which the journey was one of “adventure, corruption and unintended consequences.”
Pianists with small hands agree: Narrower keyboards are an idea whose time has come. Tessler explores the piano keyboard’s history and future, delving into ergonomic and technological research, as well as his own efforts to commission customized-to-fit keys.
Sharing advice from a dozen experts, “Accelerating Startups” offers a comprehensive playbook for company founders, entrepreneurs and investors. Lyon is a mentor with Creative Destruction Lab, a startup program for science-based companies that partners with universities and corporations.
Hundreds of images — along with interviews and critical essays — provide a colorful look at 99 artists with ties to the Steel City. Ali is director and curator of Pittsburgh’s Irma Freeman Center for Imagination.
Using a lens that sweeps across centuries, Kent traces the ongoing impact British settlers have had on Indigenous populations in Ireland, North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and Rhodesia. The author is professor emerita of history at the University of Colorado Boulder.
A first novel from a former diplomat and journalist, “Drinking From the Stream” is set in East Africa in the early 1970s, as two young men intent on adventure and self-discovery find themselves in a chaotic world where dictatorship and mass executions are the norm.
A collection of six decades of professional writing by Jeffrey H. Golland ’61, P’96, a psychologist, psychoanalyst and educator. Edited by Golland’s elder son, the volume serves in part as a critical reappraisal of Freud and Freudianism.
This book is described as “the first comprehensive account of the U.S. regime change operation in Syria dating back decades.” Kuzmarov, managing editor of CovertAction Magazine, is the author of “Obama’s Unending Wars” (2019) and “Warmonger” (2024).
Brandeis University Press
In the 1950s, amid the leafy quiet of western Massachusetts, a performance, symposia and lodging facility called the Music Inn provided an unlikely greenhouse for the flowering of avant-garde American jazz, and became a haven for musicians like Ornette Coleman and Billie Holiday. An important chapter in music history, revisited.
A product as emblematically wholesome as milk should be an irresistible driver of small family businesses, yet it no longer is. In his readable account, Vermont resident Kardashian itemizes the reasons why family-owned dairies are failing, in part because of immigration issues and climate change.
A founder of Tel Aviv, Chelouche was both eyewitness to Palestine’s transformations and a civic leader who struggled to repair Arab-Jewish relations. His memoir, illustrated with contemporary photographs, serves as a vital historical document of a turbulent time.