Chapter & Verse

July 12, 2021

Buffalo, NY - History Professor René De La Pedraja, PhD, examines Russia’s surprising return to the world stage in Putin Confronts the West: The Logic of Russian Foreign Relations, 1999-2020. Following a chronological approach from the fall of the Soviet Union to present, the book draws on new documents to describe key decisions and foreign policy events that led Russia to regain its global prominence under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin.

Students, scholars and interested citizens can rediscover the fruits of the American Revolution in Bills of Rights Before the Bill of Rights. Co-authored by Emeritus Professor of Political Science Peter J. Galie, PhD, Christopher Bopst ’95 and Bethany R. (Siena) Kirschner ’07, the book outlines the history of the rights found in the American state constitutions adopted between 1776 and 1790. It is the first to provide a full and systematic commentary on the rights provisions found in early American state constitutions.

Socrates’ claim that an unexamined life is not worth living is the premise of My I’s: Isms, Ignorance, Interrelationships and Insights, by Emeritus Professor of Gerontology Charles R. Schmidtke, PhD. This highly personal narrative takes readers on a journey through Schmidtke’s religious transformation, shifts to a more balanced view of gender roles and the profound tragedies he has encountered, all of which led to more inclusive, tolerant and accepting attitudes and behaviors.

Queer Ecopedagogies: Explorations in Nature, Sexuality and Education builds on the momentum surrounding queer work within environmental science. Authored by Joshua Russell ’03, PhD, the book emphasizes new connections between environmental education research and the
growing bodies of literature dedicated to queer deconstructions of nature, environment and animals. Russell is associate professor of animal behavior, ecology and conservation (ABEC) and director of the anthrozoology program.