Library News

By Merrill Stein and Kristyna Carroll

The Arab Spring may be, as Rami G. Khouri called it when visiting campus this September, an “Arab Awakening.” How far the spring awakening has come and where it’s going is still under consideration.

For some background, try one of the library subscription services. The Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) database has several “Popular Protest in North Africa and the Middle East” reports.

Use the Oxford Islamic Studies Online database for information and reports about “The New Social Media and the Arab Spring” or “Saudi Arabia: Challenges for the 21st Century.”

Articles in Proquest Newspapers ask whether the Arab spring will have an Indian summer or whether “This “Arab Spring” could turn into an “Arab Year” that the whole world can celebrate together.” In the Communication & Mass Media Complete database, an article about “Media and the Arab uprisings of 2011: Research Notes” describes ten different ways that media and communications resisted the Arab uprisings of 2011 and how “some have been so bold as to label [these events] as the ‘Twitter Revolutions’ or ‘Facebook Revolutions.’”

In learning about the Arab Spring two particulars emerge: age and media.  An article in the ABI/INFORM database highlights that “Nearly 30% of the population in Muslim-majority countries is between 15 and 29 years old. …  The social media that helped facilitate the Arab Spring Awakening is in no small part driving a historic transition from a world comprising many pockets of civilizations barely aware of each others existence to a digitally interconnected world.”

The second Arab Social Media Report from the Dubai School of Government indicates “Youth (between the ages of 15 and 29) make up around 70% of Facebook users in the Arab region, indicating a slight increase in the number of users over 30 years old since the end of 2010.”

Diverse points-of-view are also available from a variety of news services. The BBC and Al Jazeera carry special reports such as Tunisia’s recent experiment with free elections, Middle East firms eye social media profit potential and InDepth Briefings.  The Guardian and Deutsche-Welle can also provide additional insights. Databases such as Lexis/Nexis, Academic OneFile and ABI/INFORM Global provide daily updates as well.

Keep current by using other library resources such as PAIS International, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) or Worldwide Political Science Abstracts and library subject guides.

What other resources would you recommend?

Joan L. Saverino, PhD

Falvey Memorial Library is proud to announce this year’s Alfred F. Mannella & Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Distinguished Speakers Series, featuring Joan L. Saverino, PhD. The event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. in the library first floor lounge.

Dr. Saverino, adjunct professor at Arcadia University in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice, will present a lecture entitled “Embroidery as Inscription in the Life of a Calabrian Immigrant Woman.” This talk explores the intersection of needlework, personal narrative, gender and artistic creativity in one woman’s extraordinary life in two out-of-the-way places—Calabria and Appalachia—over the course of nearly a century.

A lively close reading of one Italian woman artist’s lived experience and self-representation through her artistic repertoire provides the perfect context to discuss change over time in the social and economic lives of Italian women and the communities in which they lived on both sides of the Atlantic. The talk raises larger concerns surrounding issues of women’s role in the (re)production of culture, expands recent research on Italian and Italian immigrant women, and touches on the role of dialogue and reflexivity in the ethnographic process. Dr. Saverino is developing her work into a book-length manuscript.

Is American society falling apart?

For Brian Jones, PhD, the answer isn’t as simple as yes or no.

In his new book, Social Capital in America: Counting Buried Treasure (Paradigm Publishers, 2011), Dr. Jones tackles the question of the decline of American society. Using national surveys, Dr. Jones tells the complicated story of American social structures at the end of the 20th century.

The idea for the book, he explains, was based on another scholar’s work, with which Dr. Jones didn’t agree. “My inspiration was Robert Putnam’s bestseller Bowling Alone which essentially argued that American society was falling apart. The book was, I thought, both well-evidenced and wrong. Figuring out why led me to develop my own model of social capital which is presented in my book.”

His research turned up interesting correlations that show the question may not be quite so black and white.  Nor is it, he says, an idea new to our time. “I think the America-is-in-decline idea has been here from the start,” he says, “perhaps because we invented this society from scratch—‘The First New Nation.’”

