Communication studies Books

Book SynopsisGeorge Pullman's lively and accessible introduction to the study of persuasion is an ideal text for use in courses where the understanding and practice of argumentation, rhetoric, and critical thinking are central. Continually challenging his readers to seek and recognize sound evidence, to question the obvious, and to assess and reassess the credibility of claims made by others--including the author's own--Pullman shows the way to strong writing, effective speaking, and rigorous critical thinking.Trade ReviewGeorge Pullman's Persuasion , has much to commend it, not only in its direct engagement of the rich tradition of Rhetoric, but also in its well-chosen range of readings (from the Greek tradition as well as contemporary pieces) and exercises in each chapter. In particular, I liked the way the introductory material invites experienced and newer students to consider the value of effective communication in professional settings. The exercises not only enable students to put into practice the key ideas highlighted in the chapter, but also promote digital literacies, which are fundamental in the twenty-first century. Students will find chapters three and four especially valuable for their clarity in explaining topics, issue types and use of evidence. Finally, this is an affordable and relevant classroom text that students will be able to consult long after the course of study has ended. --Cecilia Bonnor, Department of English, University of Houston

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Book SynopsisGeorge Pullman's lively and accessible introduction to the study of persuasion is an ideal text for use in courses where the understanding and practice of argumentation, rhetoric, and critical thinking are central. Continually challenging his readers to seek and recognize sound evidence, to question the obvious, and to assess and reassess the credibility of claims made by others--including the author's own--Pullman shows the way to strong writing, effective speaking, and rigorous critical thinking.Trade ReviewGeorge Pullman's Persuasion , has much to commend it, not only in its direct engagement of the rich tradition of Rhetoric, but also in its well-chosen range of readings (from the Greek tradition as well as contemporary pieces) and exercises in each chapter. In particular, I liked the way the introductory material invites experienced and newer students to consider the value of effective communication in professional settings. The exercises not only enable students to put into practice the key ideas highlighted in the chapter, but also promote digital literacies, which are fundamental in the twenty-first century. Students will find chapters three and four especially valuable for their clarity in explaining topics, issue types and use of evidence. Finally, this is an affordable and relevant classroom text that students will be able to consult long after the course of study has ended. --Cecilia Bonnor, Department of English, University of Houston

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Book SynopsisIntercultural communications encompasses social or human sciences (including political science, psychology, sociology, discourse analysis, linguistics, literary and cultural studies, education, etc.) which deal with discourse within and across different cultures. This significant book presents important analyses from around the globe.

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Book SynopsisIn a society predicated on information, the media has a pervasive presence. From government policy to leisure television, the information age touches us all. The papers collected in this book constitute some of today''s leading analyses of the information industry. Together, these essays represent a needed foundation for understanding the present state and future development of the mass media. Current trends in communications as well as media impact on public opinion are studied and reported on.

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Book Synopsis"Contrary to the old adage about finding new names for old things, Writing Online: Rhetoric for the Digital Age gives new life and new meaning to old names. The book and its companion website transform ancient rhetoric as a process of oral composition—invention, arrangement, memory, style, and delivery—into a digital rhetoric, a dynamic process of writing for the World Wide Web: dynamic because it shows not only how to write in a Web-based medium but, more importantly, how to learn and adapt to a medium that is constantly evolving and changing. Unlike conventional books that provide specific solutions to specific problems, Writing Online reenacts the process of solving Web-based writing problems, explaining everything from how to create a simple web page to how to develop a sophisticated content management system and everything in between: HTML, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and much more. As a digital rhetoric, moreover, Writing Online recreates the ancient processes of oral composition for a digital era. Digital invention becomes a push-pull process of transmitting information via searches, alerts, news aggregators, and read-write algorithms. Digital arrangement becomes a question-and-answer process inviting multiple responses via intuitive navigation systems and dynamic patterns of organization. Digital memory transforms the ancient memory palace into a dynamic, programmable content management system. Digital style provides computer-based tools to enhance writers’ word choice, argumentative structures, and feedback. Digital delivery resituates speakers and writers in onscreen environments that balance functionality and aesthetics for optimum responsiveness and usability." —James P. Zappen, Professor, Department of Communication and Media, Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteTrade Review"Writing Online is a vital resource for teachers, scholars, and students interested in developing and researching the role of technology in fostering a digital writer’s identity and ethos. Early on, Pullman makes an important distinction between reading and using this groundbreaking text, with an emphasis on the pragmatics of information and document design in digital space that is sorely missing in many interdisciplinary texts on web authoring. As an accessible introduction to the tools, language, and processes of digital composing, including significant overviews of code literacy, Writing Online is more than a 'how-to' book. Indeed, its grounding in digital rhetorical practices ensures that users move from passive consumers of online content to active, successful producers of it. Ultimately, Writing Online reinforces that digital composing is as much a part of the rhetorical tradition today as both speech and writing have been throughout the ages." —Kristine L. Blair, Bowling Green State University"In Writing Online, George Pullman reboots the time-tested strategies of rhetoric for an age of digital production. The result is a flexible and durable approach to composing that will suit writers preparing for a world where 'text' is a verb and digital strategy means rapidly repurposing a video clip from a 1980s TV show. Pullman's book shows that in this world of memes and tweets, we needn't lose the sophistication of a well-crafted balance of ethos, logos, and pathos, nor should we abandon the higher purpose of a rhetorical education: preparing ethical digital citizens. But Writing Online is not an homage to the past. Rather, at its heart, it is a thorough and valuable refiguring of the boundaries of rhetorical inquiry—the five canons of rhetoric—invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Each is updated to bring a strategic focus to the use of digital resources such as the use of databases (Memory) or configuring networks and feeds to provide a 'launch pad' for Invention. Teachers of writing will find, in Writing Online, all they need to engage students whose writing lives update at the pace of BuzzFeed with the visual impact of Instagram. Students will recognize their own digital world reflected there, but will find a powerful set of guidelines and strategies that will serve them well as new technologies continue to emerge and replace those they use today." —William Hart-Davidson, Michigan State University

