Ink

Thinking about death can be terrifying, or at least unsettling. One way we conquer our fear is by telling stories. Storytelling also gives death meaning and significance, as is often seen in the creative works of scholars, artists, writers and philosophers. At the next UNC Charlotte Personally Speaking series talk, on Tuesday March 28, UNC Charlotte expert Christine S. Davis will consider how ideas of death are constructed, using narratives drawn from real life and fiction.

A new book that includes an essay by UNC Charlotte historian Karen L. Cox on myths related to Confederate monuments has landed on The New York Times Best Seller List just nine days after its release, making it an instant best seller. The book, “Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past,” debuted on the hardcover nonfiction list at No. 8.

It’s been a sizzling spring and summer for UNC Charlotte Professor Mark West, as his three new books have all been listed as Amazon Hot New Releases. “I am amazed,” said West, Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement and professor in the Department of English.

Rocks, hills, and other geological features played a significant — but little known — role in the Civil War, influencing combat between the North and the South in ways that may surprise you. In the next Personally Speaking series talk, on March 29 at 7 p.m., UNC Charlotte expert Scott Hippensteel will give new meaning to the phrase “American soil.”

For his translation of Hiroko Oyamada’s novella The Hole, UNC Charlotte Assistant Professor of Japanese David Boyd has won the coveted Japan-United States Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, presented by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University.

Research by UNC Charlotte faculty expert Shannon Reid and co-author Matthew Valasik focuses on understanding the evidence behind the development, growth, and influence of alt-right groups within the white power movement. To learn more about this timely topic, join Reid for the kickoff of the 2021-22 Personally Speaking published authors’ series.

With its portrayal of the difficulties of frontier life, The New York Times Book Review has just named “All God’s Children” by novelist and UNC Charlotte English Associate Professor Aaron Gwyn as one of The Best Books To Give This Year.

A book by UNC Charlotte History Professor Christine Haynes has been chosen the best book in modern French history (post 1815) over the previous two years, receiving the inaugural Weber Book Prize from the UCLA Department of History.

A book by UNC Charlotte Africana Studies associate professor Oscar de la Torre, The People of the River: Identity and Environment in Black Amazonia, 1835-1945, has received the inaugural Outstanding First Book Award from the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora.

In the new book Dear Delia: The Civil War Letters of Captain Henry F. Young, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, UNC Charlotte historian John David Smith and coauthor Micheal J. Larson have provided a deeper look at Young’s letters through their detailed research and annotations. On Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m., Smith will sign copies of the acclaimed book at Barnes and Noble Charlotte bookstore in the Popp Martin Student Union.