Sine Nomine

2011-01-13T08:41:00.001-08:00

Top Ten Reasons Graduate Students in the Humanities Should Publish Critical Book Reviews

For many of the insights in this article, I am indebted to Jon Berquist, formerly Senior Academic Editor at Westminister John Knox Press. Beginning in February 2011, Dr. Berquist will be the President of the Disciples Seminary Foundation in Claremont and Berkeley, California.

10. Free Book! Many students, including myself, are thrilled when they realize that writing a book review for a peer-reviewed journal means getting a free copy of the book in the mail. After writing several reviews, however, I’ve learned that the free book is really the least of the benefits that accrue to graduate students as they write book reviews.

9. An Excuse to Read. The first couple of times I received books for review in the mail, I found myself clearing my schedule to read the book and write the review as quickly as possible. Although I am no longer as anxious about meeting my deadline as I was then, I still set aside a couple of research and writing days to dedicate to the book as soon as possible after receiving it – something that I would never do with a book I had paid for myself. Accountability to a publisher turns me into a more avid reader than I would otherwise be.

8. Depth of Reading. When I read a book for review, I find myself paying closer attention to the book than I might were I reading it only for my own benefit. In fact, reading books for review has done more than any other scholarly activity to shape me into an increasingly active and critical reader.

7. Breadth of Reading. While some newly-minted PhDs will find work at large research universities, many graduate students – often because of preference - will eventually be teaching at liberal arts colleges, community colleges, and professional programs. In institutions where research requirements are light but professors are expected to teach 4/4 schedules, breadth of knowledge and teaching versatility are more valuable than publishing. As a result, many of us cannot afford to give up on breadth of knowledge once we pass our comprehensive exams. Because editors will seldom have books available for review that match exactly our fields of greatest expertise, becoming a frequent book reviewer will put us into contact with books outside of our fields – books in which we might have no previous interest and that we might not choose to read on our own. As teachers, however, students owe it to their students to command as broad a knowledge of our larger fields as they can. If nothing else, reading books unrelated to the dissertation can provide a welcome break.

6. Working to a Deadline. Book review editors are trying to get peer-reviewed journals out the door by their own deadline, and we, as reviewers, need to meet the deadlines suggested us in order to help them do their jobs. When we hold ourselves to deadlines, we learn an important skill, as well as building a reputation with a journal that might be a possible outlet for peer-reviewed articles in the future.

5. Working to a Word Limit. Scholars in the humanities can tend to be wordy in their expression. (This article is a case-in-point.) By writing book reviews for publication, students can become accustomed to the economy of expression that scholarly publication requires.

4. Working with an Editor. The ease with which the written word can be made public on the internet can obscures the fact that published words come through many hands before appearing in print. Through writing book reviews, students will become accustomed to the editorial process whereby another person makes alterations to words that will appear under their signature. When editors realize that they have met a student reviewer that can write cogently, on time, and to their assigned word limit, and will listen to editorial advice, they will offer reviews to that student again and again.

3. Building your CV. Graduate students need not only to show editors that they are able to meet the requirements of their publications, but they also need to show potential employers that they have an interest in publishing that accompanies their stated “research agenda.” For potential employers more interested in teaching than research, book reviews may be considered a significant form of scholarly engagement. For those more interested in positions in research universities, book reviews can open lines of communication with editors that may later be useful as an avenue of more substantial publication.

2. Moderating Language. T. S. Eliot once remarked that his early-career experience as an anonymous literary critic taught him to “moderate my dislikes and crotchets” and “to write in a temperate and impartial way.” Although students write for journals under their own signature, book reviews are still meant to be an even-handed assessment of a work rather than a personal manifesto. The readers of peer-reviewed journals have shared interests, but are often divided by opinions about and approaches to that interest. Book reviewers, as those that read on behalf of the entire scholarly community, learn to offer words that are not only respectful towards, but also useful for, a diverse audience. This leads to the most important reason graduate students should write book reviews.