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Book SynopsisSmartphones can provide services based on consumers'' location, raising potential privacy risks if companies use or share location data without consumers'' knowledge. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces prohibitions against unfair and deceptive practices, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sets national telecommunications policy. This book addresses how mobile industry companies collect location data, why they use and share these data, and how this affects consumers. Also discussed are the types of actions private sector entities have taken to protect consumers'' privacy and ensure security of location data.

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Book SynopsisTelevision and radio broadcasters air content, including advertisements and other programming, on a variety of issues, some of which directly address their interests as broadcasters. The FCC applies the Communications Act of 1934 to hold these broadcasters to a basic principle - that the public should know when and by whom it is being persuaded. Statutes and FCC regulations require licensed broadcasters to publicly disclose information about sponsored content. This book describes the disclosure requirements for broadcasters that air advertisements or programming that affect their interests and may be intended to influence Congress, and any requirements to air opposing views; and assesses what is known about the number and fair market value of these advertisements, and those of opposing views, aired from 2007 through 2012.

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Book SynopsisIn a society predicated on information, the media has a pervasive presence. From government policy to leisure television, the information age touches us all. The papers collected in this book constitute some of today''s leading analyses of the information industry. Together, these essays represent a needed foundation for understanding the present state and future development of the mass media. Current trends in communications as well as media impact on public opinion are studied and reported on. Topics include video conferencing via mobile devices in schools; managing the facility with lifecycle information; radio resource allocation in MU-MIMO LTE networks; a systemic modelling approach to interpreting service delivery; a morphogenetic approach to digital multimedia for college resources; and detection of spatially distributed signals by generalised receiver using radar sensor arrays in wireless communications.

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Book SynopsisThis book is undeniably an informative and stimulating read for students, professionals, educators, and researchers with an interest in speech perception. The seven engaging chapters in the book encourage the reader to critically analyse issues in speech perception research and identify relevant areas for future examination. The first chapter introduces speech perception and raises some fundamental challenges associated with its study. In the subsequent chapters, the authors gradually immerse the reader in discussions about the anatomy and physiology of speech perception, theories, experimental methods, acoustic cues, spoken word recognition and development of speech perception to cover the depth and breadth of the field. Examples from different languages and comparisons with extant research in English highlight universal and language-specific aspects of speech perception. Scrutiny of research lacunae throughout the book make it a thought-provoking read. It calls for a collective scientific effort across languages around the world to continue unravelling the mystery of speech perception in human beings.Table of ContentsPreface; Speech Perception: Basic Issues; Speech Processing in the Auditory System; Theories of Speech Perception; Methods Used in Speech Perception Studies; Acoustic Cues of Speech Sounds; Spoken Word Recognition; Development of Speech Perception; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book gives an overview of altmetrics, its tools and how to implement them successfully to boost and measure research outputs. New methods of scholarly communication and dissemination of information are having a huge impact on how academics and researchers build profiles and share research. This groundbreaking and highly practical guide looks at the role that library and information professionals can play in facilitating these new ways of working and demonstrating impact and influence. Altmetrics focuses on research artefact level metrics that are not exclusive to traditional journal papers but also extend to book chapters, posters and data sets, among other items. This book explains the theory behind altmetrics, including how it came about, why it can help academics and where it sits amongst current measurements of impact. Editor Andy Tattersall draws on the expertise of leading altmetric innovators and practitioners, with chapters from Euan Adie, the founder of Altmetric.com; William Gunn, the Head of Academic Outreach at Mendeley and Ben Showers, author of the bestselling Facet title Library Analytics and Metrics. Altmetrics: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Researchers and Academics will empower library and information professionals working in higher education, researchers, academics and higher education leaders and strategists to develop the skills and knowledge needed to introduce and support altmetrics within their own institutions.Trade Reviewextremely timely ... rather than focusing on the nitty-gritty and details of numbers and metrics, the book offers a very readable and accessible overview of the topic - why and how altmetrics have developed, a snapshot of what they look like today, and a glimpse of what we might see in the future. -- Michelle Dalton * Libfocus *Altmetrics: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Researchers and Academics is very welcome as it is one of very few textbooks revisiting the theory behind the growth of altmetrics, providing a comprehensive snapshot of what they look like today and demonstrating their value if applied in a meaningful manner. All in all, this is a worthwhile read, especially for any LIS professional interested in improving their understanding of altmetrics. -- Nathalie Cornée * LSE Review of Books *The targeted audience is library and information professionals doing altmetrics outreach to researchers, but the work is written to appeal to researchers and academics generally. A list of key points at the end of each chapter is particularly helpful for newcomers. -- Michael Rodriguez * Library Journal *The end of every chapter features “Key Points,” “Conclusions,” a “Reference List,” and “Further Reading,” making the text useful for reference purposes ... Overall, this readable book enables LIS professionals to help faculty and researchers understand the theoretical underpinnings of the development of altmetrics as well as navigate the variety of altmetrics technologies and tools. This book is recommended for academic and special librarians, information specialists, and graduate students pursuing an advanced degree in library science or information science. -- Sarah H. Jeong * Technical Services Quarterly *This book is a great addition to the literature on measuring scholarly productivity and is written by prominent experts in the field. This book is a practical step-by-step guide to boarding the altmetrics train and explores the new frontiers in scholarly communications metrics and public scholarship. It is an important addition to the conversation on scholarly metrics and opens a dialogue about other social media measurements through the many unanswered questions posed within the book. -- Innocent Awasom * The Library Quarterly *'This book provides a very practical, informative,and even inspiring springboard for library professionals and scholars to begin or expand an exploration into the advantages and opportunities afforded by altmetrics.'- Sarah Tusa, Lamar University, Serials Review * Serials Review *Table of Contents1. Introduction - Andy Tattersall 2. Road map: From web 2.0 to altmetrics - Andy Tattersall 3. "Metrics of the trade": where have we come from? - Andrew Booth 4. The evolution of library metrics - Ben Showers 5. The rise of altmetrics - Euan Adie 6. Beyond bibliometrics: altmetrics reflects information about enagagement with more types of scholarly content from more types of consumers - William Gunn 7. Considerations for implementing new technologies - Andy Tattersall 8. Resources and tools - Andy Tattersall 9. The connected academic - implementing altmetrics within your organisation - Andy Tattersall 10. Appmetrics - improving impact on the go - Claire Beecroft 11. Open peer review - Andy Tattersall 12. Conclusion - Andy Tattersall

