Our Books - Ideas That Shape Scholarship

In a century stained by revolution, dictatorship, and neoliberal violence, ordinary men and women became extraordinary witnesses—dying so that others might live free. From the bullet-riddled Cristero battlefields of Mexico to the bloodied streets where Óscar Romero fell, from Chico Mendes’s Amazonian stand to the unmarked graves of Chile’s forgotten priests and the deadly migrant trails of today’s Via Crucis—this collection rewrites the meaning of martyrdom for our time. Edited by Marisol Lopez-Menendez, 'Dying for the Dawn' brings together leading scholars to reveal how martyrial stories are not relics of the past but living weapons: shaping politics, igniting social movements, redefining gender and memory, and challenging the very border between faith and resistance. Here you’ll meet worker-martyrs, children saints, environmental prophets, disappeared priests, and the “neo-liberal martyrs” dying at the hands of borders and cartels—figures whose deaths still fuel protests, pilgrimages, and demands for justice across Latin America and its diaspora. Blending riveting history, sharp sociology, and unflinching cultural analysis, this is the book that finally connects the dots between ancient sacrifice and today’s struggles for human rights, migration justice, and democratic dignity. Perfect for readers of liberation theology, Latin American history, religious studies, and anyone who believes that courage can outlast bullets.

'Colonial Stockholm Syndrome: Navigating Identity, Loyalty, and Resistance in Puerto Rico” by Denise Zubizarreta offers a critical examination of Puerto Rico’s enduring colonial legacy under both Spanish and American rule. This book explores the profound psychological and sociopolitical effects of centuries of colonization on Puerto Rican identity, illuminating how the island’s people have been conditioned to navigate complex loyalties and resistances in the face of systemic oppression. Through the innovative framework of Colonial Stockholm Syndrome, Zubizarreta analyzes how Puerto Ricans have historically reconciled their dual loyalties—first to the Spanish Empire and later to the United States—while confronting the ongoing challenges of inequality and dependency. The narrative delves into pivotal moments in Puerto Rican history, from the Spanish colonial era and the struggle for autonomy, to the American occupation beginning in 1898, and the current debates surrounding statehood and independence. Positioned within the broader discourse on colonialism and postcolonial studies, this work stands out for its unique approach to understanding Puerto Rico’s complex colonial history. By integrating historical analysis, personal narratives, and critical theory, Zubizarreta provides a comprehensive and accessible exploration of how colonial power dynamics continue to shape Puerto Rico’s national identity and political future. This book is an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and professionals in Latin American and Caribbean studies, political science, history, and cultural studies. It serves as a key reference for understanding the psychological and cultural dimensions of colonization, making it suitable for classroom adoption, academic research, and broader discussions on decolonization, identity, and resistance. 'Colonial Stockholm Syndrome: Navigating Identity, Loyalty, and Resistance in Puerto Rico' is an essential contribution to the literature on colonialism and its enduring impacts, offering new insights into one of the oldest colonies in the modern world.

‘Teaching and Learning Classics at the University Level, Vol. 2’ focuses on the teaching of social, cultural, and religious aspects of Greek and Roman antiquity. The 11 chapters examine the approaches to teaching key themes in ancient society including ethnography, the human condition and the afterlife, Roman religion, violence, sacrifice, slavery, love, and medicine, as well as aspects of daily life such as play, sport, and bathing culture. The volume also addresses the place of social and cultural history within the Humanities, highlighting how these topics contribute to a broader understanding of antiquity and its relevance today. Presenting teaching as a reflective and research-informed activity, this volume is intended for university lecturers, teacher trainers, and graduate students interested in classical civilization, ancient history, and the cultural and religious dimensions of Greek and Roman studies in higher education.

'Millie Gone to Brazil' is the title of one of the most popular folk songs in Barbados. Written in the early 20th century by an unknown author, the song has travelled with Barbadian migrants to Cuba, the United States of America, Canada and England. It tells the story of a young woman – Millie – killed by her lover, who claimed that she had left Barbados to go to Brazil. This book focuses on the killings of Millicent Gittens, murdered in Barbados in 1916 and of Christine Minggs, a Barbadian immigrant murdered in Brazil in 1924. As a backdrop to those crimes, it depicts the poverty and marginality among Black populations during the post-abolition period in Barbados and Brazil, emphasizing the low status of black women and their vulnerabilities. To understand the vulnerability of Black Barbadian women. At the turn of the 20th century, economic, social and political exclusion drove thousands of people to emigrate from the small islands of the Caribbean in search of a better life. Black immigrants, although much necessary labor force, faced discrimination and limited opportunities to improve their lives, for women, life was harder. Who speaks on behalf of the dead women? In criminal processes, they are the victim, the corpse, not a person. 'Millie Gone to Brazil' sheds some light on the anonymous lives of Black people from lower classes in Barbados and examines a not well-known migration path of West Indians to the rainforest region of Brazil. Women and men struggled to make a life in Barbados and in Brazil, working, loving, building families, facing conflicts. Some survived, some perished. Scraps of their stories were registered in the pages of newspapers, in police reports, in criminal processes, and in popular songs. Some of those stories are narrated in this book.