1. Offering a Gift to the Scholarly Community. Book reviews are more than filler for the back pages of peer-reviewed journals. Graduate students rushing to prepare for comprehensive exams turn to book reviews as a way of absorbing the essentials of a book’s argument. Active scholars need to know whether a book is worth buying, reading, or recommending to their institution’s library. In the case of online journals, curious folks outside of the academy might Google their way to your review and have a brief brush with scholarly opinion on a topic of interest. Many book reviews are published and forgotten, but some are eventually discovered and cherished by someone in real scholarly need. Having benefited from good book reviews myself, I cherish the chance to offer that gift to another.

Book review editors, especially those serving second- and third-tier journals, have a stack of free books on their desks, blank pages in the back of their journals, and, often, a chronic shortage of reviewers. Many of them are willing to give a beginner a chance. Why not email an editor today?

2009-07-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

From www.wordle.net. A visual representation of Thomas Campbell's Declaration and Address.

2005-11-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

A Storm with No Name

This evening, in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, at least twenty-two people are feared dead after a tornado, which left a trail of damage three quarters of a mile wide and twenty miles long late Sunday night, tore portions of both states.

This kind of event, events where innocents lose their lives, always raises the same questions, questions of providence that need not be repeated here. But in special circumstances of a tornado, I cannot help but ask if the problem is more acute.

When thousands of Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy in June 1944, those who died gave their lives on a day that will not be soon forgotten, a day with its own name, and with its own monuments. It was the kind of day that causes those who lived through it to remember exactly what they were doing when the tide was turned.

When the World Trade Center came down, those who were lost became martyrs, almost overnight. The few blocks of Manhattan on which the Twin Towers were built will always be considered hallowed ground.

When the levees broke in New Orleans, those who perished did so with the eyes of the entire nation trained on them. Their deaths alerted us to the weaknesses of our own systems in coping with natural disaster. The storm which flooded the city had a name. And as such, it will remain lodged in the annals of our history.

But when a tornado touches down, it comes without warning, takes property and lives, and then vanishes. Outside of a limited geographical area, no one will mark time by this tornado. No one will remember what they were doing that Sunday evening. D-Day, 9/11, and Katrina have earned a place in the national consciousness, while this tornado will soon be forgotten. Because the storm has no name, it also has no official significance.

Perhaps naming tornadoes, even after the fact if there has been significant property damage or any loss of life, would go a long way towards recognizing that those who perish in these storms do not go unnoticed by the movers, shakers, and newsmakers in places like New York, Washington, and Los Angeles. These random events cannot be consigned to the official status of "non-events;" rather, they should be accorded the same significance as those events by which a nation marks its collective time.

What do you think?

2005-11-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

For All the Saints

Today, November 1, is All Saints' Day. If you know a saint, call them up! But them a steak dinner, maybe, or some flowers.

But seriously. Today is the day on which the church celebrates all those who have been saints in the past, whether or not we remember their names. I think that it is an especially appropriate day to remember the brave women and men that first gathered together in England during the early 17th century and began the movement of free churches that we now call Baptist.
Many of these souls were willing to suffer fines, imprisonment, or worse, just to be able to worship in the way that they felt was pleasing to God.

Baptists, unlike many other groups within Christianity, aren't able to point to one person (or small group of people) when describing their origins. Methodists have the Wesleys, Reformed Christians point to Zwingli and Calvin, Anglicans and Episcopalians can point to Cranmer and Hooker, but Baptist beginnings were so humble that the exact circumstances of our birth are foggy at best. John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, while important, pale next to the mostly unnamed persons who led the JLJ church into a Baptist expression of faith through adult believers' baptism.

I think that perhaps this tendency towards anonymity, the emphasis of the religious leadership and experience not of bishops and nuns but of everyday people, sets the Baptist movement apart. Today, however, many Baptists shun anonymity, working to build the biggest church, the biggest programs, and the biggest name. This early tendency is in jeopardy.

Do you think that anonymity is a desirable quality in the Christian life? Is it being lost in Baptist life, and if so, how might we begin to recover it?