Schulman publishes Jonsbok

Congrats to Jana Schulman, who recently published Laws of Later Iceland: Jónsbók as volume 4 in the Bibliotheca Germanica - Series Nova book series edited by Hans Fix-Bonner at the University of Greifswald. Germany. The publisher's description reads as follows:
"After Iceland had submitted to the Norwegian king, Hákon Hákonarson, and his son Magnús in 1262-1264, the law of the Icelandic Commonwealth Grágás was abolished and superseded by Járnsíða in 1271. Icelanders, however, disliked this mainly Norwegian law as it did not pay enough attention to Icelandic conditions. So the lawspeaker Jón Einarsson (d. 1306) brought a revised law code, one that now carries his name, from Norway to Iceland in 1280, to have it accepted by the General Assembly in 1281. Laws of Later Iceland: Jónsbók opens the window to a landscape both unknown and familiar (in its exploration of some legal issues that concern us even today). A late thirteenth-century legal text, Jónsbók's chapters focus on land use, tenancy, personal rights, farming, maritime law, marriage and family law, and inheritance, in addition to poor law and theft law. In this translation appear many fascinating details: how do I prove that I have the rights to a whale? What mark can I claim to indicate my animals and where, according to the law, must I mark them? If my sister marries before me and receives more in her dowry than I end up getting, what are my options? If I own a certain amount of land and chattels, how much will I have to contribute for support of the indigent? The Laws of Later Iceland is the first translation into English of any Jónsbók manuscript. It provides the first edition of AM 351 fol. The edition is a diplomatic one so that linguists can use it as well. Since there are already Ólafur Halldórsson's critical edition (Copenhagen, 1904) that uses AM 351 fol. as its base and Chr. Westergård-Nielsen's facsimile of AM 351 fol. (Copenhagen, 1971), this manuscript will be one of the most accessible for virtually any audience, existing as it does as the base manuscript of a critical edition, in a facsimile, and as the basis for a diplomatic edition and translation. Jónsbók has always attracted readers both because of its comprehensiveness and because of the very material itself. Jónsbók specifically drew scribes to copy the book as ownership allowed more people to know their law intimately and contributed to status. The book has been preserved in over 260 copies, testifying to its popularity; some sections remain in force even today. Unfortunately, Jónsbók was not included in the German series Germanenrechte, so that prior to this edition and translation, there has been only one translation published, that into Danish in 1763. It is fitting to have an English translation of Jónsbók so that the text will be accessible to a wider range of scholars. Not only will this translation of Jónsbók complement the work done by the translators of Grágás (Dennis, Foote, and Perkins, Winnipeg, 1980-2000), but it also will complete the history of medieval Iceland's most important laws."

Kuchta publishes Semi-Detached Empire

Congrats to Todd Kuchta, who recently published his monograph, Semi-Detached Empire: Suburbia and the Colonization of Britain, 1880 to the Present, with the University of Virginia Press. The publisher's description of the book has this to say:
"In the first book to consider British suburban literature from the vantage point of imperial and postcolonial studies, Todd Kuchta argues that suburban identity is tied to the empire’s rise and fall. He takes his title from the type of home synonymous with suburbia. Like the semi-detached house, which joins separate dwellings under one roof, suburbia and empire were geographically distinct but imaginatively linked. Yet just as the "semi" conceals two homes behind a single façade, suburbia’s apparent uniformity masks its defining oppositions—between country and city, "civilization" and "savagery," master and slave. -- While some people saw the suburbs as homegrown colonies, others viewed them as a terra incognita beyond the pale of British culture. Surveying a range of popular and canonical texts, Kuchta reveals the suburban foundations of a variety of unexpected fictional locales: the Thames Valley of H. G. Wells’s Martian attack and the gaslit London of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, but also the tropical backwaters of Joseph Conrad’s Malay Archipelago and the imperial communities of Raj fiction by E. M. Forster and George Orwell. This capacious view demonstrates suburbia's vital role in science fiction, detective tales, condition-of-England novels, modernist narratives of imperial decline, and contemporary multicultural fiction. -- Drawing on postcolonial theory, urban studies, and architectural scholarship, this book will appeal to readers interested in Victorian, modern, and contemporary British literature and cultures, especially those concerned with how place shapes class and masculine identity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."
For additional information, see HERE.

