Frozen Justice: Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Failed Transitional Justice Strategy

Jared O. Bell

July 2018 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-204-3
Availability: In stock
154pp. ¦ $55 £40 €45

In May 1993 the United Nations Security Council founded the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Based in the Hague, Netherlands, the ICTY was formed with the objective of prosecuting those who had committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia during the early to mid-90s. During its mandate (1993-2017), the tribunal heard many cases and tried numerous perpetrators, from those who carried out the killings to those who orchestrated and ordered them. In spite of its accomplishments, the ICTY is considered to be highly controversial. It is debated if the ICTY did enough to foster healing and reconciliation in many of the conflict-torn societies. Many scholars argue that the tribunal operated adequately within their mandate and sought to promote justice and reconciliation, however, those who lived through the brutal wars would argue that there has simply been no justice. Importantly, Bosnia and Herzegovina still remains a country divided by issues of post-conflict justice, among other things. In 2010 a government-led strategic plan emerged that was intended to deal with the unfinished “business” of justice and promote reconciliation throughout the country. However, it failed to do this, and there is currently no political will or momentum to revive it. But, was this strategy doomed to failure from the beginning? In the form of a quantitative study, this book examines the possibility of reconciliation being achieved in Bosnia and Herzegovina through the methods fostered by the strategy. Focusing on three major cities, Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka, Dr. Jared Bell surveyed nearly 500 people in order to shed light on the subject of the national transitional justice strategy and reconciliation from the perspective of the everyday populace.

Memos from a Theatre Lab: Immersive Theatre & Time

Nandita Dinesh

June 2018 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-435-1
Availability: In stock
200pp. ¦ $59 £42 €48

Drawing from Dinesh’s findings in Memos from a Theatre Lab: Exploring What Immersive Theatre “Does” and Memos from a Theatre Lab: Spaces, Relationships, & Immersive Theatre, this practice-based-research project, the third in a series of Immersive Theatre experiments in Dinesh’s theatre laboratory, considers the impact of duration when using immersive theatrical aesthetics toward educational and/or socio-political objectives. Dinesh frames the third experiment in her New Mexican theatre laboratory by placing its data and analyses in conversation with Information for/from Outsiders: Chronicles from Kashmir: a twenty-four hour long immersive, theatrical experience that Dinesh has been developing with Kashmiri theatre artists since 2013. In doing so, Dinesh seeks to create ‘conceptual bridges': between practice and theory; between her experiments in New Mexico and the work that she does in Kashmir; between the generation of frameworks to develop Dinesh’s own repertoire as a practitioner-researcher, and the creation of shareable strategies that might be used by other Immersive Theatre scholars, artists, and students.

The Potency of the Principalship: Action-Oriented Leadership at the Heart of School Improvement

Nicholas D. Young, American International College et al.

July 2018 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-444-3
Availability: In stock
170pp. ¦ $57 £41 €46

This book examines the diverse responsibilities of the 21st century principal, who is tasked with continuous school improvement. Recognizing that principals must lead educators and staff in all facets of school life, this book reviews research-based strategies, practices and theories that can be readily translated into the enhanced praxis. The authors present an in-depth analysis into principal identity, working effectively with families, how a collaborative school culture can offer dividends, helping teachers educate an increasingly diverse student body, and successful instructional leadership approaches. Additional emphasis is placed on school law, teachers’ unions, hiring and evaluation, budgeting, curriculum and program assessment, professional development, and the use of technology. Notably, throughout their investigation, the authors bear in mind cutting-edge practices that can be employed in these areas to leverage the best from schools and those that inhabit their halls. The reader will be left with an expanded understanding of principal practices that directly and indirectly improve student achievement as well as a resource section for further consideration and use.

Madness Reimagined: Envisioning a Better System of Mental Health in America

Leonard A. Steverson, Flagler College

July 2018 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-328-6
Availability: In stock
196pp. ¦ $58 £42 €48

Madness Reimagined: Envisioning a Better System of Mental Health in America provides a comprehensive analysis of the current mental health system in the United States. Presented from a sociological rather than a psychological perspective, this book seeks to provide readers with an extensive but accessible look at its history, the current mental health treatment modalities, the various mental health practitioners, the different conditions known as mental health disorders, as well as strategies for improving the system. Trained both in clinical and applied therapy and sociology, the author aims to provide a balance to the work that other books on mental health often lack. As a result, this book proposes a dual approach to the study of mental health. Dr. Steverson acknowledges that while disorders and treatment modalities require a micro-level (intrapsychic) approach, the overall analysis of the mental health system demands a macro-level (sociological) approach. Due to the recent changes in the American healthcare system and the concerns this has raised, this book is a necessary and important contribution to its field. It also reflects a growing desire from the public to better understand this subject as mental health issues continue to gain visibility in the public eye. Free of psychological jargon and in an accessible format, this book will not only appeal to academics and students, but also to mental health consumers, their families, and people who are interested in advocacy.

Enjoying the Operatic Voice: A Neuropsychoanalytic Exploration of the Operatic Reception Experience

Carlo Zuccarini

June 2018 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-415-3
Availability: In stock
308pp. ¦ $64 £46 €52

There has been a long-standing and mutually-informing association between psychoanalysis, literature and the arts. Surprisingly, given the oral/aural basis of the ‘talking cure’, music has largely been overlooked by psychoanalysis. Notably, neuroscientific research investigating music reception and production has been steadily increasing in range and scope over the years. However, in order to avoid confounding factors, empirical studies have focused primarily on non-vocal music. Remarkably, operatic vocal music has not featured prominently in either field. Yet the multi-dimensional, multi-layered nature of opera, which fuses together a number of different arts, would appear to provide fertile soil for both disciplines. This book aims to fill that gap, providing a stepping stone for further research. It leverages the individual strengths of psychoanalysis and neuroscience both separately and jointly as the inter-discipline of neuropsychoanalysis. By combining various theories of mind with knowledge about music processing in the brain, this book comprehensively examines the operatic reception experience, providing an account in subjective as well as objective terms. It explores the bittersweet enjoyment of operatic vocal music, which can literally move an operaphile to tears. The explanation for this may be found in a number of subjective dynamics that are unique to the reception of opera, rather than in any distinct objective neural processes, which are common to the reception of all music. These subjective dynamics, which are recruited during neural processing, are triggered by the equally unique features of the operatic voice, in combination with a number of auxiliary elements that are specific to opera. This book will be of interest to academics in a broad range of science and arts disciplines related to music perception and performance, such as music psychology and operatic performance. It may also appeal to passionate operaphiles who wish to understand what drives their addiction!