Social Sciences Education

Marty Baron took charge of The Washington Post newsroom in 2013, after nearly a dozen years leading The Boston Globe. Just seven months into his new job, Baron received explosive news: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, would buy the Post, marking a sudden end to control by the venerated family that had presided over the paper for 80 years. Just over two years later, Donald Trump won the presidency.

One hundred and ten years ago, Maria Montessori, the first female physician in Italy, devised a very different method of educating children, based on her observations of how they naturally learn. In Montessori, Angeline Stoll Lillard shows that science has finally caught up with Maria Montessori. Lillard presents the research behind nine insights that are foundations of Montessori education, describing how each of these insights is applied in the Montessori classroom.

In this expansion of her 2017 commencement speech at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham reflects in her hilarious, relatable voice on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. "Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing," she writes, "is that you keep finding joy in what you're doing, especially when the joy isn't finding you." She reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes you.

The corporatisation of the contemporary university has sped up the clock. In The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber discuss how adopting the principles of the Slow movement in academic life can counter this erosion of humanistic education. Focusing on the individual faculty member and his or her own professional practice, Berg and Seeber present both an analysis of the culture of speed in the academy and ways of alleviating stress while improving teaching, research, and collegiality.

This metaphysical self-help classic instills happiness within and urges individuals to pursue a content life without sin, boredom, or contempt. Written decades ago with post-war depression in mind, this text has transcended time and continues to give applicable advice for modern-day individuals.

The dramatic story of the 1925 Scopes trial, which captivated the nation and exposed profound divisions in America that still resonate today—divisions over the meaning of freedom, religion, education, censorship, and civil liberties in a democracy.

To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation—until now. In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction.

The Fallacy Detective has been the best-selling book for teaching logical fallacies and introduction to logic for over 15 years. What is a fallacy? A fallacy is an error in logic a place where someone has made a mistake in his thinking. “A cloud is 90 percent water. A watermelon is 90 percent water. Therefore, since a plane can fly through a cloud, a plane can fly through a watermelon.” This is an easy book for learning to spot common errors in reasoning. For ages 12 through adult. Fun to use - learn skills you can use right away.

Innovation expert Ted Dintersmith took an unprecedented trip across America, visiting all 50 states in a single school year. He originally set out to raise awareness about the urgent need to reimagine education to prepare students for a world marked by innovation, but America's teachers one-upped him. He met teachers in ordinary settings doing extraordinary things. Capturing bold ideas from teachers and classrooms across America, What School Could Be provides a realistic, and profoundly optimistic, roadmap for creating cultures of innovation and real learning in all our schools.

One L, Scott Turow's journal of his first year at law school and a best seller when it was first published in 1977, has gone on to become a virtual bible for prospective law students. Not only does it introduce with remarkable clarity the ideas and issues that are the stuff of legal education; it also brings alive the anxiety and competitiveness, with others and, even more, with oneself, that set the tone in this crucible of character building.

How to Teach Anything takes what academics know about education and pedagogy and translates it all into real-world skills and techniques. The learning brain works in very predictable ways, and we can use this to our advantage. Whether you are a student, tutor, professor, teacher, or even TA, understand how information takes hold and becomes useful.

As MacArthur award-winning educator Lisa Delpit reminds us - and as all research shows - there is no achievement gap at birth. In her long-awaited second book, Delpit presents a striking picture of the elements of contemporary public education that conspire against the prospects for poor children of color, creating a persistent gap in achievement during the school years that has eluded several decades of reform. Delpit reflects on two decades of reform efforts that have still left a generation of poor children of color feeling that higher educational achievement isn't for them.

We all notice when the poor get poorer: when there are more rough sleepers and food bank queues start to grow. But if the rich become richer, there is nothing much to see in public and, for most of us, daily life doesn't change. Or at least, not immediately. In this astonishing, eye-opening intervention, world-leading philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns exposes the true extent of our wealth problem, which has spent the past fifty years silently spiralling out of control.

The founder of the international Transition Towns movement asks why true creative, positive thinking is in decline, asserts that it's more important now than ever, and suggests ways our communities can revive and reclaim it.

Two young women, dormitory mates, embark on their education at a big state university. Five years later, one is earning a good salary at a prestigious accounting firm. With no loans to repay, she lives in a fashionable apartment with her fiance. The other woman, saddled with burdensome debt and a low GPA, is still struggling to finish her degree in tourism. In an era of skyrocketing tuition and mounting concern over whether college is "worth it", Paying for the Party is an indispensable contribution to the dialogue assessing the state of American higher education.

F--k the F--kity F--kin' F--ker. Fans of Katherine Dunn won't be surprised that this was her father's favorite sentence, or that, as a young girl, she heard it as a kind of profane poem, a secret song. For many of us, the language of Geek Love carries a similar staying power, born of Dunn's agile use of language and her strange, beautiful diction. And as a true exegete of the expletive, she remained undividedly devoted to obscenity - both as scholar and practitioner.

Sara Ahmed examines what we can learn about power from those who complain about abuses of power. Drawing on oral and written testimonies from academics and students who have made complaints about harassment, bullying, and unequal working conditions at universities, Ahmed explores the gap between what is supposed to happen when complaints are made and what actually happens. Following a long lineage of Black feminist and feminist of color critiques of the university, Ahmed delivers a timely consideration of how institutional change becomes possible and why it is necessary.

Have you ever heard of Machu Picchu? It’s an ancient citadel high in the mountains of Peru. Science played a big role in the building of Machu Picchu and the daily life of the Inca people who lived there. Find out the science behind Machu Picchu.

Summary: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson: An Antidote to Chaos (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.) Called “one of the most important thinkers to emerge on the world stage for many years,” by The Spectator, Jordan B. Peterson's 12 Rules for Life is a truly thought-provoking read. How should we live in the modern world? Peterson aims to answer this question using his unique blend of ancient traditions, religion and scientific research.

With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, an understanding of the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant. In this charming volume, a narrative history written explicitly for a young audience, expert linguist David Crystal proves why the story of language deserves retelling. From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, A Little Book of Language ranges widely, revealing language's myriad intricacies and quirks.