"The Search for Christian America" explores key questions raised by the movement asserting the Christian heritage of the U.S. and calling for its... recovery. Through careful historical and contemporary analysis, the authors address such issues as: how much Christian action is required to make a whole society Christian; Puritan New England as case study; Christian principles vs. baptised ideology in the Revolutionary period; the stumbling block of incorrect views of America's history for effective Christian involvement in critical public issues; the relationship of Christian convictions to political or social agendas; learning to think historically as a guard against shortsighted or simplistic approaches. Ample footnotes and a bibliographical essay make this volume a helpful reference tool for further study of the Christian nation debate and related issues. Mark A. Noll is Professor of History at Wheaton College. George M. Marsden is Professor of the History at University of Notre Dame. Nathan O. Hatch is President of Wake Forest University.

Dr. Steven D. Hsi, a family physician and father of two young sons, was diagnosed in 1995 with a rare coronary disease that caused his death five years... later at the age of forty-four. Throughout his ordeals as a patient, including three open-heart surgeries, Dr. Hsi's outlook on the teaching and practice of medicine changed. In 1997 he began a journal intended for publication after his death. Written with the assistance of newspaper columnist Jim Belshaw and completed posthumously by Hsi's widow, Beth Corbin-Hsi, Dr. Hsi's writings urge his colleagues to become healers, to look at their patients as human beings with spiritual as well as physical lives."Every patient should read it, if only to be made aware that they are not alone with their thoughts. Every spouse of a patient should read it. . . . Every medical student and physician should read it to learn that the biology of the disease is really just a small part of the illness."--John Saiki, M.D., Medical Oncology, University of New Mexico"Dr. Steven Hsi asks his fellow doctors to be more than physicians. He asks them to be healers. He says that when he thinks of healers, he sees traditional medicine men, people who are integral parts of their communities. They are in touch physically and spiritually with the people they serve."--Tony Hillerman"Closing the Chart is built on the personal journals and experiences of Steven D. Hsi, M.D., as he travels on an intense 5-year journey from an assumption of health, professional success, and family stability to his progressive illness and eventual death. . . . Closing the Chart is both an engaging, page-turning read and a story told with so little artifice that you cannot close the cover unchanged."--Kenneth Jacobson, executive director, American Holistic Medical Association, Explore "There are lessons on every page, lessons to make us better caregivers, more discerning patients, and better advocates for family members and friends who are sick. . . . Every reader will take away different lessons from this book based on his or her role, age, and experience. This would be an ideal book for group study by medical and nursing students with some senior physicians, patients, and family members. What a great learning experience for all participants! . . . I exhort you to pick up and read this humble story. Nothing I have encountered in the medical narrative genre has been more worthy of my time." --David J. Elpern, M.D, Psychiatric Services

Expert advice and examples show how managers can inspire high levels of commitment When people are truly engaged in their work they give more... “discretionary effort” and make a huge difference to their company. They ask, “What’s in it for us?” instead of “What’s in it for me?” Yet an engaged workforce is as rare as it is valuable. A groundbreaking global study, led by Julie Gebauer and Don Lowman of Towers Perrin, shows that most people are not engaged and don’t contribute as much value as they could. Not because they’re inherently lazy or apathetic, but because their companies and managers don’t know how to draw out the best from them. For instance, while pay and benefits are critical in attracting talent to a company, they have little effect on engagement. Instead, there are five proven ways to engage employees, including:* Grow them by helping them develop skills and Knowledge* Involve them by asking for input and delegating Authority* Reward them with recognition and advancement OpportunitiesUsing real world examples, the authors show that consistently better engagement really is possible and can deliver a huge impact to the bottom line.

Closing the Food Gap exposes America's
dangerous Dietary split: from patrons of food, bodegas, and convenience stores to more comfortable classes who... increasingly seek out organic and local products. Calling largely on his own experience in food activism, and mixing in refreshingly witty observations, Mark Winne ultimately envisions realistic partnerships in which family farms and impoverished communities come together to get healthy, locally produced food onto everyone's table.