'Emerging Technologies in Second Language Teaching and Learning' examines how artificial intelligence and other digital innovations are remaking language education across K–12 and higher education contexts. As technologies such as generative AI, adaptive learning systems, virtual reality, and digital storytelling become increasingly integrated into classrooms, educators face new opportunities—and challenges—in designing meaningful language-learning experiences. This edited volume brings together international scholars and practitioners to explore how emerging technologies can support multilingual learners through personalized learning, immersive environments, and innovative pedagogical approaches. Grounded in established theories of second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and instructional design, the chapters combine research-based analysis with real-world classroom applications. Contributors examine topics including AI chatbots for language practice, AI-generated instructional materials, adaptive learning platforms, culturally adaptive digital storytelling, virtual reality–based language tasks, and open educational resources that expand access to language learning. Aside from technological innovation, the volume critically addresses the pedagogical and ethical issues of AI-enhanced education. Chapters explore issues such as algorithmic bias, academic integrity, digital equity, and teacher agency, as well as the importance of maintaining human-centered learning environments in increasingly automated educational systems. Across a variety of contexts—from secondary classrooms to university language programs—the contributors highlight how instructors can thoughtfully integrate technology to enhance interaction, creativity, and communicative competence. Integrating theory, research, and practice, this book offers a timely resource for language educators, instructional designers, teacher educators, and researchers in TESOL, applied linguistics, multilingual education, and educational technology. It also serves as a valuable guide for graduate students and academic leaders seeking responsible, evidence-informed approaches to innovation in language teaching.

This work offers a comprehensive exploration of how childhood and youth are understood within contemporary social theory, emphasizing the major intellectual shifts that have transformed these fields over the past three decades. Moving beyond traditional developmental perspectives that portrayed children as passive recipients of socialization and youth as a brief transition to adulthood, the text draws on the “new social studies of childhood” and critical youth studies to argue that both childhood and youth are socially constructed categories. Rather than universal or biologically fixed stages, they are shaped by historical contexts, institutional arrangements, and unequal power relations. Central to the analysis is the concept of cultural politics, which highlights how meanings, identities, and representations of children and young people are produced, circulated, and contested. The work demonstrates how media narratives, state policies, educational systems, and global market forces frame childhood and youth in contradictory ways—at times idealizing them as innocent and hopeful, and at other times depicting them as deviant, risky, or problematic. Such representations are shown to reflect broader ideologies of nationhood, gender, modernity, and economic productivity. The text further underscores the importance of intersectionality, explaining how class, caste, race, gender, sexuality, disability, language, and nationality intersect to shape diverse and unequal experiences of growing up. It also examines the impact of globalization, neoliberal economic restructuring, migration, and digital technologies in reshaping young lives, generating both new opportunities and new vulnerabilities. Importantly, the work foregrounds agency, emphasizing that children and youth actively negotiate, reinterpret, and sometimes resist structural constraints in everyday contexts. By integrating insights from sociology, education, psychology, and cultural studies, the volume advances an interdisciplinary, decolonial, and context-sensitive framework for understanding the complex realities of childhood and youth in contemporary societies.

'Teaching and Learning Classics at the University Level, Vol. 1' focuses on the teaching of Greek and Latin, with a particular emphasis on language, linguistics, and teacher training. The 13 chapters examine the approaches to teaching Greek and Latin for beginners and advanced students, including metrics, historical and descriptive grammar, linguistic typology, translation, and prose composition, as well as the role of Latin in the Humanities and in specialized fields such as medical terminology. The volume also addresses the training of teachers and lecturers in Classics, exploring how linguistic expertise and pedagogical practice are developed within the university context. Presenting teaching as a reflective and research-informed activity, this volume is intended for university lecturers, teacher trainers, and graduate students interested in classical language pedagogy and the future of Greek and Latin instruction in higher education.

Captain John Low (1836 -1906) earned his place in history through four years of service in the Confederate States Navy (1861-1865). He served on CSS 'Fingal', 'Florida', and 'Alabama', and commanded CSS 'Tuscaloosa' and 'Ajax'. However, it would be wrong to define the man simply by his Civil War record. His seventy-year life was full of adventures, triumphs, tragedies, and altruistic philanthropy. He led a good life and was known as a good man, respected and revered by all who knew him. This book contains a detailed account of Captain Low’s whole life from cradle to grave. Using primary source documents, not available to earlier biographers, the author delves into John Low’s life to a much greater depth than any preceding work has been able to achieve. For the first time ever, his genealogy is fully divulged, allowing previously misunderstood relationships to be challenged and corrected, and the roles of his previously unknown siblings to be fully explored. Description of his military service is based on his personal log books and the eye witness accounts of his contemporaries. Along the way, the book sheds new perspectives on the roles played by his relations, Charles Green and Andrew Low of Savannah, in facilitating purchase of CSS 'Fingal'; it unmasks the mysterious Thomas Byrne, Louisiana’s secret agent, and explains the hitherto unrecognised role of Liverpool’s Isaac, Low & Co. The captain’s post-war life, firstly as a manager of Lancashire cotton mills, and latterly as a successful Liverpool businessman, is similarly illuminated with many previously unwritten facts. Anyone with an interest in Civil War history will find a wealth of new and unique material between these covers. Those who just enjoy a good biography should also be delighted.

In a world where people are living longer and healthier lives, 'Passionate Aging' offers a fresh, empowering perspective on what it means to grow older. This engaging and insightful book explores the opportunities, challenges, and responsibilities of aging, aiming to dispel stereotypes and inspire both individuals and society to reimagine the later stages of life. Through a mix of research, practical advice, and personal narratives, the book serves as a guide for making the most of our extended years.