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Book SynopsisSport is a universal feature of global popular culture. It shapes our identities, affects our relationships, and defines our communities. It also influences our consumption habits, represents our cultures, and dramatizes our politics. In other words, sport is among the most prominent vehicles for communication available in daily life. Nevertheless, only recently has it begun to receive robust attention in the discipline of communication studies. The handbook of Communication and Sport attends to the recent and rapid growth of scholarship in communication and media studies that features sport as a central site of inquiry. The book attempts to capture a full range of methods, theories, and topics that have come to define the subfield of "communication and sport" or "sports communication." It does so by emphasizing four primary features. First, it foregrounds "communication" as central to the study of sport. This emphasis helps to distinguish the book from collections in related disciplines such as sociology, and also points readers beyond media as the primary or only context for understanding the relationship between communication and sport. Thus, in addition to studies of media effects, mediatization, media framing, and more, readers will also engage with studies in interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, and rhetorical communication. Second, the handbook presents an array of methods, theories, and topics in the effort to chart a comprehensive landscape of communication and sport scholarship. Thus, readers will benefit from empirical, interpretive, and critical work, and they will also see studies drawing on varied texts and sites of inquiry. Third, the handbook of Communication and Sport includes a broad range of scholars from around the world. It is therefore neither European nor North American in its primary focus. In addition, the book includes contributors from commonly under-represented regions in Asia, Africa, and South America. Fourth, the handbook aims to account for both historical trajectories and contemporary areas of interest. In this way, it covers the central topics, debates, and perspectives from the past and also suggests continued and emerging pathways for the future. Collectively, the handbook of Communication and Sport aspires to provide scholars and students in communication and media studies with the most comprehensive assessment of the field available.

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Book SynopsisHow is performativity shaped by digital technologies - and how do performative practices reflect and alter techno-social formations? "Performing the Digital" explores, maps and theorizes the conditions and effects of performativity in digital cultures. Bringing together scholars from performance studies, media theory, sociology and organization studies as well as practitioners of performance, the contributions engage with the implications of digital media and its networked infrastructures for modulations of affect and the body, for performing cities, protest, organization and markets, and for the performativity of critique.With contributions by Marie-Luise Angerer, Timon Beyes, Scott deLahunta and Florian Jenett, Margarete Jahrmann, Susan Kozel, Ann-Christina Lange, Oliver Leistert, Martina Leeker, Jon McKenzie, Sigrid Merx, Melanie Mohren and Bernhard Herbordt, Imanuel Schipper and Jens Schröter.

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Book SynopsisAccording to Walter Benjamin, the past that is not recognized by the present threatens to disappear irretrievably. As a consequence, photographs cannot save the moment from oblivion by pure depiction alone, but only by keeping the depicted moment actual at every present moment. Instead of counting on the documentary quality of photography that speaks in the past tense of "what has been", Silke Helmerdig suggests a different approach to photography: an extension of a future subjunctive (photographic) tense speaking of "what could be, if", allowing one to think possible futures instead of harking back to the past.

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Book SynopsisThe monsters of the horror genre never remain dead - they invariably return in new and terrifying shapes for another installment. In this study Christian Knöppler explores the phenomenon of horror film remakes. He argues that even though these derivative films typically earn little praise from critics, their constant refiguration of monsters and horror scenarios serves to access and update otherwise obscure cultural fears. With an in-depth examination of six sample sequences of films and remakes, this book aims to shed new light on a much maligned and often neglected type of film and promises fresh insights to scholars and aficionados alike.