Dr. Jones, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, will give a talk on his book on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 12:30 p.m. in the library first floor lounge. “For those who attend, I shall offer data in colorful figures sketching what has really changed–and not changed–about America since 1972.”

This event, the second Scholarship@Villanova lecture of the year, is free and open to the public.

By Alexandra Edwards

Falvey Memorial Library is excited to announce a lecture by visiting scholars Ambassador Thomas Melady, PhD, and Margaret Badum Melady, PhD. Ambassador and Dr. Melady will discuss their recently published book, Ten African Heroes: the Sweep of Independence in Black Africa, on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in the library first floor lounge.

The book documents the authors’ own experiences of a turbulent time in African history when 10 men chose a non-violent approach as a means of creating change and seeking independence. In particular, it emphasizes the role that Christianity played in the actions of the men.

This isn’t Ambassador Melady’s  first visit to the University; on May 16, 1966, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate during Commencement.

Since then, he served as an American ambassador under three presidents and as a sub-cabinet officer for a fourth, and remains active in foreign affairs and international relations. He was appointed Ambassador to Burundi in 1969, Senior Advisor to the U.S. delegation to the UN General Assembly in 1970, and Ambassador to Uganda from 1972 to 1973. In 1989 he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Holy See. Since 2002, he is Senior Diplomat in residence at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Margaret Badum Melady served as president of The American University of Rome from 1997 to 2003. Dr. Melady is a former member of the faculties of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn., and the State University of New York in Oswego. She was the first woman promoted to an executive position in public affairs at Stauffer Chemical Company, where she worked in both public relations and governmental affairs. Her most current position is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Catholic Distance University.

This event is free and open to the public. A book sale and signing will follow the presentation.

Newspaper image: The Villanovan, Vol. 41. No. 23, June 24, 1966, courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library

The U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 and American State Papers, 1789-1838 are two important databases recently added to Falvey’s resources.

See Laura Bang’s blog post for more complete information.

These two databases, U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817 – 1994 and  American State Papers, 1789-1838, provide fascinating and informative texts and images. The databases can be searched by bill, resolution number, congress number, subject, type of publication and much more. The user can export information to RefWorks and create a personal collection.

~Alice Bampton

by Raamaan McBride

As evidenced by the two previous reviews I’ve written (Waiting for Superman and Frontrunners), one of my many passions is education in America and how it can be improved. In keeping with the trend, the The Boys of Baraka tries to solve the so called “education gap” with a very drastic solution of its own.

Prefaced with the statistic, “75% of African-American males in Baltimore don’t graduate High School,” the film follows the lives of troubled Baltimore youths in an experimental Kenyan boarding school named Baraka.

At first this concept rubbed me the wrong way; the best country in the world has a school system in shambles so it needs to send these boys to a third world country that lacks current technology. This feeling quickly subsides after the film shows the school as a place for young boys to be just that, young boys. Moreover, it gives them a chance to escape their troubled environment.

The school identifies each of the kids’ problems (academic, disciplinary, etc.) and finds interesting remedies for each. After the first year, of a 2 year commitment, the school has security issues and the program is compromised. I was struck by one parent who made the comment that it was safer to send their kids to this school in Kenya than sending them to school in Baltimore. The film, through the lives of four boys, tries to convey the message that every kid has the ability to do great things if they are put in the right situation.

Is this film perfect? No, it isn’t. The ending needed more resolution, there should have been more back story with the program itself and there were too may plot holes that needed to be explained. Be that as it may, this film pulls at your heart and doesn’t let go. To see the parental problems (or lack thereof) is sad, and to watch a kid with so much potential lose hope is rough. I dare you to watch this film and not have feelings for the kids, to see an eighth grader “passed over” by the system so many times that he can only read at second grade level.

(DVDs and videotapes in the library collection can be borrowed by faculty, staff, and students for a period of 7 days.)

