This book examines language choice in contemporary Cambodia, and uses the case study to explore and evaluate competing explanations for the spread of English globally.

Following the introduction, the multiple contexts in which Cambodians make individual and institutional language policy choices are considered. Chapters 2 and 3 examine the economic and political contexts for language choice, as Cambodia has transitioned from a planned economy and communism to a market economy and democracy. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 examine the assistance context for language choice; the bilateral, multilateral, and nongovernmental development agencies that have recently begun to work in Cambodia demand certain language skills of Cambodian employees and government counterparts, and support the learning of these languages in both nonformal and formal education.

Individual and institutional languages choices Cambodians are making in economic, political, assistance, and educational contexts are described. Some Cambodians have chosen to learn French, making language policy decisions supportive of French language learning, in anticipation of education offered in French at universities locally and abroad. More Cambodians are studying and learning Chinese to procure jobs with firms owned or managed by Chinese speakers. A great many have chosen to learn English and to support English language learning in education. These decisions respond to the multiple demands and opportunities for employment with economic and assistance enterprises associated with virtually every nation or group of nations, for regional and international political communication, and for education in the global infrastructure of English-language universities.

Having thus contextualized and described Cambodians’ contemporary language choices, the case study is applied to a theoretical debate in the field of language policy studies. The specifics of the Cambodian case fully confirm neither the "language choice" nor the "linguistic imperialism" explanation for the global spread of English. Rather, in Cambodia English is spreading as a result of both choice and promotion, it integrates with (though is not integral to) the contemporary global restructuring of the world, and has introduced results that, though aggregating toward amelioration, run the gamut from beneficial to exploitative for groups of Cambodians located variously along geographical, socioeconomic, ethnic, and other spectra.

In The Indo-European Syllable Andrew Miles Byrd investigates the process of syllabification within Proto-Indo-European (PIE), revealing connections to a number of seemingly unrelated phonological processes in the proto-language.



Drawing from insights in linguistic typology and synchronic theory, he makes two significant advances in our understanding of PIE phonology. First, by analyzing securely reconstructable consonant clusters at word's edge, he devises a methodology which allows us to predict which types of consonant clusters could occur word-medially in PIE. Thus, a number of previously disconnected phonological rules can now be understood as being part of a conspiracy motivated by violations in syllable structure. Second, he uncovers evidence of morphological influence within the syllable, created by processes such as quantitative ablaut. These advances allow us to view PIE as a synchronic grammar, one which can be described by -- and contribute to -- modern linguistic theory.

Special Issue of the Journal Romance Quarterly dedicated to Cervantes's Exemplary Novels. It includes the innovative studies of five reputed cervantists who analyze under new insights the Cervantine work at the time of its 400th anniversary. Contributors: Edward H. Friedman, Julio Baena, William H. Clamurro, Bradley J. Nelson, Bruce R. Burningham, and Moisés R. Castillo (introduction).

Humanistic theory for more than the past 100 years has been marked by extensive attention to practice and practices.  Two prominent streams of thought sharing this focus are pragmatism and theories of practice.  This volume brings together internationally prominent theorists to explore key dimensions of practice and practices on the background of parallels and points of contact between these two traditions.  The contributors all are steeped in one or both of these streams and well-known for their work on practice. The collected essays explore three important themes: what practice and practices are, normativity, and transformation. The volume deepens understanding of these three practice themes while strengthening appreciation of the parallels between and complementariness of pragmatism and practice theory.

This book brings leading theorists of practice together to provide a set of theoretical impulses for the surge of practice-focused studies currently sweeping across the social disciplines.  The book addresses key issue facing practice theory, expands practice theory’s conceptual repertoire, and explores new empirical terrain.  With each intellectual move, it generates further opportunities for social research.

More specifically, the book’s chapters offer new approaches to analysing connections within the nexus of practices, to exploring the dynamics and implications of the constellations that practices form, and to understanding people as practitioners that carry on practices.  Topics examined include social change, language, power, affect, reflection, large social phenomena, and connectivity over time and space.  Contributors thereby counter claims that practice theory cannot handle large phenomena and that it ignores people.  The contributions also develop practice theoretical ideas in dialogue with other forms of social theory and in ways illustrated and informed by empirical cases and examples.

Over the past decade, a new set of interactive, open, participatory and networked spatial media have become widespread.  These include mapping platforms, virtual globes, user-generated spatial databases, geodesign and architectural and planning tools, urban dashboards and citizen reporting geo-systems, augmented reality media, and locative media.  Collectively these produce and mediate spatial big data and are re-shaping spatial knowledge, spatial behaviour, and spatial politics.

New Lines considers a society increasingly drawn to the power of the digital map, examining the conceptual and technical developments of the field of geographic information science as this work is refracted through a pervasive digital culture. This book draws together archival research on the birth of the digital map with a reconsideration of the critical turn in mapping and cartographic thought.

 A la luz del concepto psicoanalítico de lo 'real', esta pequeña monografía trata de desentrañar las claves de la novela cumbre de José Donoso que cierra el 'Boom' latinoamericano. La incursión en lo mostruoso y abyecto de la existencia humana llevada a cabo por el novelista chileno nos sirve para ahondar en el sentido de lo que constituye la mayor ansiedad del pueblo latinoamericano: su identidad mestiza.    

Intended for students of intermediate organic chemistry, this text shows how to write a reasonable mechanism for an organic chemical transformation. The discussion is organized by types of mechanisms and the conditions under which the reaction is executed, rather than by the overall reaction as is the case in most textbooks. The treatment emphasizes unifying principles, showing how common mechanisms link seemingly disparate reactions. Each chapter discusses common mechanistic pathways and suggests practical tips for drawing them. Worked problems are included in the discussion of each mechanism, and “common error alerts” are scattered throughout the text to warn readers about pitfalls and misconceptions that bedevil students. Each chapter is capped by a large problem set. The author has drawn on his own research and the current literature to ensure that appropriate attention is given to topics across the range of modern organic chemistry. The text is unique in its inclusion of a chapter on reactions mediated or catalyzed by transition metals, an area in which mechanistic understanding is now essential. Relatively new topics such as olefin metathesis and cycloaromatization are covered without giving short shrift to more traditional areas such as carbonyl chemistry. The text assumes a basic knowledge of organic chemistry. It can be used either in a formal course or by students working on their own, and will be particularly useful for graduate students studying for qualifying examinations. It will also be useful to students and researchers in biochemistry, pharmacology, and inorganic chemistry.