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Book SynopsisHow are the structures of power and the notion of agency among Syrian women during the recent Syrian conflict connected? To explore this matter, Rand El Zein investigates gender politics around displacement, conflict, the body, and the nation. In doing so, she outstandingly reconciles critical media theory as myriad and productive with the theoretical concepts on subjectivity, power, performativity, neoliberalism, and humanitarian governance. The book examines how the Arab television news discursively represented the experiences of Syrian women during the conflict in relation to the four main concepts: violence, vulnerability, resilience, and resistance.

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Book SynopsisThis book supports and deepens the existing interfaces between art, science, and technology - transgressing traditional principles and styles of research, and selectively overcoming the side-by-side coexistence in favour of an integrated "laboratory of the future". Instead of relying on traditional dualisms like nature-culture, subject-object, as well as man and machine, heterogeneous networks with humans and non-humans (Latour) are opened in shared contexts of agency. New momentary propositions are developed, meeting the complexity of discovering, exploring, and inventing - things: things which do not exist just as given beings. The artists and theoreticians can pursue using the tools and techniques of science actively - not only to comment them but also to fathom their possibilities, and employ them in their artistic and scientific projects. Machines as Agency is an artistic perspective.

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Book SynopsisDuring the last 25 years, most of the communication systems have been converted to purely digital technology, although the transmitted content mostly is analog by nature. The principal advantages of digital communication are compression by source encoding, bit error protection by channel coding and robust transmission over noisy channels by appropriate modulation. Digital systems are usually designed for worst case channel conditions. However, often the channel quality is much better, which is not reflected in an improved end-to-end transmission quality due to inevitable quantization noise produced by the source encoder.In this thesis, the focus is set on systems which: are not purely digital anymore benefit from increasing channel qualities and avoid the saturation effect using discrete-time, continuous-amplitude techniques.In the first part, purely analog, i.e., discrete-time and continuous-amplitude transmission systems are considered with line

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Book SynopsisTerrestrial broadcast is traditionally realized over High Tower High Power (HTHP) networks which have been preserved in the transition from the analog PAL to the first generation of the digital DVB-T technology. The drawback of this traditional network design is its spectral inefficiency. The demand for providing more TV programs with HD quality as well as the increasing spectrum consumption of mobile internet services, with video streaming being one of the driving factors, necessitate a re-optimization of the current broadcast network and a more efficient allocation of frequencies.In this thesis, three options for a future frequency-efficient evolution and coexistence of terrestrial TV and mobile internet are specified and investigated: Transition from the current terrestrial broadcast with DVB-T to its successor DVB-T2 while retaining the HTHP network infrastructure Switch-over from DVB-T to DVB-T2 with transition to a Low Tower Low Power (LTLP) network infras

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Book SynopsisMobile phones as well as tablets are omnipresent and belong to everyday life. Today audiovisual communication takes place at different locations and in a large variety of acoustic environments. In consequence, the intelligibility as well as the quality of speech may significantly be degraded by ambient background noise. In order to improve speech intelligibility and to ensure a convenient communication with high audio quality, speech enhancement techniques are required. In this thesis all critical components contributing to the enhancement of the up-link signal are addressed: signal capturing at the acoustic front-end with a new near field beamformer new codebook based speech and noise estimation procedure generating and exploiting reliability information, and actual noise reduction exploiting spectral dependencies of human speech.For the acoustic front-end of the digital processing chain a novel concept for the filter optimization of a near field beamfor

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Book SynopsisTransmitting analog audio, video, or sensor data with a digital system requires sampling and quantization. While a sampled bandlimited signal can be reconstructed perfectly if the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem is met, quantization unavoidably adds irreversible errors. Given a certain bitrate for quantization (or source coding in general), the achievable signal quality is therefore limited. Transmission of the signal over a noisy channel causes additional errors. If some part of the bitrate is used for protecting the signal with a channel code, these additional errors can be reduced or even eliminated. However, this reduces the achievable maximum quality if the gross bitrate is fixed. Since this compromise between quantization and channel coding is often designed for the worst-case channel, the signal quality saturates early with increasing channel quality, and transmission over a better channel is far below optimum.Instead of conventional digital systems, this thesis cover

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Book SynopsisThe present book has been conceptualized and designed as a text which looks into the theories and practices of mass media communication. The present book has been conceptualized and designed as a text which looks into the theories and practices of mass media communication.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTo date, most network research contains one or more of five major problems. First, it tends to be atheoretical, ignoring the various social theories that contain network implications. Second, it explores single levels of analysis rather than the multiple levels out of which most networks are comprised. Third, network analysis has employed very little the insights from contemporary complex systems analysis and computer simulations. Foruth, it typically uses descriptive rather than inferential statistics, thus robbing it of the ability to make claims about the larger universe of networks. Finally, almost all the research is static and cross-sectional rather than dynamic. Theories of Communication Networks presents solutions to all five problems. The authors develop a multitheoretical model that relates different social science theories with different network properties. This model is multilevel, providing a network decomposition that applies the various social theories to all network leTable of ContentsPART I: THE MULTITHEORETICAL, MULTILEVEL FRAMEWORK; PART II: SOCIAL THEORIES FOR STUDYING COMMUNICATION NETWORKS; PART III: INTEGRATION