The Final Report of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health sets out key areas–of daily living conditions and of the underlying structural... drivers that influence them–in which action is needed. It provides analysis of social determinants of health and concrete examples of actions that have proven effective in improving health and health equity in countries at all levels of socioeconomic development.Part 1 lays out the rationale for a global movement to advance health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Part 2 outlines the approach the Commission took to evidence, and to the indispensable value of acknowledging and using the rich diversity of different types of knowledge. Parts 3, 4, and 5 set out in more detail the Commission’s findings and recommendations. Part 6, finally, reprises the global networks–the regional connections to civil society worldwide, the growing caucus of country partners taking the social determinants of health agenda forward, the vital research agendas, and the opportunities for change at the level of global governance and global institutions–that the Commission has built and on which the future of a global movement for health equity will depend.

Named one of the "Best Books on Innovation, 2008" by BusinessWeek magazine Does innovation come about by luck or hard work? Is it a flash of inspiration... or the result of careful management? Are innovators born or taught? In Closing the Innovation Gap, Judith Estrin provides the answers to these and other questions critical to our future. A technology pioneer and business leader, Estrin describes what will be required to reignite the spark of innovation in business, education, and government--ensuring our long-term success in the global economy. Innovation does not occur in a vacuum. It grows from the interplay of three drivers of creative change--research, development, and application. Estrin calls this dynamic the “Innovation Ecosystem,” explaining how these communities work together to create sustainable innovation. Closing the Innovation Gap covers: America's role as the primary driver of global innovation after World War II--explaining what worked, the subsequent decline, and how to regain traction The fundamentals required to nurture innovation, including five simple but important values for transforming your organization into a force for productive change How you can ensure that your business benefits from a thriving “Innovation Ecosystem” Examples from both established companies, start-ups, and research labs that illustrate the power of innovation in providing a decisive business advantage and foundation for growth Leaders in business and public service “must think beyond short-term financial results and understand the impact of globalization and an accelerated pace of change on future economic growth,” says Estrin. With Closing the Innovation Gap as your guide, business leaders will gain key insights into identifying their needs, asking the right questions, testing new ideas, and successfully leading their organization to the frontiers of twenty-first-century innovation.

The defining examination of the new role of women in America?now fully revised When first published in 2004, Marie Wilson?s Closing the Leadership Gap... finally drew attention to what everyone knew but no one talked about?the lack of women in America?s leadership positions, even though compelling research shows that women enhance the top decision-making process dramatically. And yet, even as our nation sits on a world spinning with crises, we have barely begun to tap that most critical natural resource. With the possibility of America?s first woman president looming large, now is the time to revisit this inspiring call to action.

Despite the common view that women already permeate every level of leadership in this country, in fact the United States ranks fifty-ninth in the world... in terms of female political representation, and women lead only eight Fortune 500 companies. In this inspiring call-toaction, leading women’s advocate Marie C. Wilson explains why we need more women leading alongside men now, not just for the sake of fairness but for the larger social good. As Wilson argues, even as our nation sits on a world spinning with crises, we have barely begun to tap our most critical natural resource—women. Written with passion and insight, this handbook shows how we can all make a difference and finally close the leadership gap.

At a time when so many pivotal education issues are closely tied to literacy and education policy, such as No Child Left Behind legislation, Tom... Gunning provides critical insight into the key elements needed to close the literacy gap in America’s schools, from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.   Closing the Literacy Gap addresses the demands of the No Child Left Behind legislation and provides a wide range of recommendations and a great number of practical suggestions for closing the literacy gap. This much-awaited text builds from an early emphasis on creating a vision statement to implementing effective techniques and assessing for instruction. Unlike other texts, Gunning provides a coherent plan for program implementation that has proven to successfully close the literacy gap. The recommendations provided within the text are specific and detailed and are built on basic principles.

Improve achievement in diverse classrooms with a six-part framework to help learners become motivated, create connections from prior knowledge, and... acquire procedural and declarative knowledge.

