Five Fordham University faculty members have won 2007 National Jesuit Book Awards given out by Alpha Sigma Nu and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.
Receiving the awards were Robin Andersen, Ph.D., professor of communication and media studies, for A Century of Media, A Century of War (Peter Lang, 2006); Jane Bolgatz, Ph.D., assistant professor of social studies education, for Talking Race in the Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2005); and Albert N. Greco, Ed.D., professor of marketing, Clara Rodríguez, professor of sociology, and Robert M. Wharton, Ph.D., area chair of management systems, for The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century (Stanford Business Books, 2007).
“We are very honored,” said Rodríguez, whose book analyzes the sometimes conflicting cultural and commercial themes that influence all segments of the $54 billion book industry in the United States. “This book began as a follow-up to an earlier classic work by Lewis A. Coser, Charles Kadushin and William Powell. … It then evolved into something a little different.”
Greco said the book is unique because he and his co-authors studied the cultural and commercial forces of the book industry, something few academics have done.
“I assume our empirical data and analysis and our comprehensive understanding of the industry might have interested the reviewers,” he said.
Bolgatz, who taught language and social studies for five years at an Iowa high school while working on her doctoral degree, said her book is geared at helping teachers develop the knowledge, skill and confidence to successfully address racial controversies in their classrooms.
“I was frustrated with not being able to have conversations with my students, or my fellow teachers, about racism,” she said. “They treated it as if it was a thing of the past. There were no books to refer to so I decided to write my own. And the title really says it all—it’s about talking race in the classroom.”
Andersen’s book, which has been lauded in reviews for being “cogently written” and “uncompromising in its ethical stance,” evaluates the long history of press coverage and media representations of American wars in the 20th century.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have received [the award],” Andersen said.
Alpha Sigma Nu and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities award four book prizes each year in a specific category in a range of disciplines from the humanities to science. The category for the 2007 awards was professional studies, which encompasses everything from business to law. There were 60 entries this year from 16 Jesuit colleges and universities. The award carries a $1,000 prize.
The book awards are open to all faculty and administrators who have published a book in the past three years. The books are judged by scholars on the basis of scholarship, significance of topic to professors across several disciplines, authority in interpretation, objectivity, presentation and style.
