Faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences have written, edited and translated many books in their disciplines. Here are four recently published works.
Unlearning Protestantism: Sustaining Christian Community in an Unstable Age By Gerald Schlabach, Theology Department (Brazos Press, 2010)
Who’s right? In the context of Protestant- Catholic relations, the question is ages old. Gerald Schlabach acknowledges that the doctrinal and ethical questions that take center stage in the debates between Christian communities are ones that need discernment. “But I do have a hunch,” the author writes, “that we will cast new light on fundamental presuppositions if we attend far more carefully to what it means to discern together.” Drawing from his own faith journey and his experience as a Mennonite Catholic, Schlabach explores a modern ecumenical question: How does any Christian community sustain its unity and serve as an effective witness of a truly peaceful, civilized society?
Educating Young Singers: A Choral Resource for Teacher-Conductors By Mary Goetze; Angela Broeker, University of St. Thomas Music Department; and Ruth Boshkoff (Mj Publishing, 2009)
In the last 30 years, the number of youth choirs in our country has increased dramatically. In response, three experienced teacher conductors, including Angela Broeker, director of choral activities at St. Thomas, have written a candid and comprehensive guide to educating young choristers. Motivation for this work is as much a desire to promote musicianship among youth as it is the hope to plant the “seed of creativity” in fellow educators – the seed that has inspired the authors to find fresh new ways of engaging young singers, and to enhance their personal fulfillment in their work.
Death and Afterlife: A Theological Introduction By Terence Nichols, Theology Department (Brazos Press, 2010)
Nowadays, God, the soul, heaven and hell, and questions of the afterlife are taboo and labeled irrelevant by the pervasive secular culture. Nichols, who has long taught a class at St. Thomas titled Death and the Afterlife, has found among his students a deep interest in these topics, coupled with a great uncertainty and fear of death. In his work, Nichols invites readers to rethink their conceptions of the soul and the afterlife, responding to the scientific and naturalistic challenges. The author asserts that afterlife with God is the ultimate hope because “even the most successful earthly life cannot escape disappointments, mistakes, failures, losses and estrangements.”
Miocene Tectonics of the Lake Mead Region, Central Basin and Range Edited by Paul Umhoefer, Northern Arizona University; L. Sue Beard, research geologist; and Melissa Lamb, University of St. Thomas Geology Department (Geological Society of America, 2010)
The Lake Mead region, spanning southeastern Nevada and southwestern Utah, has interested geologists of multiple generations interested in seismicity and tectonics. Melissa Lamb, chair of the Geology Department, is among those with a keen interest in the geology of this region. This book provides a historical overview of research of the region, a geologic map centered on Lake Mead and a geophysical analysis of the region’s basins and faults. Included in this volume are insights that are not only relevant to this area, but to extensional processes in general.
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