Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Music Education

“The chapters form a unified whole, making the monograph of interest to both experts in the field of music education; students; as well as experts from many other areas (visual art, poetry, movement, language, dance, sciences and history). The most prominent feature of the monograph is interdisciplinarity and a link between science and art, which is particularly welcome to everyone who wants to go beyond the established deliminations of individual scientific disciplines or artistic (musical) fields.”
Dr. Marija Javornik Krečič
Associate Professor of Didactics at UM

“Based on specified various approaches and ideas of the contemporary field of interdisciplinarity in the context of music education, scientific publication the Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Music Education represents an important contribution to the existing knowledge in this field. The authors have approached this issue through original research ideas and considered this phenomenon from different points-of-view. Accordingly, collecting various perspective attitudes, beliefs and new and authentic research methods, the obtained results revealed special scientific value of this work, that will be of interest to the target scientific audience in the artistic and other fields as well.”
Blaženka Bačljija Sušić
University of Zagreb

“The book, scientific monograph, Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Music Education points to diversity and fusion in integrating different subjects with music in music education. It is of interest to the wider population (teachers, music teachers, students who touch music in their faculty programmes).”
Ivana Paula Gortan-Carlin
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula
Faculty of Educational Sciences
Croatia

Ethics in Higher Education

“Professions have rules and guidelines that define the standards of practice. It is the responsibility of programs in higher education that prepare persons for the professions to imbue the profession’s standards and to assure that those standards have been learned and practiced. While most books on ethics in the Academy are of a general nature, Ethics in Higher Education focuses on professional preparation in the fields of education and Speech-Language Pathology. The book’s editors and chapter authors provide literature reviews and practices that offer a general discussion of ethics in teacher preparation programs and for clinical practitioners in the Speech-Language Pathology professions. Taken as a whole, the book’s content gives a good overview of ethics standards detailed by professional associations and accrediting bodies in general and in the areas of teacher education and Speech-Language Pathology preparation. In addition, comprehensive documentation of research related to standards and practices in preparing practitioners in these areas is provided. Suggestions for additional or improved preparation practices supported by research (e.g., best practices) are offered. The topic of ethics and ethical practice is particularly relevant in today’s political context. We are trying to address a history of racism and other ethical issues, including those related to the management of a pandemic. These circumstances make it all the more important for professionals to practice in an ethical manner that recognizes the needs of all individuals. The comprehensive literature reviews in each chapter in the book can inform our understanding of today’s ethical challenges in the preparation of professionals and strategies for addressing them. Three chapters in particular speak more directly to the need to educate the next generation of practitioners in sound ethical practices. These chapters focus on academic honesty (chapter 2), cultural competence in teaching diverse students (chapter 4), and strategies for addressing students’ diverse learning needs (chapter 5). All chapters provide recommendations for strategies to use in teaching ethical practices. There are several audiences for this book. These include Education and Speech-Language Pathology doctoral students preparing to teach in higher education settings, current faculty in higher education, and administrators in higher education who are responsible for overseeing preparation programs. The book makes a compelling case for improving both the programs that prepare professionals and the development of faculty responsible for the preparation.”
David S. Hill, Ed.D.
Faculty Emeritus
SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Vitis: Biology and Species

“This book is a fascinating journey into the viticultural world and biodiversity, jealously guarded by man starting from the Mediterranean, in the oceans, islands and continents. The authors narrate the symbiosis of man and Vitis, the most generous genus, in which rural and scientific knowledge are admirably reflected and fruitful technological innovations ripen. The reading invites, with a look at the past, to appreciate the inestimable values preserved in the wine-growing landscapes and, at the same time, look with confidence to the future, inspired by the search for harmony between man and nature.”
Prof. Adamo Domenico Rombolà
Professor of Viticulture
University of Bologna
Italy

Experiencing Hospitality

This edited book has a great line up of international contributors renowned for their work in hospitality studies. The book provides a useful cross-disciplinary resource for students, academics and practitioners interested in understanding and theorising hospitality within a commercial context…READ MORE
Professor Alison McIntosh
School of Hospitality and Tourism
Auckland University of Technology
New Zealand

“Bill Rowson and Conrad Lashley are two authoritative voices who do not need a further presentation in the fields of hospitality. In this occasion, they present an edited book, which entitles experiencing hospitality. This editorial project, recently released by the leading publisher Nova Science, gathers 12 chapters oriented to build a bridge between theory and practice. Of course, the term hospitality not only denotes different significations – such as the dichotomy between commercial or non-commercial typologies – but also the figure of the hotel embodies ancient anthropological rites where hospitality occupies a central position, while it represents a unit for profits (for the hotel-owner). Hence, the book is a useful tool kit for social scientists and practitioners in the hospitality industry…READ MORE
Maximiliano E. Korstanje
University of Palermo
Argentina

The Next Big Thing in Education

The world changes dramatically right in front of our eyes in almost any way possible. As we witness these dramatic events we may ask ourselves – “what’s next?”. That is exactly the question we posed to leading experts, academicians, leaders, and practitioners in the field of education. And they answered. The result is this book – a collection of ideas, directions for future thought and action, from some of the leading minds in education. Contributions to this book come from various disciplines, different countries and cultures, and take varying perspectives on the seemingly simple question asked “what, in your opinion, is the next big thing in education?”. Authors noted opportunities and challenges, had words of caution as well as advice and encouragement. This book may be of interest to educational researchers, policy-makers, administrators practitioners as well as students of teaching, pedagogy and education. Readers are invited to peruse the leaves of this anthology, and gain insight, new ideas, identify trends in the making and perhaps gain a tiny glimpse of the future of things to come.