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Book SynopsisYou will never look at your cell phone, TV, or computer the same way after reading this book. Maxwell and Miller not only reveal the dirty secrets that hide inside our beloved electronics; they also take apart the myths that have pushed these gadgets to the center of our lives. With an astounding array of economic, environmental and historical facts, Greening the Media debunks the idea that information and communication technologies (ITC) are clean and ecologically benign. In this compassionate and sharply argued book, the authors show how the physical reality of making, consuming, and discarding them is rife with toxic ingredients, poisonous working conditions, and hazardous waste. But all is not lost. As the title suggests, Maxwell and Miller dwell critically on these environmental problems in order to think creatively about ways to solve them. They enlist a range of potential allies in this effort to foster greener media-from green consumers to green citizens, with stops along the wTrade ReviewAs a brief, well-referenced work that pulls tohether many threads into one coherent picture, it is an excellent addition to any collection. * P.L. Kantor, CHOICE *An impressive example of ecologically-oriented interdisciplinary research, Greening the Media provides an important and necessary contribution to the communication and media studies fields ... [Maxwell and Miller's] work should therefore become required reading for scholars of media technology, environmental communication, and global economic interaction, among other domains. * Garrett M. Broad, International Journal of Communication *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INTRODUCTION; 1. CONSUMERS; 2. WORDS; 3. SCREENS; 4. WORKERS; 5. BUREAUCRATS; 6. CITIZENS; CONCLUSION; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisFrom a very young age we are told not to stare, and one hallmark of maturation is the ability to resist (or at least hide) our staring behavior. And yet, rarely do we master the impulse. Despite the complicated role it plays in our development, and its unique brand of visual enticement, staring has not been considered before as a suitable object for socio-cultural analysis. What is it about certain kinds of people that makes it impossible to take our eyes off them? Why are some visual stimuli irresistible? Why does staring produce so much anxiety? Drawing on examples from art, media, fashion, history and memoir, Garland-Thomson defines staring, explores the factors that motivate it, and considers the targets and the effects of the stare. A bodily inventory then enumerates how stares actually operate in daily life. A section on Bodies focuses on the question of size and scale as key indicators of normalcy, while certain body parts show themselves to be disproportionately arresting, as passages on Faces Hands and Breasts reveal. A concluding chapter on Beholding considers the frisson at play between starer and staree and offers an alternative way of understanding visual communication between people. Featuring over forty illustrations, Staring captures the stimulating combination of symbolic, material and emotional factors that make staring so irresistible while endeavoring to shift the usual response to staring, shame, into an engaged self-consideration. Elegant and provocative, this book advances new ways of thinking about visuality and the body that will appeal to readers who are interested in the overlap between the humanities and human behaviors.Trade ReviewA trailhead that offers branches back into the many fields of study from which this book draws. It also suggests connections with new ones...An important, challenging, and often brilliant book. * American Literary History *Table of ContentsPART 1. ABOUT STARING ; Chapter 1. Why Do We Stare? ; PART 2. WHAT IS STARING? ; Chapter 2: Staring: A Physical Response ; Chapter 3: Staring: A Cultural History ; Chapter 4: Staring: A Social Relationship ; Chapter 5: Staring: Knowledge Gathering ; PART 3. DON'T STARE ; Chapter 6: Staring: Getting into Trouble ; Chapter 7: Staring: Bad Manners ; Chapter 8: Staring: Rules and Rebellion ; PART 4. STARERS AND STAREES ; Chapter 9: Looking Away, Staring Back ; PART 5. SCENES OF STARING ; Chapter 10: Staring at Faces ; Chapter 11: Staring at Hands ; Chapter 12: Staring at Bodies ; Chapter 13: Staring at Breasts ; Chapter 14: Beholding

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Book SynopsisWhy are some civic associations better than others at getting--and keeping--people involved in activism? From MoveOn.org to the National Rifle Association, Health Care for America Now to the Sierra Club, membership-based civic associations constantly seek to engage people in civic and political action. What makes some more effective than others? Using in-person observations, surveys, and field experiments, this book compares organizations with strong records of engaging people in health and environmental politics to those with weaker records. To build power, civic associations need quality and quantity (or depth and breadth) of activism. They need lots of people to take action and also a cadre of leaders to develop and execute that activity. Yet, models for how to develop activists and leaders are not necessarily transparent. This book provides these models to help associations build the power they want and support a healthy democracy. In particular, the book examines organizing, mobilizing, and lone wolf models of engagement and shows how highly active associations blend mobilizing and organizing to transform their members'' motivations and capacities for involvement. This is not a simple story about the power of offline versus online organizing. Instead, it is a story about how associations can blend both online and offline strategies to build their activist base. In this compelling book, Hahrie Han explains how civic associations can invest in their members and build the capacity they need to inspire action.Trade ReviewHow Organizations Develop Activists examines the strategies deployed by civic associations in order to encourage the delivery of better and more work by their activists. * Adriana Rudling, Political Studies Review *... offers valuable insights for both practitioners and students of organizations and activism. * J. Heyrman, Berea College, CHOICE *For all the scholarship on social movements and civic associations, surprisingly little research has focused on the issue of organizational effectiveness. Han's book should go a long way toward filling this gap. Using a mix of comparative case analysis and field experiments, the author offers an empirically rich, analytically compelling account of why some associations succeed in mobilizing effective collective action, while so many others fail-often spectacularly- to do so. This book deserves the widest possible audience in political science, sociology and, most importantly, among those who aspire to successful grass roots activism. * Doug McAdam, author of Freedom Summer *As organizers, we know that winning real change begins with real people, but it's not always easy to know what strategies are most effective for engaging people in ways that build power. How Organizations Develop Activists fills that gap, and is a must-read for any organizer or organization looking to build people power. * Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and co-director of Caring Across Generations *Effective citizens' movements need to do much more than raise money and recruit the right individual adherents. Helping members become fully engaged and developing good volunteer leaders are the keys to having a real impact * and Hahrie Han's pathbreaking research shows exactly how these challenges can be met with well-designed organizational strategies. Her book is a must-read for all who care about making American democracy more vibrant and powerful.Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, Harvard University, and Director, Scholars Strategy Network *Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures ; Acknowledgements ; Chapter 1 Introduction ; Chapter 2 Setting Up the Comparative Case Studies ; Chapter 3 Choosing Strategies for Building Power ; Chapter 4 Prospecting for Activists ; Chapter 5 Developing Leaders ; Chapter 6 Conclusion ; Appendix A: Methods ; Works Cited ; Notes ; Index

