University of Nebraska Press

Linking in Lincoln: July 10, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, Genealogies of Orientalism: History, Theory, Politics edited by Edmund Burke III and David Prochaska is a series of essays that argue for the extension upon Edward Said’s 1978 book, Orientalism, to explore what lies in beyond the title. With this collection they suggest that a look into the past as well as a re-evaluation of the theory is necessary for a multifaceted approach. This week Linking in Lincoln, is also going to take a comprehensive approach to this segment of the world, and see what it has to offer!

Interested in what Orientalism is all about? Check out Emory college for a further description of Edward Said’s book.

For a look at Orientalist art of the nineteenth century please check out this website.

Curious where you come from? Rootsweb: World Connect Project Global Search is a great (and free) place to research your genealogy.

For a more multifaceted look at the orient please check out Orient Magazine for some cuisine articles.

St. Martin’s Orient Beach is a beautiful vacation spot, check out youtube for the virtual tour.

If you need a place to stay while you’re traveling the Orient, then please check out Orient Express Hotel.

What do you think bloggers, do you feel like you’ve acquired a comprehensive perspective of Orientalism? Well, just in case these meager links have fallen short, please check out the University of Nebraska Press for Genealogies of Orientalism: History, Theory, and Politics. Have a great day!

Linking in Lincoln: June 19, 2008

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press is, Green Plans by Huey D. Johnson.  By studying the Green Plans in place around the world, Johnson provides a detailed and accessible examination of their theory, implementation, and performance across the globe, highlighting the challenges and successes of green plans in the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, the rest of the European Community, and Singapore. This week Linking in Lincoln is taking the hint, and proposing a few ways you can go green yourself.

Curious just how far the eco situation has escalated?  Then check out Eco Statistics to get the specifics here.
There are so many aspects to “going green” that one might say you could use a guide. Well, National Geographic just happens have created one.

Maybe you’re like me, and your favorite part of going green is organic fashion. Or maybe that’s something you’ve never heard of….? Well, either way it’s here to stay so you can check it out here at Style Antidote.

Part of being an adult, and having an 8-5 job (well, the fun part anyway…) are the office supplies. That’s a lot of paper though, so perhaps going green in that capacity might save a few trees. Greenroom Eco has a great selection of bright, well made, and fun office supplies.

Wanting to Go Green at home?  And maybe you don’t have the money to do it? Well Ehow has some great tips to get the job done, and maybe save some cash.

Organic is finding itself all over the place. Check out biota.org to see the new face of organic art and its composers.

Check back with us Friday for a new dose of This Week in History

Tuesday Trivia: June 9, 2008

World War I had a profound effect on the world, one that ventured out of politics and into, science, education, ethics, and art. In a new book from the University of Nebraska Press is, Imagining the Unimaginable, by Aaron J. Cohen. This book takes a critical look at the effect this war had on the Russian culture.  The wartime culture superseded traditional artistic outlooks and “destabilized conventional patterns in cultural politics and aesthetics.” In and attempt to lure your interest (incase we have not already done so) this week’s Tuesday Trivia is going to test you on all facts Russia. A little history, a little language, and a few fun facts and before you know it we’ll all be Эксперты во всем русском вещей!  (Experts in all things Russian). Shall we begin?

1.    What is the national symbol of Russia?

2.    True or false: Russia covers 1/8th of the world and crosses 11 time spans?

3.    Catherine the Great of Russia was actually from what country?

        A. Germany
        B. England
        C. Spain

4.     What is considered to be the most romantic castle in St. Petersburg?
5.    Russia has how many seas?

6.    What is the official language of Russia?

7.    The first and last Tsar of Russia had the same name, what was it?
        A. Peter
        B. Michael
        C. Joseph

8.    True or false: It’s a criminal offense to drive around in a dirty car?

9.    Russian card decks only have how many cards?

10.     The most popular candy bar in Russia is what?
        A.    Almond Joy
        B.    Hershey’s
        C.    Snickers

Well bloggers, check your answers tomorrow to see how you did!

Praise for Beyond Madness

Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock, 1847-1919 by Norman A. Geske

“A major contribution to the literature on Blakelock, who has been one of the most mysterious and misunderstood artists in America’s history. . . . [Geske] helps readers see that Blakelock was a groundbreaking artist in many areas. Geske presents the artist as a forerunner of modernism, and a big influence on 20th-century artists such as Franz Kline. After reading this book, one can no longer think of Blakelock as just an isolated, late-19th-century romantic landscape painter! . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE

Praise for Three Centuries of Woodlands Indian Art

Three Centuries of Woodlands Indian Art edited by J. C. H. King and Christian F. Feest

“The editors of this book have recorded valuable information; the book is rich in pictorial material, and the historical content will be useful for those studying history, art, anthropology, and psychology.”—CHOICE

Blakelock Exhibit to Open Friday at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery

"The Unknown Blakelock," a retrospective exhibit consisting of over forty paintings by Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919), will open at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery this Friday, January 25th with a keynote address by Norman Geske at 5:30pm in the Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium. The address will be followed by a reception in Sheldon's Great Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.