Forum on Collaborative Teaching on April 16

Careers in Community Organizing for Social Justice

Careers in Community Organizing for Social Justice Available to WMU graduating students and alums -- Final Application Deadline: April 26, 2010!

DART is now accepting applications for the 2010 DART Organizers Institute, the paid, four-month field school for people interested in launching a career in community organizing. Participants will undergo a combined classroom and field training covering such topics as:

• Entering a community
• Identifying and training local leaders
• Strategic planning and issue cutting
• Relationship and community building
• Direct Action on community issues
• Fundraising

The DART Center, has built coalitions throughout the country that have won important victories on a broad set of justice issues including:

• Education reform in low-performing public schools
• Job Training
• Drugs and Violence
• Criminal Recidivism
• Living Wage
• Neighborhood Revitalization
• Predatory Lending
• Affordable Housing, etc.

The DART Organizers Institute combines a 7-day classroom orientation with 15 weeks of infield training at a DART host organization. This is a paid training program that includes: a $7,000 living stipend, transportation to the classroom orientation and host city, and mileage reimbursement during the infield training. Room, board, and tuition will also be paid by DART during the 7-day classroom training. After successful completion of the program, DART will work to place graduates into permanent full time salaried positions ($32-35,000 for Associate Organizers and $35-40,000 for Lead Organizers starting salary + health & benefits).  DART is a 501(c)(3) organization, therefore, employees of the DART Network are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness under the recently enacted College Cost Reduction and Access Act.  For more information on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, visit www.ibrinfo.org.

Graduates from the four month DART Organizers Institute have gone onto accept Executive Director and Associate Community Organizing positions throughout the country.

The 7-day classroom orientation and 15-week infield training start in July 2010. Training locations will include placements in several states around the country.

Although it may be helpful, no direct experience is necessary. Organizer Trainees (OTs) hired to participate in the DART Organizers Institute must demonstrate a desire to pursue community organizing as a long-term professional career. A master's degree, JD, or similar life experience is preferred though not necessary. Candidates must have a college degree or be graduating prior to July 2010. Also, candidates must display a workmanlike diligence, be driven to produce sustained results, have proven capacity to build relationships of trust, create and execute a plan, act professionally, feel comfortable working with religious institutions, be accountable and willing to hold others accountable, demonstrate disciplined thought and action, and work in a team setting.  OTs must also have access to a car during their training and be flexible regarding relocation. Fluency in Spanish/English is a plus and people of color are encouraged to apply.

Low and moderate income communities across the country are feeling the bite of recession on issues like healthcare, education, employment, and housing. At the same time, the field of community organizing has obtained more legitimacy and interest than ever before given its recent profile in the 2008 presidential election.  Low and moderate income communities are in need of passionate and talented individuals with the dedication and skills necessary to transform communities.  Now is the time to stand up for social and economic justice.

To find out more about DART or to apply, we encourage you to contact: Sunil Joy, DART Network, 820 New York Street Lawrence, KS 66044 or by email: sunil@thedartcenter.org. If you have any questions, please call: (785) 841-2680. Also, you can download applications or view profiles from previous OTs at the DART website: www.thedartcenter.org.  The 2010 Final Application Deadline is April 26, 2010.

New Issues Awarded MCACA Grant

New Issues Press of Western Michigan University has been awarded a grant for $7,500 from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). The grant will support the promotion of Michigan poets published by New Issues.

The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs serves to encourage,  develop and facilitate an enriched environment of artistic, creative,  cultural activity in Michigan. 


03/31/2010 - The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural  Affairs Announces Statewide Grants

• Read  the Announcement  
• Review  the Funding by County Report