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Book SynopsisA unique investigation of the political uses of different forms of communication - oral, manuscript, and printed - in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Venice. Today we take it for granted that communication and politics influence each other through spin-doctoring and media power. What, however, was the use of communication in an age when rulers recognized no political role for their subjects? And what access to political information did those excluded from government have?In answering these questions, Filippo de Vivo uses an extremely rich and diverse range of sources - from council debates to leaks and spies'' reports, from printed pamphlets to graffiti and rumours. In the process, he demonstrates just how closely political communication was intertwined with the wider social and economic life of the city. Challenging the social and cultural boundaries of more traditional accounts, he shows how politics in early modern Venice extended far beyond the patrician elite to involve the entTrade ReviewReview from previous edition DeVivo focuses on lines of transmission, patterns of exchange, pathways, regulations, and markets * Thomas Cohen, London Review of Books *A very original and significant contribution, both for its methodology and for its uses of sources. Information and Communication in Venice is an example of first class scholarship, based on an impressive series of arguments, written in a vivid, compelling style. I would strongly recommend this book to anybody interested in political history; in cultural and intellectual history; in the history of communication; in early modern European history as well as, of course, in the history of Venice. * Professor Carlo Ginzburg, UCLA *An impressive first book, based on a formidable range of sources. De Vivo's perceptive comments on the management of communication should be read by all historians of early modern Europe and by scholars in media studies as well. * Professor Peter Burke, University of Cambridge *...de Vivo's monograph [is] a tour de force. No study better lays bare how the Venetian government really worked... * Liz Horodowich, Reviews in History *...a major contribution to the history of early modern Venice and also to the history of information and propaganda. Besides being original in its ideas and firmly based on the sources, the book is remarkable for something much rarer in historical monographs: its penetrating political insights. Indeed, the claim made in the book's subtitle is truly justified. * Board of the Leverhulme Prize 2008 *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Communication in the government ; 2. Communication in the political arena ; 3. Communication in the city ; 4. Communicative transactions ; 5. The system challenged: The Interdict of 1606-7 ; 6. Propaganda? Print in context ; Epilogue ; Bibliographical references ; Index

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Book SynopsisPublic opinion and the media form the foundation of the United States'' representative democracy. They are the subject of enormous scrutiny by scholars, pundits, and ordinary citizens. This Oxford Handbook takes on the ''big questions'' about public opinion and the media-both empirical and normative-focusing on current debates and social scientific research. Bringing together the thinking of a team of leading academic experts, its chapters provide a cutting assessment of contemporary research on public opinion, the media, and their interconnections. Emphasizing changes in the mass media and communications technology-the vast number of cable channels, websites and blogs, and the new social media, which are changing how news about political life is collected and conveyed-they describe the evolving information interdependence of the media and public opinion. In addition, the volume reviews the wide range of influences on public opinion, including the processes by which information communiTable of ContentsPART I INTRODUCTION; PART II THE MEDIA; PART III PUBLIC OPINION; PART IV ISSUES AND POLITICS

