By Design | Porcelain: A History from the Heart of Europe August 24, 2020 Porcelain, once dubbed “white gold” after being reproduced by an eighteenth-century Saxon alchemist, may seem to us today like a quaint rarity, a beautiful relic confined to elegant china cabinets. But in Suzanne Marchand’s absorbing history, this translucent ceramic comes to life as a once-ubiquitous commodity linked to geopolitical upheaval and the global transformations of the last three centuries. Read More
Education in a changing world August 21, 2020 Colleges and universities are being forced to grapple with how to protect the well-being of their students in new and evolving ways. Perennial issues are mixing with new questions and increased urgencies. Read More
Skills for Scholars: The new tools of the trade August 18, 2020 Any discussion of scholarly tools at Princeton University Press naturally begins with a reverent nod to the printing press—for obvious reasons but also in subtler ways. Since 1911, the Press’s headquarters have been housed in a timeless Collegiate Gothic building (later named for benefactor Charles Scribner), designed by Ernest Flagg and sitting at the edge of Princeton’s campus. Read More
Wenfei Tong on Bird Love August 11, 2020 Bonds of affection can take as many forms for birds as they do for humans, and common evolutionary themes explain many ways birds, like humans, experience and demonstrate “love.” Read More
Robert Inman and Daniel Rubinfeld on Democratic Federalism August 06, 2020 Around the world, federalism has emerged as the system of choice for nascent republics and established nations alike. In this book, leading scholars and governmental advisers Robert Inman and Daniel Rubinfeld consider the most promising forms of federal governance and the most effective path to enacting federal policies. Read More
Listen in: The Economics of Belonging August 05, 2020 Fueled by populism and the frustrations of the disenfranchised, the past few years have witnessed the widespread rejection of the economic and political order that Western countries built up after 1945. Read More
Reconsidering ethical costs in a pandemic August 03, 2020 As the reality of the pandemic set in, faculty, students, and administrators scrambled to adjust to the sudden switch to online teaching. I learned to navigate Zoom with a toddler at home and my students packed up their dorms and prepared to finish their coursework elsewhere. Read More
Inspire Thought August 01, 2020 The academic year ahead continues to challenge students and administrations to plan—and think—differently. From complex puzzle solving skills, to concrete tips from professors on how to succeed in college, to the importance of mental play, these books offer resources for seeking solutions and processing ambiguities that are relevant in classrooms, both remote and virtual. Read More
What is Jewish hope? July 31, 2020 How, in a global pandemic, can we look forward to the future with hope? The economic and political landscape that COVID-19 will leave in its wake is alarmingly uncertain. Read More
A paean to the paperback July 30, 2020 My passion for paperbacks began back in the year 2000 with my first job in book publishing. Prior to that, as a philosophy graduate student, I was enamored of finding hardback editions, ideally jacketed, of the philosophers whose works I was reading. Read More
Forgiveness works: What can we learn from a victim‑centered justice system July 27, 2020 As many of us march in the streets or watch televised protests, we are forced to acknowledge the brutalities of our punitive justice system all across the United States. Read More
A look inside Just Giving July 24, 2020 “Your fortune is rolling up, rolling up like an avalanche! You must keep up with it! You must distribute it faster than it grows! If you do not, it will crush you, and your children, and your children’s children!” So wrote Frederick Gates to sixty-seven-year-old John D. Rockefeller in 1906. Read More
By Design | Karen Siatras on designing for Humboldt July 20, 2020 Karen Siatras is a graphic designer in SAAM’s Publications office. For her most recent project, the massive exhibition catalogue that accompanies Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture, she created special decorative letters at the start of each chapter in the book. Read More
A highland roadside: Verge and woodland July 17, 2020 Even better than a shady bank scattered with the fresh June fronds of Beech Fern Phegopteris connectilis interwoven with bluebells, stitchwort, red campion and spikes of Wood Horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum is a roadside verge with thousands of Beech Fern fronds, stretching as far ahead as you can see and spilling down the bank into the woodland alongside. Read More
Eva Rosen on The Voucher Promise July 15, 2020 Housing vouchers are a cornerstone of US federal housing policy, offering aid to more than two million households. Vouchers are meant to provide the poor with increased choice in the private rental marketplace, enabling access to safe neighborhoods with good schools and higher-paying jobs. But do they? Read More
