The Union Bookshelf regularly features new books written
by (or about) alumni and
other members of the Union community. If you're an author and would like to be included in a future issue, please send
us a copy of the book as well as your publisher's news release. Our address is Office of Communications, Union College, Schenectady, N.Y. 12308.
Arthur H. Aufses, Jr., M.D. '44
Some institutions are so well-loved that their histories have more of a biographical timbre to them, as though the very building had a soul and a breathing, viable presence. Arthur H. Aufses, Jr., practiced medicine and taught at Mount Sinai Hospital for more than forty-five years. He and hospital archivist Barbara J. Niss have created a lively and moving portrait of this venerable medical institution,
The House of Noble Deeds, The Mount Sinai Hospital, 1952-2002. Founded in early 1852 as the Jews' Hospital in New York, Mount Sinai Hospital's humble start began with a grand vision: to provide free medical care to indigent Hebrews in the city. Today Mount Sinai is a 1,200-bed medical center with an international reputation for its scientific and medical achievements. Mount Sinai also includes a medical school and a research center with a faculty of nearly 3,000. The book is arranged in “mini-portraits” of the departments, drawing on a rich tapestry of biographies, anecdotes, and photographs. The story traces the growth and development of the hospital to heights and successes its founders could never have imagined. But it also goes beyond the hospital's history to its place in the scheme of Jewish and medical history in New York.
Robert M. Diamond '51
Robert M. Diamond, president of The National Academy for Academic Leadership, is the editor of the
Field Guide to Academic Leadership, a publication under the auspices of the NAAL. A range of experts has contributed, offering their insight and recommendations on how to apply and implement the skills and knowledge required to improve the quality and effectiveness of academic programs. Diamond, former assistant vice chancellor for instructional development at Syracuse University and former director of the National Project on Institutional Priorities and Faculty Rewards, is the author or co-author of numerous publications focusing on curricula design, tenure, and faculty reward/promotion systems. The guide is designed to be a “how-to” manual for academics as well as those in the public or private sectors. One reviewer wrote, “It is a very helpful addition to the growing body of literature which demonstrates that administration is somewhere between an art form and a set of acquired skills.”
Diamond provides a generous list of resources, including bibliographies, URLs, and references. The publisher is Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint. (www.josseybass.com)
Benjamin Sadock '55
Benjamin Sadock, a professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, and his wife, Virginia Alcott Sadock, M.D., are co-authors of
Synopsis of Psychiatry, a textbook now in its ninth edition and translated into thirteen languages. First published more than thirty years ago, the book has become the “bible” of psychiatry and is the most widely used text in the country. The ninth edition has improved and expanded, including new sections on clinical cases, the most recent psychotropic drugs in use, and discussions of the psychological impact of the 9/11 attacks on adults and children.
Frederick Stilson Frank '57
A self-described Goth, Frank, professor emeritus of English at Allegheny College, is editor of
The Castle of Otranto and The Mysterious Mother. Here he presents Horace Walpole's two genre-setting works.
The Castle of Otranto is Walpole's translation from the Italian, which garnered immediate success. Walpole's use of now-stock devices such as tormented characters, supernatural elements, and menacing physical settings established the gothic novel's literary standards for the next 200 years. Likewise, but in a simpler vein,
The Mysterious Mother is more akin to classic Greek drama with its brooding, angst-ridden protagonist and the debut of the evil monk prototype.
Frank also includes Walpole's correspondence, a representative sampler of contemporary works that reflect the intellectual and cultural climate, and Sir Walter Scott's introduction to the 1811 edition of
The Castle of Otranto. A list of gothic-related internet and online resources is offered as well. Frank's other books with gothic subjects or themes include collections of criticism, bibliographies, essays on Mary Shelley, and a Poe encyclopedia. The publisher is Broadview Literary Texts.