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Book SynopsisAround the developing world, political leaders face a dilemma: the very information and communication technologies that boost economic fortunes also undermine power structures. Globally, one in ten internet users is a Muslim living in a populous Muslim community. In these countries, young people are developing their political identities--including a transnational Muslim identity--online. In countries where political parties are illegal, the internet is the only infrastructure for democratic discourse. In others, digital technologies such as mobile phones and the internet have given key actors an information infrastructure that is independent of the state. And in countries with large Muslim communities, mobile phones and the internet are helping civil society build systems of political communication independent of the state and beyond easy manipulation by cultural or religious elites. This book looks at the role that communications technologies play in advancing democratic transitions iTrade ReviewA long-awaited inquiry into the politics of the Internet...Howard's book is an innovative contribution among the overwhelming amount of writings about the role of the Internet in the Middle East...Howard puts much effort in explaining the multifaceted results, adding tables to summarize important findings. This nuanced approach is a pleasant break from the often-found urge for absolute (utopian or dystopian) claims...The book is highly recommended as required reading for technology experts, graduate students, and longer serving academics alike. * Political Communication *At a time when everyone is asking whether new media affects politics in the Mid-East, Philip Howard has produced the definitive answer in his book. This is an impressive work of scholarship, both in its quantitative approach to international affairs and in its conclusions, which will be of interest to social scientists and policy makers alike. * Clay Shirky, New York University and author of Cognitive Surplus *This book presents a most challenging and original analysis of the cultural and political dynamics of the Muslim world through the lens of the interaction between communication technology and politics. It breaks new ground in our understanding of the implications of digital technology for socio-political change. It will become a reference in political communication for the years to come. * Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair of Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California-Los Angeles *For too long the literature on the politics of the new information technologies has been empirically thin and theoretically overheated. By substituting systematic empirical analysis for anecdote and nuanced interpretation for hyperbole, Howard has written an original and important book that scholars of comparative politics, democratization, contentious politics and the new information technologies will be obliged to read. As he provocatively reminds us (quoting Kranzberg), 'technology is neither good nor bad, nor is it neutral. * Doug McAdam, Professor of Sociology and Director of Urban Studies, Stanford University *In contests between dictatorship and democracy, new media exert increasingly determinative influence. Philip Howard provides a detailed, thoughtful analysis of how the flow of information and tools of communication are reshaping global politics. * Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PROLOGUE: REVOLUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST WILL BE DIGITIZED; INTRODUCTION: POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM MEDIA SYSTEMS; CONCLUSION: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND DEMOCRATIC ISLAM; REFERENCES; INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe Performance of Politics develops a new way of looking at democratic struggles for big time power by explaining and analysing the 2008 Presidential campaign in the United States.Trade ReviewIn an extraordinary analysis of real breadth and depth, Jeffrey Alexander challenges us to re-think Barack Obama's election as president. Political observers have focused too much on the plain demographic facts of 2008, and too little about how and why those facts came to be. Reflect on the performance that takes place on a grand stage, Alexander advises, and we'll see the big picture. * Larry J. Sabato, author of The Year of Obama, and Director, Center for Politics, University of Virginia *Table of ContentsPreface ; Prologue ; Power, Performance and Representation ; Chapter 1 Civil Sphere and Public Drama ; Chapter 2 Becoming a Collective Representation ; Chapter 3 Spirit of the Ground Game ; Heroes, Binaries and Boundaries ; Chapter 4 Imagining Heroes ; Chapter 5 Working the Binaries ; Chapter 6 Walking the Boundaries ; Victory and Defeat ; Chapter 7 Celebrity Metaphor ; Chapter 8 Palin Effect ; Chapter 9 Financial Crisis ; Epilogue ; Note on Concept and Method ; Appendix ; Endnotes ; Index

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Book SynopsisOnline social media are changing the face of politics in the United States. Beginning with a strong theoretical foundation grounded in political, communications and psychology literature, Tweeting to Power examines the effect of online social media on how people come to learn, understand and engage in politics. Gainous and Wagner propose that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter offer the opportunity for a new information flow that is no longer being structured and limited by the popular media. Television and newspapers, which were traditionally the sole or primary gatekeeper, can no longer limit or govern what information is exchanged. By lowering the cost of both supplying the information and obtaining it, social networking applications have recreated how, when and where people are informed. To establish this premise, Gainous and Wagner analyze multiple datasets, quantitative and qualitative, exploring and measuring the use of social media by voters and citizens as well as the straTrade ReviewTweeting to Power is the most ambitious and well-researched study of social media's political consequences to date. Using an impressive array of qualitative and quantitative data, Gainous and Wagner systematically track how Twitter and Facebook are influencing Congress, political parties and the American public. This book is much more than a narrow study of social media, however. By situating their evidence in long-standing theoretical debates, Gainous and Wagner tackle more fundamental questions about the functioning of American democracy in the age of the internet. Tweeting to Power is essential reading for anyone interested in technology's impact on election campaigns, political communication and public opinion. * Kevin Wallsten, California State University, Long Beach *Social media have already become a fundamental part of politics in the digital age. In Tweeting to Power, Jason Gainous and Kevin M. Wagner use an impressive array of quantitative and qualitative data to explore a wide variety of questions about the impacts of social media on American politics. In doing so, they make an important new contribution to ongoing debates about the political implications of the internet. * Michael Xenos, Center for Communication Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Social Media - The New Dinner Table? ; Chapter 2: Evolution or Revolution - Why Facebook and Twitter Matter? ; Chapter 3: Congress 2.0 - Internet-Style Politics ; Chapter 4: Congress 2.0 - Who's Tweeting? ; Chapter 5: Public Opinion 2.0 - Read My Feed ; Chapter 6: Public Opinion 2.0 - The New Social Capital ; Chapter 7: Congress 2.0 - Controlling the Flow of Information ; Chapter 8: Public Opinion 2.0 - The Direct Conduit ; Chapter 9: Congress 2.0 - Tweeting for Support ; Chapter 10: Social Media Tomorrow - Tweeting the Future? ; Appendix ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis book is a critical introduction to code and software that develops an understanding of its social and philosophical implications in the digital age. Written specifically for people interested in the subject from a non-technical background, the book provides a lively and interesting analysis of these new media forms.Trade Review'This is a beautifully written book that pulls off the difficult task of introducing the subject of software and the workings of code to the non specialist whilst also providing an original take of the philosophical and the cultural importance of Code in contemporary culture.' - Michael Bull, University of Sussex, UK 'The book is warmly recommended:[Berry's] understanding of software is fantastic. It reaches out to so many discussions and has so many implications that it is an engine in itself: it produces ideas.' - Jussi Parikka, Leonardo on-line 'What is important about The Philosophy of Software is that it really is about what it claims to be about. Rather than trying to shoehorn software into an existing philosophical or political agenda it considers software as a thing in itself and finds those philosophers and philosophical ideas that best address the vitally important phenomenon of software. However much philosophy, computer science or cybercultural theory you may know this is a book that will set you thinking about software anew.' - Rob Myers, Furtherfield 'One of the most prolific contributors to the CCSWGs, David M. Berry has also contributed one of the most extensive manuscripts on reading code and code culture. The Philosophy of Software contains chapters on the epistemology and ontology of code, reading and writing code, running code, and the phenomenology of code. Written for a general audience, the book reads several code examples including the Microsoft Windows 2000 source code and obfuscated code competitions.' - Mark C. Marino, Computational Culture, 2014Table of ContentsAcknowledgements The Idea of Code What is Code? Reading and Writing Code Running Code Towards a Phenomenology of Computation Real-Time Streams Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDr Erika Darics is an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersection of discourse, communication and organizational studies. She lectures at Aston University, UK and works as a consultant for organizations on internal and external communication issues. She is passionate about soft skills education and tweets as @LinguaDigitalis.Dr Veronika Koller is Reader in Discourse Studies at Lancaster University, UK having previously worked at Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her research interests centre on corporate and health communication. Outside academia, Veronika is senior associate analyst with consultant company Linguistic Lanscapes and has also co-faciliated seminars for the British Academy of Management.Trade ReviewRather than prescribing the same old (often misconceived) advice about language use, this book encourages the reader to understand how language works, to analyse it, and to produce it in an effective and context sensitive manner. I highly recommend it to anyone studying corporate communication. * Jonathan Clifton, Université de Valenciennes, France *This is a vital resource book for anyone studying or teaching business communication. There is so often a gap between sensing how language works in real business contexts, and knowing how to analyse it with a view to meeting the discursive challenges of the business world. The case studies and 'over to you' sections bring the theory to life and help readers to build connections with their own experience. * Ruth Breeze, Universidad de Navarra, Spain *A richly exemplified, comprehensive, and much-needed linguistic introduction to business and corporate communication by two leading experts in the field. Highly accessible and engagingly written, it invites readers to join the authors in the joint exploration of the topic at hand. * Zsofia Demjen, University College London, UK *Table of Contents1. Language and business success Part I: corporate perspectives 2. Communicating with stakeholders 3. Branding 4. Digital PR 5. Talking to customers 6. Crisis communication Part II: management perspectives 7. Leadership 8. Change management 9. Managing conflicts 10. Diversity and inclusion Part III: employee perspectives 11. The language of recruitment 12. Interviews in the workplace 13. Constructing employees 14. Using language in business, using language at work

