Focusing on the Deccan Sultanates of 16th- and 17th-century central India, Local States in an Imperial World promotes the idea that some polities of the time were not aspiring to be empires.

The rich and diverse architectural traditions of the Eastern Mediterranean and adjacent regions are the subject of this book, including the social and cultural developments of the Byzantine Empire, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and Russia, as well as parallel developments in Crusader and early Islamic architecture.

"At a time when libraries are facing a range of significant challenges, including rapidly evolving needs for physical space, constant budgetary pressures, and growing concern over the confidentiality of patron-generated data, a new technology is emerging that offers an entirely new spin on these challenges. The suite of technologies encompassed by virtual, augmented, and mixed reality stands to open vast opportunities for new services, expand the way library materials can be accessed and integrated into nonlibrary venues, and alter the way we, as a society, interact with information. The real and virtual horizons these new technologies are establishing represent a new frontier in the way we do almost everything"-- Provided by publisher. 

In Listening to the Future, Bill Martin sets the scene for the emergence of progressive rock and examines the most important groups, from the famous to the obscure. He also surveys the pathbreaking albums and provides resources for readers to explore the music further. "Written with the insights of an academic, the authority of a musicologist, and'best of all'the passion of a true fan. Martin charts topographic oceans, courts crimson kings, does some brain salad surgery, and generally rocks out in 7/8 time." 'Jim DeRogatis Sun-Times music critic.

For a long time we have naively talked about the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and other periods, but at closer analysis all those terms prove to be constructed models to help us understand in rough terms profound changes that affected human conditions throughout time. As the contributions to the present volume indicate, paradigm shifts have occurred regularly and constituted some of the critical developments in human existence. The notion of paradigm shift as first developed by Thomas Kuhn is here considerably expanded to address also literary, religious, scientific, and cultural-historical phenomena, to deal with contrasting conceptions of various parts of the world (China versus Europe), conflicts between genders, economic changes pertaining to women's roles, social and political criticism, models of how to explain our existence, ideological positions, and epistemological approaches. The study of paradigm shifts makes it possible to grasp fundamental movements both horizontally (the present world in global terms) and vertically (from the past to the present), exposing thereby central forces leading to shifts in power structures and in the mental-historical world-views. Focusing on paradigm-shifts allows us to gain deep insight into conflicting discourses throughout time and to illuminate the struggle between dominant and competing models explaining or determining reality.-- Provided by publisher.​

 

Sport in the Middle East has become a major issue in global affairs. The contributors to this timely volume discuss the intersection of political and cultural processes related to sport in the region. Eleven chapters trace the historical institutionalization of sport and the role it has played in negotiating "Western" culture. Sport is found to be a contested terrain where struggles are being fought over the inclusion of women, over competing definitions of national identity, over preserving social memory, and over press freedom. Also discussed are the implications of mega-sporting events for host countries, and how both elite sport policies and sports industries in the region are being shaped.Sport, Politics and Society in the Middle East draws on academic disciplines from the humanities and social sciences to offer in-depth, theoretically grounded, and richly empirical case studies. It employs diverse research methodologies, from ethnography and in-depth interviews to archival research, to make a lasting contribution to this critical subject.-- Provided by publisher.

"This book conceptualizes Mizrahi (Middle-Eastern Jewish) theatre, unfolding its performances in the field of Israeli theatre with a critical gaze. It covers the conceptualization and typology, not along a chronological axis, but rather through seven theatrical forms. The author suggests a definition of Mizrahi Theatre that has fluid boundaries and it can encompass various possibilities for self-representation onstage. Although Mizrahi theatre began to develop in the 1970s, the years since the turn of the millennium have seen an intense flowering of theatrical works by second- and third-generation artists dealing with issues of identity and narrative in a diverse array of forms. Mizrahi theatre is a cultural locus of self-representation, generally created by Mizrahi artists who deal with content, social experiences, cultural, religious, and traditional foundations, and artistic languages derived from the history and social reality in Mizrahi Jews in both Israel and their Middle Eastern countries of origin. Critically surveying Mizrahi theatre in Israel, the book is a key resource for students and academics interested in theatre and performance studies, Jewish and Israeli studies"-- Provided by publisher.​