Norman Geske is the author of Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock, 1847-1919 (University of Nebraska Press, 2007).

For more information on "The Unknown Blakelock," please visit the exhibit's page on the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Web site.

Books & Books Event Featuring Artist Enrique Martínez Celaya

Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida will host an event featuring acclaimed artist Enrique Martínez Celaya today, January 9th, at 8:00pm. Two of Celaya's books, Martínez Celaya: Early Work and Nomad were published in 2007 by Whale and Star Press and are being distributed by the University of Nebraska Press.

Books & Books
265 Aragon Avenue
Coral Gables, FL
(305) 442-4408

Please view the attached flyer at the bottom of this posting for more information.

Enrique Martínez Celaya is a visiting Presidential Professor at the University of Nebraska. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig; and others. His awards include the Anderson Ranch National Artist Award, the California Community Foundation Fellowship, the J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Art Here and Now Award, and the Hirsch Grant. In 1998 he founded Whale and Star, a publishing house whose books are distributed internationally.

Download CelayaEvent_Flyer.pdf

Tuesday Trivia

Happy Tuesday, readers! We have a treat for all of you art lovers out there in this installment of "Tuesday Trivia." As a nod to Norman Geske's Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock, 1847-1919, new this month from the University of Nebraska Press, today's buffet of brain teasers challenges you to match the famous American paintings listed below with the artists who created them. Fancy yourself an American art aficionado? Well, "Hopper" to it! Get it? Hopper. As in Edward Hopper. Oh, forget it! On to the trivia...

1. "The Bath" (1891)
2. "Nighthawks" (1942)
3. "The Rocky Mountains (1863)
4. "Flags on the Waldorf" (1916)
5. "The Peaceable Kingdom" (1834)
6. "Rowing Home" (1890)
7. "American Gothic" (1930)
8. "Turquoise Marilyn" (1962)
9. "Moonlight" (1885)
10. "Freedom of Speech" (1943)

A. Ralph Blakelock
B. Mary Cassatt
C. Edward Hicks
D. Edward Hopper
E. Norman Rockwell
F. Andy Warhol
G. Albert Bierstadt
H. Grant Wood
I. Childe Hassam
J. Winslow Homer

Answers: 1-B; 2-D; 3-G; 4-I; 5-C; 6-J; 7-H; 8-F; 9-A; 10-E

How did you do?
0-2: Now that's just "Warhol"rrible.
3-5: Experienced some minor "Hicks"ups.
6-8: You "Rock"—"well" done!
9-10: You scored a "Homer"un!

Some Good Things about Omaha

For your Linking in Lincoln Thursday this week, I have a few random links of Omaha, some book related, some not, all wonderful.

The first is from a lit blog called The Refrigerator Door by blog and book author Melanie Lynne Hauser.  In a post inviting her readers to buy three books, she mentions two writers she met in Omaha at the (downtown) Omaha Lit Fest.

Cult Moxie chronicles Omaha's culture.  In this post, they talk about Silent City, an Omaha-published literary quarterly.

Omaha Review is general review blog of the city.  Their tag line is "Be a Local."

It's not a blog, but it's a link to one of the top zoos in the United States! 

Here is the website for Nebraska's "largest and most distinguished art museum," the Joslyn Art Museum.  And to learn more about the west, visit Durham Western Heritage Musuem.

If you're ever in Omaha and need a bite to eat, you may want to check out the Omaha Dining Reviews blog for suggestions.

Our hearts go out to Omaha, Nebraska!

Regier's Obsession · Book of the Sphinx

by Willis Goth Regier

Book of the Sphinx is the product of an obsession.  The more I learned about Sphinxes, the more I wanted to know, and there was always more.  Imagine a curious cat the size of the Sphinx of Giza.

My curiosity began with that enormous Sphinx, known through the centuries as Horemakhet.  I wondered what it had to do with Phix, the man-eating Sphinx of Thebes, the one that posed deadly riddles.  These are the two most famous Sphinxes, and there are many more, a vast number.  I set out to find all I could, sort them, study them, and think about their types, tales, and purposes. 

Sphinxes stalk through murder mysteries, romance novels, riddle books, comic books, song lyrics, war propaganda, psychoanalysis, money, the Masons, tobacco companies, and almost anything that has to do with sex.  Why do so many sexy Sphinxes end up dead, especially when they are female?  When a woman is called “a Sphinx” should she feel praised or endangered?  What sex is the Sphinx of Giza?

Oedipus defeated the Sphinx of Thebes, or just thought he did.  Some considered Oedipus a genius, others saw him as a foolish know-it-all.  Since I wanted to know all about Sphinxes, I stepped into his sandals.  They pinched.

Illustrating the book was a project unto itself:  more than a hundred illustrations show Sphinxes old and new, including the recurring burial of Horemakhet by the Sahara.  Book of the Sphinx was designed by the great Richard Eckersley, who added his own incomparable magic. 

Deeply serious, Sphinxes provoke comedy.  I made room for that, too.  One review called the book “a romp.”  I’d be delighted if that’s how readers experience it.
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Willis Goth Regier's Book of the Sphinx is now available in paperback from Bison Books.