University of Michigan Press Blog

As Denzel Washington opens ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ on Broadway, Ellen Handler Spitz’ ‘Illuminating Childhood’ explores the play’s significance

by Shaun Manning March 6, 2014

“Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play, A Raisin in the Sun, was both her first and the first by any playwright of color to astonish Broadway,” Ellen Handler Spitz writes in Illuminating Childhood: Portraits in Film, Fiction, and Drama, opening an entire chapter devoted to the play. “Crossing boundaries of race, ideology, and class, it puts onstage an unforgettable portrayal of parent-child relations, bridging all gaps, and the maturity of Hansberry’s grasp, at the age of twenty-eight, is breathtaking.” The latest revival of A Raisin in the Sun, directed by Kenny Leon and starring Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose, begins […]

‘Hybrid Justice’ Featured on Voice of America Cambodia

by Meredith Kahn February 12, 2014

Cover of 'Hybrid Justice: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia'

John D. Ciorciari and Anne Heindel’s Hybrid Justice: The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia was featured in a post from Voice of America’s Cambodia affiliate, which provides news in both English and Khmer for Cambodian and Southeast Asian audiences. Ciorciari and Heindel provide a detailed account of the hybrid tribunal created to try Khmer Rouge officials for crimes of the Pol Pot era, including an examination of the contentious politics behind the tribunal’s formation, and its delays and difficulties, which have resulted in some defendants dying before legal proceedings could be concluded.

Ulaby to Deliver U-M Russel Lecture, February 4

by Meredith Kahn January 24, 2014

Cover of Microwave Radar and Radiometric Remote Sensing

Fawwaz Ulaby, the Emmet Leith Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, will deliver the Henry Russel Lecture on February 4, 2014 at 4PM in the Rackham Amphitheater. The Henry Russel lectureship is among the highest honors U-M awards to senior faculty members, and is given “in recognition of exceptional achievements in research, scholarship or creative endeavors, and an outstanding record of teaching, mentoring and service.” Professor Ulaby is being recognized for his work in remote sensing and electromagnetics. The U-M Press recently published Microwave Radar and Radiometric Remote […]

Kazim Ali guest blogging for the Poetry Foundation

by Meredith Kahn January 10, 2014

Kazim Ali, co-editor of the Poets on Poetry series, is guest blogging for the Poetry Foundation this month. His first post, “If Time and Space Both Bend Then Who am I,” is available now: Time is ordinary, invented and defined by poets and scientists. But any poet and any scientist, the really good ones, the ones that know their arts to the core, will tell you it is a fiction, that it is not real. You can read all of Kazim’s posts on the “writing life of a poet” here. Poets on Poetry collects critical works by contemporary poets, gathering together the […]

“Thundersnow” and the polar vortex make an appearance on The Colbert Report

by Meredith Kahn January 10, 2014

Paul Gross, meteorologist for local NBC affiliate WDIV and author of Extreme Michigan Weather was recently included in The Colbert Report‘s coverage of the polar vortex. You can see Paul at the 1:35 mark, warning viewers about “thundersnow.” To learn more about severe weather in the Great Lakes state, check out Extreme Michigan Weather, which is one of our many books on the region. Hat tip to our friends at WDIV for this story.

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