Closing with the Enemy picks up where D-Day leaves off. From Normandy through the "breakout" in France to the German army's last gasp in the Battle of... the Bulge, Doubler deals with the deadly business of war-closing with the enemy, fighting and winning battles, taking and holding territory. His study provides a provocative reassessment of how American GIs accomplished these dangerous and costly tasks. Doubler portrays a far more capable and successful American fighting force than previous historians--notably Russell Weigley, Martin Van Creveld, and S.L.A. Marshall--have depicted. True, the GIs weren't fully prepared or organized for a war in Europe and have often been viewed as inferior to their German opponent. But, Doubler argues, they more than compensated for this by their ability to learn quickly from mistakes, to adapt in the face of unforseen obstacles, and to innovate new tactics on the battlefield. This adaptability, Doubler contends, was far more crucial to the American effort than we've been led to believe. Fueled by a fiercely democratic and entrepreneurial spirit, GI innovations emerged from every level within the ranks--from the novel employment of conventional weapons and small units to the rapid retraining of troops on the battlefield. Their most dramatic success, however, was with combined arms warfare--the coordinated use of infantry, tanks, artillery, air power, and engineers--in which they perfected the use of air support for ground operations and tank-infantry teams for breaking through enemy strongholds. Doubler argues that, without such ingenuity and imaginative leadership, it would have been impossible to defeat an enemy as well trained and heavily fortified as the German army the GIs confronted in the tortuous hedgerow country of northern France, the narrow cobblestoned streets of Aachen and Brest, the dark recesses of the Huertgen Forest, and the frigid snow-covered hills of the Ardennes. Marking the 50th anniversary of the American victory in the Battle of the Bulge, Doubler offers a timely reminder that "the tremendous effects of firepower and technology will still not relieve ground troops of the burden of closing with the enemy." As even Desert Storm suggests, that will likely prove true for future high-tech battlefields, where an army's adaptability will continue to be prized. This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

When it comes to the end of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or even a national tragedy, we are often told we need "closure." But while some... people do find closure for their pain and grief, many more feel that closure does not exist and believe the notion only encourages false hopes. Sociologist Nancy Berns explores these ideas and their ramifications in her timely book, Closure. Berns uncovers the various interpretations and contradictory meanings of closure. She identifies six types of "closure talk," revealing closure as a socially constructed concept and a "new emotion." Berns explores how closure has been applied widely in popular media and how the idea has been appropriated as a political tool and to sell products and services. This book explains how the push for closure--whether we find it helpful, engaging, or enraging--is changing our society.

First published in December 1853, "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" was written amid then unconfirmed rumors that Thomas Jefferson had fathered... children with one of his slaves. "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" story begins with the auction of his mistress, here called Currer, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa. The Virginian who buys Clotel falls in love with her, gets her pregnant, seems to promise marriage-then sells her. Escaping from the slave dealer, Clotel returns to Virginia disguised as a white man in order to rescue her daughter, Mary, a slave in her father's house. A fast-paced and harrowing tale of slavery and freedom, of the hypocrisies of a nation founded on democratic principles, "Clotel: or the President's Daughter" is more than a sensationalist novel. It is a founding text of the African American novelistic tradition, a brilliantly composed and richly detailed exploration of human relations in a new world in which race is a cultural construct.

William Wells Brown’s Clotel (1853), the first novel written by an African American, was published in London while Brown was still legally regarded as... "property" within the borders of the United States. The novel was inspired by the story of Thomas Jefferson’s purported sexual relationship with his slave Sally Hemings. Brown fictionalizes the stories of Jefferson’s mistress, daughters, and granddaughters — all of whom are slaves — in order to demythologize the dominant U.S. cultural narrative celebrating Jefferson’s America as a nation of freedom and equality for all. The documents in this edition include excerpts from Brown’s sources for the novel — fiction, political essays, sermons, and presidential proclamations; selections that illuminate the range of contemporary attitudes concerning race, slavery, and prejudice; and pieces that advocate various methods of resistance and reform.

Clotel; or The President's Daughter (1853), the first published novel by an African American, has recently emerged as a canonical text for courses in... African American as well as nineteenth-century American literature courses. The story was inspired by the rumored sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, and this edition of Clotel is the only one to reprint selections from the key texts and cultural documents that Brown drew on (and even appropriated) when he wrote his novel.  The streamlined second edition includes an updated introduction that incorporates the explosion of scholarship on the novel over the past decade, when proof of the relationship between Jefferson and Hemings emerged. In addition to their attention to this relationship, the cultural documents focus more directly on the texts about slavery and race that Brown drew on, and on Brown's own controversial approach to writing and revising Clotel.