Social Imagination

For more than 200 often turbulent years, Americans have imagined and described Cuba and its relationship to the United States by conjuring up a variety of striking images - Cuba as a woman, a neighbor, a ripe fruit, a child learning to ride a bicycle. One of the foremost historians of Cuba, Louis A. Perez Jr. offers a revealing history of these metaphorical and depictive motifs and discovers the powerful motives behind such characterizations of the island.

In this highly original book, Russell Blackford discusses the intersection of science fiction and humanity’s moral imagination. With the rise of science and technology in the 19th century, and our continually improving understanding of the cosmos, writers and thinkers soon began to imagine futures greatly different from the present. Science fiction was born out of the realization that future techno-scientific advances could dramatically change the world.

Josh Swensen (otherwise known as Larry) can't seem to get off the couch. His usual overactive imagination and save-the-world mindset have all but vanished, and his best friend Beth is seriously worried. When Beth coaxes Josh into taking a walk at Walden Pond, Josh meets Gus Muldarian, a spiritual guru who convinces him to join his study group as a way to find deeper meaning in life. Josh thinks Gus is a joke. Still, feeling desperate and seeing no way out of his rut, he agrees to try it.

Rooted in rhythm-and-blues pioneered by black musicians, 1950s rock and roll was racially inclusive and attracted listeners and performers across the color line. In the 1960s, however, rock and roll gave way to rock: a new musical ideal regarded as more serious, more artistic-and the province of white musicians. Decoding the racial discourses that have distorted standard histories of rock music, Jack Hamilton underscores how ideas of "authenticity" have blinded us to rock's inextricably interracial artistic enterprise.

The legislative attack on public sector unionism that gave rise to the uproar in Wisconsin and other union strongholds in 2011 was not just a reaction to the contemporary economic difficulties faced by the government. Rather, it was the result of a longstanding political and ideological hostility to the very idea of trade unionism put forward by a conservative movement whose roots go as far back as the Haymarket Riot of 1886. The controversy in Madison and other state capitals reveals that labor's status and power has always been at the core of American conservatism.

Our social conversation has gone awry. We are surrounded by noise and are retreating to social media bubbles. As conversations across ideological divides become increasingly difficult, we as a society need to rethink what it means to listen, to think, to create, and to be democratically engaged citizens. Fifteen Paths documents the journey of a disillusioned business professor who came to realize that in order to transcend the noise, we need more imaginative expressions and fewer argumentative ones.

Drawing from a vast array of creation myths - Babylonian, Greek, Aztec, Maya, Inca, Chinese, Hindu, Navajo, Polynesian, African, Norse, Inuit, and more - this concise book uncovers both the similarities and differences in our attempts to explain the universe. Anthony Aveni, an award-winning author and professor of astronomy and anthropology, examines the ways various cultures around the world have attempted to explain our origins, and what roles the natural environment plays in shaping these narratives. The book also celebrates the audacity of the human imagination.

In Timeless Learning, an award-winning team of leaders, Chief Technology Officer Ira Socol, Superintendent Pam Moran, and Lab Schools Principal Chad Ratliff demonstrate how you can implement innovative practices that have shown remarkable success. The authors use progressive design principles to inform pathways to disrupt traditions of education today and show you how to make real innovations that will have a timeless and meaningful impact on students, keeping alive the natural curiosity and passion for learning with which children enter school.

Is your child having trouble going to sleep, or not sleeping through the night? Good thing there’s Bedtime Stories by renowned child development expert Katie Miller and seasoned teacher Sarah J. Young! With this wonderful two-in-one bundle of wonderfully soothing bedtime stories and meditations, your child will indulge in magnificent meditation stories that help enhance their imagination and promote restful sleep and listen to positive affirmations that raise their self-esteem and self-confidence.

This dynamic collection of Black voices, performed by Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor, rapper, and producer Daveed Diggs and Emmy Award-winning writer, creator, producer, and actor Lena Waithe, works like an incantation of origin, healing, and imagination. Born from a series of conceptual art exhibitions, the perspectives gathered here are nowhere near monochromatic.

No one has failed to notice that the current generation of youth is deeply - some would say totally - involved with digital media. Professors Howard Gardner and Katie Davis name today’s young people The App Generation, and in this spellbinding book they explore what it means to be “app-dependent” versus “app-enabled” and how life for this generation differs from life before the digital era.

Amen "Amie" McBee, the youngest of five sisters, gobbles up words the way other children gobble up sweets. She couldn't be more different from her elder twin sisters Arabella and Annabella, called the Bellas. The mischievous Bellas constantly frighten Amen with stories of Mr. Tominski, the old recluse who lives in the woods nearby and mysteriously tends to a flock of doves.

In THE INSPIRED CHOICE: Chronicles of Transformation Beyond Imagination (Volume 1), Caroline Biesalski embarks on a transformative journey, sharing how she became a successful and sought-after podcast host over the past 365 days. With honesty and insight, Caroline reveals the challenges, breakthroughs, and discoveries that fueled her growth, offering readers practical steps and inspiration to launch their own impactful ventures.

From award-winning author Matthew Burgess and Caldecott Medalist Doug Salati comes a spellbinding collection of poems for young listeners that celebrates the power of words to awaken the imagination and alchemize the everyday. A gorgeous gift book for fans of Shel Silverstein with seven die-cut spreads throughout.

When American sociologist C. Wright Mills's The Sociological Imagination was first published in 1959, it provoked much hostile reaction. This was understandable: the book was a hard-hitting attack on how sociology was practiced - and on a number of leading sociologists. Mills was a fierce critic of both modern capitalism and Soviet-style authoritarianism, and argued that the sociology profession failed to look at how people's problems are connected to the structures of the society in which they live.

Mabel lives with her parents in the Mermaid Hotel, where she keeps an eye on all the guests, particularly her friend, the endlessly fascinating Madame Badobedah. Madame Badobedah, who considers herself part of a long tradition of daring women such as Amelia Earhart and Zora Neale Hurston, has pirouetted through pyramids, swum with mermaids and helped a triceratops with a toothache. Just opening one of the drawers in her dressing table full of mementos elicits tales of banshees and curses and an exciting new quest – a reverse jewel heist!

In this story the child is invited on a journey to a magical place. The narrator welcomes the child on a voyage that is complete with the theme of inclusion throughout. It is a place where peace and harmony reign supreme. “The Inclusive All” offers a standing invitation to the child. The child will learn that they can actively engage with literature that is also entertaining. This is story for all times of day because it is characterized by the freedom of joy and happiness.

It's opening night of the school play and there are plenty of nerves to go around! There are lines to be memorized, costumes to sew, and sets to paint. It's a good thing Hattie Harmony is ready to help her friends soothe their worries with everything in her trusted tool belt. Will Hattie be able to settle the pre-show jitters before the curtain call?

Bella loves the beach. She loves the flip and flop slap of her feet on the sand. She loves the crash, crash, crash of the ocean waves. And she loves the gentle shush, shush of the beach umbrella in the breeze. But a rainstorm hits and Bella’s perfect family beach day is ruined. This day is a rainy, awful mess! But maybe a little imagination, and a loving family, can show Bella that a beach day at home can be its own special kind of fun.

Pete the Cat wants to go surfing, but he looks outside and - oh no! - it’s gray and rainy. Does Pete get sad? No, he doesn’t! Instead, he finds a really big and groovy box. Find out in this epic adventure just where Pete’s imagination takes him.