Martin Benjamin '62
How does philosophy connect with twenty-first century life? What can the philosophers, hunkered down in their academic bunkers, impart to those in the work-a-day world? In his fourth book,
Philosophy and This Actual World, Martin Benjamin takes these questions head-on and provides some compelling insight for the practical application of philosophy in the “real world.” He explores the “big questions,” such as the nature of reality, knowledge, death, and morality. He also delves into specific, hotly debated social and political issues including assisted suicide and abortion. Benjamin's style is accommodating and highly readable for the intellectually inquisitive “amateur” who seeks broader insight into his own life and the world at-large.
Philosophy and This Actual World clearly demonstrates the philosopher's still-vital role as a thorn that pricks contemporary society's conscience or perhaps even a compass that provides steady guiding direction for a society where moral absolutes rarely exist. The book is available from Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Charles M. Segal '74
Charles M. Segal has edited a collection of more than 100
interviews with Abraham Lincoln when he was president-elect and president between 1860 and 1865.
Conversations with Lincoln is arranged chronologically, and Segal introduces each interview, varying in length from snippets to extended remarks, with the circumstances and personalities involved. Segal has expertly chosen observations of Lincoln by his contemporaries by gleaning primary sources, including diaries and letters, as well as the more obscure accounts from the inside pages of contemporary newspapers. Along with the usual political figures, hangers-on, and office-seekers, the writings of Lincoln's inner circle, family members, friends, and his wife round out the collection and provide a deeply personal and revealing portrait of the man.
Hershel Raff '75
Hershel Raff is co-author (with Eric Widmaier and Kevin Strang) of the most popular physiology textbook for undergrads,
Vander, Sherman, Luciano's Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function, 9th Edition. Physiology is the foundation of medicine, and as the human genome project nears completion, knowledge of organ systems physiology is even more vital to undergraduates pursuing careers in biological or medical sciences. Raff and his colleagues have revised the textbook to include a complete update of basic information and an increased number of examples in physiological phenomena from clinical medicine.
Raff is a professor of medicine (endocrine) and physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and director of the Endocrine Research Laboratory at St. Luke's Medical Center. He is a recent recipient of the Beckman Basic Science Teaching Award from the senior class and the Outstanding Teacher Award from the Graduate Student Association. Raff is also an adjunct professor at Marquette University and a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Raff's clinical interest focuses on the development of new methods to diagnose pituitary and adrenal diseases, especially Cushing's syndrome.
Nancy Frankel Gerber '78
Nancy Gerber holds a Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University, where she teaches in the Women's Studies Department. In her book,
Portrait of the Mother-Artist: Class and Creativity in Contemporary American Fiction, she explores the connections between art and motherhood and examines how literature portrays mothers' artistic creativity. Gerber aligns the interplay of social class, gender, race, and ethnicity into the mix to study the figure she calls the “mother/artist.” She accomplishes this by citing selected works by Gwendolyn Brooks, Tillie Olsen, Cynthia Ozick, and Edwidge Danticat. She traces the development of black and working-class mother/artists as they transform their seemingly mundane domestic spheres into places
of their own personal artistic expression–what she terms “the aesthetic of the ordinary.” One critic wrote that Gerber has refuted Virginia Woolf's famous requisite that a woman must have a
“Room of One's Own” in order to be creative
and productive. Gerber has shown how the mother/artist can discover and “[produce] art in everyday life” and that maternal creativity is not limited to her child-bearing capacity. The publisher is Lexington Books.
Marnie Ezra '91
From CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly, Marni Ezra '91 has co-written
Congressional Election Simulation, one of a four-part Government in Action series. The book can be used for reference or in classrooms. It is designed to stimulate learning about government processes, promote discussion on the various roles of those involved in congressional campaigns, and encourage critical thinking.
Ezra is an assistant professor of history and political science at Hood College in Maryland.
Her areas of specialization are U.S. institutions and elections, in particular, primary elections. In this latest publication, she and co-author Julie Dolan offer students role-playing scenarios as campaign team members. By “participating” in the campaign, students gain a greater understanding of what it takes to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The role-playing offers students a unique “insider's” perspective on the day-to-day events of a campaign. The book also supplies supporting materials for students to research their roles as well as online suggestions for classroom simulations.