By Merrill Stein and Kristyna Carroll

What you can do: Consider our planet today.  Consider the Villanova Commitment to Sustainability.  Find out what you can do to make a difference.  Learn how to be green in a billion ways or learn how even Olympic athletes are being green.  Follow the Earth Day Network on Facebook.

Lobby for environmental protection by contacting your representatives in Congress.  Support green companies and products while also protecting the environment by being a green shopper.

Library resources: Find inspiration with our many DVDs related to the environment or with some classic environmental literature.

Databases:

Learn about some famous tri-state area environmentalists, such as Rachel Carson in the Biography in Context database.

Follow the history of Earth Day in the Historical New York Times and ProQuest Newspapers databases.  Read about the development of  U.S. environmental policy  in the America: History and Life , CQ Electronic Library and Congressional (Lexis Nexis) databases.  For instance, learn more about Disappearing Forests from CQ Global Researcher.

Try looking in the Pollution Abstracts database for information about flex-fuels, biological diversity and water quality.

Remember our planet to keep it well.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Falvey Memorial Library will host a moving lecture by the founder and executive director of Philadelphia-based non-profit Mothers In Charge, Dorothy Johnson-Speight, MHS, LPC.  The event will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 15, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. in the Library’s first floor lounge.

Mothers In Charge is a grassroots organization working for violence prevention, education and intervention for children, young adults, families and community organizations. Johnson-Speight founded the organization after the 2001 murder of her 24-year-old son Khaaliq. The murder as the result of a parking space dispute.

In 2009, the organization published the book Mothers In Charge – Faces of Courage, which tells the mothers’ stories (and their children’s) in their own words.  The book will be available for sale at the event, and all proceeds will go to supporting the organization’s work.

The event is free and open to the public.

Villanova University’s Center for Social Justice Film recently debuted a documentary featuring Mothers In Charge.  The student-produced short film, “No Greater Pain,” tells Johnson-Speight’s and others’ stories.

The Center for Social Justice Film is part of the Waterhouse Family Institute (WFI), housed within the communication department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

By Merrill Stein and Kristyna Carroll

Recently many patrons have been seeking information about places, political leaders and events in the Middle East and Northern Africa, described as “history in the making.”

Here are some substantive sources:

BBC News, specifically their special reports and country profile pages, provides current information. For another point of view, try Al Jazeera, notably their in depth reports and programs.  CNN and Reuters also provide late breaking news. Follow these in news feeds, podcasts and Twitter.

You may also want to check out the Dubai School of Government, Arab Social Media Report.

Obtain more news from library subscription services such as ProQuest Newspapers, Lexis Nexis Academic, and Academic OneFile: these are updated daily. For more scholarly discussion, use Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.  Try CQ Global Researcher for the latest Sub-Saharan Democracy report.

Take a multidisciplinary approach and use resources from several library subject guides or course & topic guides available under History, Geography or Political Science.

Using resources listed under Databases A – Z on the library home page, you can discover additional background information, further reading and other resources in Oxford Islamic Studies Online.

CIAO – Columbia International Affairs Online provides working papers, policy briefs, case studies and other information like The Tunisian Revolution: An Opportunity for Democratic Transition and  Juan Cole’s Informed Comment section . (more…)

The Outstanding Faculty Research Award for 2010 has been given to Charles L. Folk, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and the director of the Villanova University Cognitive Science Program. Dr. Folk will speak about his research in the Falvey Memorial Library first floor lounge on Wednesday, Mar. 9, at 3:00 p.m.

“When we decide to pay attention to something in the environment,” Dr. Folk explains, “we are allocating limited cognitive resources to the processing of that object or event. Certain kinds of events, however, seem to have the ability to ‘capture’ attention, such that we involuntarily allocate attention to them.”

Dr. Folk’s talk will summarize the research on attentional capture and the implications of this phenomenon for real-world circumstances such as driving. He has also co-edited a book on research in this area, Attraction, Distraction and Action: Multiple Perspectives on Attentional Capture.