 |
|
From
left, Akbar Ahmed, Robert Beisner, Alan Kraut, and Pat Wand
Photo
by Jeff Watts
|
Library
honors faculty scholars
by Kenny Lucas
The University Library honored the works of three faculty members
last week in its program “Celebrating Scholarship.” An
audience that included Mohammed Sadiq, Pakistan’s ambassador
to the United States, listened raptly as Robert Beisner, Akbar Ahmed,
and Alan Kraut discussed their books, which covered the history
of U.S. foreign policy past, the problems facing Islam today, and
the story of an immigrant doctor who changed the face of modern
medicine.
“There is no exciting way to give a talk about bibiliography,”
Beisner, professor emeritus of history, said of his two-volume book
American Foreign Relations Since 1600, a Guide to the Literature.
Beisner might have been joking, but historians worldwide are
grateful for his work in updating this survey of writing on American
foreign relations. The work consists of 16,356 fully annotated entries
ranging from the colonial period to modern times. Beisner oversaw
a team of editors, including AU senior reference librarian Mary
Mintz and emeritus history professor Roger Brown.
Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies in the School of
International Service, wrote his book Islam Under Siege, out of
a conviction that “we are living in a very dangerous time in
world history.” Ahmed said he believes that many world civilizations
today are feeling threatened and “under seige” and that
instead of seeking to understand other cultures, people withdraw
into what he calls “a post-honor world.” Through his book
Ahmed hopes to build bridges of understanding between Muslims and
non-Muslims. “I wanted to look deeper into the Muslim world
and move beyond the stereotypes and easy answers that we get in
the media,” he said.
Kraut, a professor of history, produced an informative and entertaining
account of the life of Joseph Goldberger—the Hungarian immigrant
who discovered the cure for pellagra—in his book Goldberger’s
War, the Life and work of a Public Health Crusader. Ultimately
Goldberger discovered that pellagra stemmed from a dietary deficiency
and not a microbe, and his “war” to educate the public
about the relationships of health and lifestyle ensued. In researching
the book, Kraut met and interviewed Goldberger’s son and pored
over archival papers and texts, including some of Goldberger’s
own notes joking that it certainly was against the rules to write
in library books, but “Every day I thank God that [Goldberger]
did. It permitted me to follow the mind of Joseph Goldberger.”
top
|