Communication and Mental Health Promotion in Early Childhood Education

This book makes a significant contribution to international literature on communication and mental health promotion in an early childhood education context. More specifically, this book presents in-depth insights into the dynamics of communication and the capacity of developing mental health promotion within the context of preschool and early childhood education. The book, although not a teacher’s guide, provides useful information that will help teachers, parents, caregivers, professionals of psychology and sociology fields as well as student teachers to better understand such issues as communication problems and mental health promotion, which, unfortunately are quite prevalent in schools, even in the early grades. The chapters offer theoretical originality along with practical ideas that help inform the careful reader. Thus, from theory to practice and back again, this book will reward readers, who will better understand the centrality of interpersonal relationships and communication through mental health promotion. Such an understanding is quite crucial in improving teaching and parenting quality in most, if not all, of their issues.

Seismology

This book offers a comprehensive physical theory of the earthquakes. The presentation level is rather mathematical, but thorough physical explanations are provided everywhere. It is an original monograph of Seismology, intended for the use of students, researchers and the public who wish to become familiar with the physics and mathematics of earthquakes. It provides the understanding of the earthquakes and specific knowledge we may have of them. The author is a scientific researcher in the Institute for Earth’s Physics at Magurele, with scientific publications on the theory of elasticity, focal mechanism of earthquakes, seismic waves and statistical analysis of seismic events.

Biochemistry and Biochemists: Who Were They and What Did They Discover?

“The authors have created an interesting blend of life stories, science and history that shape Biochemistry today. The series of questions and answers keeps the text and figures fun and accessible for all to enjoy and teaches us that the road to discovery is an exciting adventure that never ceases to amaze. Recommended to anyone who is curious about how these important pioneers over their lifetime helped uncover the molecular basis of life itself.”
Elliott Stollar
University of Liverpool
Great Britain

“Due to pressures at work, I only had time to dip into a selection of the chapters, but I found that I was hard pressed to put this book down. Apart from the obvious relevance of these amazing researchers’ work, what I also found totally absorbing were the little personal details that the authors have uncovered. I hope others get as much pleasure as I did reading this book!”
Nick Wright, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Wingate University
Wingate
USA

Fluency and Its’ Bases

“The comprehensive information contained in this book is a result of a collaboration of esteemed students and colleagues sharing years of clinical and research experience for the purpose of expanding knowledge and understanding of different facets related to speech fluency in children and adults. Culminating decades of innovative teaching and research by an acknowledged master of the profession, Dr. S.R. Savitri’s book crystallizes into a unified whole, a multidisciplinary subject of broad scope, great richness, and enormous practical importance. Each chapter in this book provides the necessary foundations for students, clinicians and researchers. Must-read primer for anyone who is interested in carrying out evidence-based practice with their clients with fluency disorders should have a copy of this book and refer to it frequently.”
Teralandur K. Parthasarathy, Ph.D.
Former Professor and Chair
Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville, IL
USA

Fluency and Its’ Bases is written by Dr. S. R. Savithri, a highly accomplished and multi award winning researcher, clinician and educator in the area of Speech sciences and Speech pathology. Stuttering is a complex speech disorder, and, to appreciate the complexities of this disorder, one must have a good understanding of fluency. In this book, Fluency and Its Bases, Dr. Savithri has done an excellent job in analyzing fluency from a multidimensional perspective. This is the first comprehensive book to analyze and summarize the body of work done on fluency both nationally (within India) and internationally. This comprehensive book on fluency and its disorders is an essential reading for students, teachers and researchers in the field of communication disorders. This book, organized into eight main chapters and a summary in chapter nine, provides a comprehensive coverage of fluency. Starting with a clear explanation of fluency and its development, the reader is then guided through various bases of fluency including relevant theories and literature. These chapters elucidate bases of fluency including anatomical and physiological, acoustic, genetic, linguistic, psychological, and prosodic bases. Readers will appreciate the history of research as well as the current state of the art research regarding the various dimensions of fluency.”
Sreedevi Aithal, PhD, MSc., MPH., M(Aud)SA
Consultant Audiologist
Adjunct lecturer- James Cook University
Adjunct lecturer – University of Queensland
Department of Audiology
Townsville University Hospital
Australia

Preeminence of Myth and the Decline of Instrumental Reason

“No reader will be bored by this text. Myth is made worldly and relevant, as the authors address everyday concerns, particularly the fragmentation that is now experienced practically everywhere. The chapters are united by the work of Jean Gebser and particularly the emerging “integral” reality. Most important, like Gebser, the authors go beyond current calls for holism to reveal a more dynamic, inclusionary moment—a place, as some Latin American scholars say, where everyone fits with dignity.”
John W. Murphy
Professor of Sociology
University of Miami
Florida
USA

“Pandemic and political chaos are the dramatic image that Culture sees when it looks in the mirror today. Jean Gebser explicates that mirror for us as the enduring contest (agon) between Myth and Reason in the forgetfulness (mermera) of the human mind. The mind’s “inner voice” (mythos) envelopes the embodied “outer voice” (lógos) as the search for the awareness of, for the compassionate fairness of, reasonableness (eulógos). These collected essays are the “must have” insightful guidebook for using Gebser’s mirror of Culture.”
Richard L. Lanigan
Director and Laureate Fellow
International Communicology Institute
Washington, D.C.
Fellow, Polish Academy of Science

This collection of essays, each rigorously attuned to the work of Jean Gebser, attend to a fractured and fragmented world in crisis. Gebser’s philosophical thought offers hope for a future that invites inclusion, empathy, and social justice—where communities enjoin human worth. Gebser reveals regions of human awareness that naturally disclose the co-presence of mythos in all experiences. Each chapter opens the mythic in instructive ways. An integral consciousness counters instrumental reason and opens opportunities for the integral to illuminate and guide human action.”
Annette M. Holba
Professor of Rhetoric
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire
USA