Faculty favorites: wherein faculty share a favorite book with the rest of us.

Carmen Solis, SEEK Department

Bonilla-Silva, E.  (2014). 4th ed.  Racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.

Bonilla-Silva, a sociologist at Duke University, brings to light issues of color-blind ideologies and how those become ways to implement racist strategies.  He helps one to see things like language context and story lines in color-blind dramas very differently.  The analysis teaches one a lot.

The third edition is available on textbook reserve and in the library stacks: E184.A1 B597 2010


James Cauthen, Chair, Political Science Department

Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.  Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Originally published in 1962, I first read this book on the history of science as a graduate student almost 20 years ago and I still think about it today.  Its biggest impact on me was Kuhn’s view that scientific advancement is not incremental and linear, but rather through a series of revolutions.  These revolutions come about after “puzzle-solving” within a dominant paradigm reveals weaknesses in the paradigm, leading to revolution and a new paradigm.  Although Kuhn was a physicist who later focused on the history and philosophy of science, his work has application in the social sciences and beyond. Whenever you hear the phrase “paradigm shift,” you can thank Thomas Kuhn.

Available in the library stacks: Q175.K95 1970


Comments solicited by Janice Dunham.

Classified Information, the Library's newsletter »

Spring 2014 Newsletter (PDF) »