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Book SynopsisA clearly framed and comprehensive introduction to practice methods, this important text explores how methods and skills can be combined to offer a versatile professional toolkit for practice. It interrogates the social work process within a range of settings, including working with involuntary clients, and within community and family settings.Trade Review'This book will be particularly useful in preparing students for practice placements because it focuses on 'the doing' of social work,as well as providing a theoretical grounding in core social work knowledge.' - Dr. Jean Dillon, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Middlesex University, UK 'Healy has a strong presence in international social work literature and is well respected for her accessible style, while also presenting content that is both informative and challenging. As usual, Healy presents her work with an inviting mix of personal knowledge, social work literature and - very importantly for the current context - well researched evidence.' - Roslyn Giles, Senior Lecturer and Director of Field Education, University of Sydney, AustraliaTable of ContentsPART I: THE CORE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE Social work methods in context: purposeful practice Professional communication skills PART II: WORKING WITH INDIVIDUALS Working with individuals to resolve life's problems Working with mandated individuals PART III: WORKING WITH FAMILIES AND GROUPS Working with families Working with groups PART IV: COMMUNITY WORK, POLICY PRACTICE AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE Community Work Policy Practice Conclusion: Creating a context for change

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Book SynopsisWonderful . . . Endlessly interesting and beautifully written' DAILY TELEGRAPH Steady-headed and fun' SUNDAY TIMESRead this book and, I promise, you'll never listen to animals in the same way again' JESSICA PIERCE, author of Who's a Good Dog?Why Animals Talk is a scientific journey through the untamed world of animal communication. From the majestic howls of wolves and the enchanting chatter of parrots to the melodic clicks of dolphins and the spirited grunts of chimpanzees, these diverse and seemingly bizarre expressions are far from mere noise. In fact, they hold secrets that we are just beginning to decipher.For example, wolves just like humans possess unique accents that distinguish their howls, and not only do dolphins give themselves names, but they also respond excitedly to recordings of the whistles of long-lost companions.Chapter by chapter and animal by animal, Kershenbaum draws on his extensive rTrade ReviewWonderful . . . Endlessly interesting and beautifully written * Daily Telegraph *Steady-headed and fun * Sunday Times *He writes like me -- Richard DawkinsKershenbaum helps us perceive how other animals sense their worlds, and in doing so, explores the evolutionary roots of our own advanced language skills. It is fitting that a book about communication is so conversational and engaging, and it will give you a new perspective on the richness of nature -- Steve Brusatte, author of The Rise and Fall of the DinosaursQuirky, insightful . . . based on a deep understanding of recent research -- Tim Clutton-Brock, author of Meerkat ManorA new look at a fascinating subject -- Desmond Morris, author of The Naked ApeAn entertaining journey through the science of animal communication, taking us into the oceanicworld of dolphin clicks and teaching us about wolves’ accents – all while shedding light on our own language and world. * iweekend *A delightfully entertaining journey through the science of animal communication, Why Animals Talk takes us into the oceanic world of dolphin clicks, teaches us about wolves' accents, shows us the power of parrot' chatter - all whiles shedding light on out own language and world * inews' The best new books out this January' *

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