Speaking of Books...
Conversations with Campus Authors

Welcome to the homepage for Speaking of Books... Conversations with Campus Authors. This series of author talks and signings was begun in 2005 by the University of Maryland Libraries' Humanities Team to highlight new and interesting research by faculty members from the College of Arts and Humanities. In 2007-2008, the series was expanded to include faculty members from all schools and colleges at the University of Maryland.

These free events are open to all members of the campus community and the general public. Each author will answer questions following his or her talk and sign books, which will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be served.

If you would like more information about this series or individual events, please contact Tim Hackman, Humanities Team, at thackman@umd.edu or 301-314-8521.

Upcoming Author Conversations

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 4:30pm
McKeldin Library Special Events Room

Deborah Nelson

The War Behind Me: Vietnam Veterans Confront the Truth About U.S. War Crimes

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Deborah Nelson will discuss The War Behind Me. Come hear the story of how Nelson and military historian Nicholas Turse gained access to the U.S. Army's secret archive of Vietnam-era war crimes investigations, "the largest compilation of U.S. war-crime reports from the Vietnam conflict ever to surface. The files include substantiated cases involving more than 300 allegations and implicate members of every major army division that served in the war. The War Behind Me describes the author's search for answers from the men accused of committing atrocities, the witnesses who reported them, and the higher-ups who covered them up."

Professor Nelson's presentation will be followed by Q&A and book signing. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 4:30pm
McKeldin Library Special Events Room

Dr. Robert L. Park

Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science

Noted physicist Robert Park will discuss his latest book, Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science. "From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in contemporary culture? Robert Park, the best-selling author of Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud, argues that it has. In Superstition, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world." Join us for what is sure to be a lively discussion.

Professor Park's presentation will be followed by Q&A and book signing. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 4:30pm
McKeldin Library Special Events Room

Dr. Laura Rosenthal

Nightwalkers: Prostitute Narratives from the Eighteenth Century

Laura Rosenthal, whose previous book, Infamous Commerce: Prostitution in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture (Cornell University Press, 2006), "uses literature to explore the meaning of prostitution from the Restoration through the eighteenth century," will discuss her newest book, an anthology of narratives by and about prostitutes in the eighteenth century. These memoirs, many available for the first time, "offer important insights into female experience and class and gender roles in the period. Portraying the lives of women in both success and hardship, written in voices ranging from repentant to bawdy, the memoirs show the complexity of the lives of the 'nightwalkers.'...Offering a range of narratives from the conservative and reformist to the unabashedly libertine, this book provides a fascinating alternative look into eighteenth-century culture."

Professor Rosenthal's presentation will be followed by Q&A and book signing. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

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