Spatial disorientation is of key relevance to our globalized world, eliciting complex questions about our relationship with technology and the last remaining vestiges of our animal nature. Viewed more broadly, disorientation is a profoundly geographical theme that concerns our relationship with space, places, the body, emotions, and time, as well as being a powerful and frequently recurring metaphor in art, philosophy, and literature. Using multiple perspectives, lenses, methodological tools, and scales, Geographies of Disorientation addresses questions such as: How do we orient ourselves? What are the cognitive and cultural instruments that we use to move through space? Why do we get lost? Two main threads run through the book: getting lost as a practice, explored within a post-phenomenological framework in relation to direct and indirect observation, wayfinding performances, and the various methods and tools used to find our position in space; and disorientation as a metaphor for the contemporary era, used in a broad range of contexts to express the difficulty of finding points of reference in the world we live in. Drawing on a wide range of literature, Geographies of Disorientation is a highly original and intruiging read which will be of interest to scholars of human geography, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, cognitive science, information technology, and the communication sciences.

Every year, thousands of young Catholics leave their homes for higher education at our nation's colleges and universities. Very few realize, however, that from orientation day onward, they will be indoctrinated with a vision of reality that is very different from the values their families hold dear. Sadly, many of our young people will fall prey to one or more of the dominant ideologies ingrained in their college education, ideologies that can lead them away from the Church and, ultimately, their faith in God. Students who are not taught how to think critically or who lack the tools needed to sift through the logic of these positions are easily swayed by the smooth sophistry of the intellectual elite. For this reason, twelve of the top Catholic writers in America, who are professors, priests, journalists, philosophers, and theologians, have come together to dissect the trendy ideas that can lead young Catholics away from the Church. Disorientation is intellectual ammunition for every college student and parent, as it breaks down the history, analyzes the appeal, and debunks the empty promises of wildly popular errors such as: Hedonism Relativism Progressivism Modernism Scientism Fundamentalism Radical Feminism Multiculturalism Edited by John Zmirak (author of The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living and Choosing the Right College), this book is guaranteed to get college students thinking hard about what their professors are telling them, and what they should really believe.

In this groundbreaking work, Sara Ahmed demonstrates how queer studies can put phenomenology to productive use. Focusing on the “orientation” aspect of “sexual orientation” and the “orient” in “orientalism,” Ahmed examines what it means for bodies to be situated in space and time. Bodies take shape as they move through the world directing themselves toward or away from objects and others. Being “orientated” means feeling at home, knowing where one stands, or having certain objects within reach. Orientations affect what is proximate to the body or what can be reached. A queer phenomenology, Ahmed contends, reveals how social relations are arranged spatially, how queerness disrupts and reorders these relations by not following the accepted paths, and how a politics of disorientation puts other objects within reach, those that might, at first glance, seem awry. Ahmed proposes that a queer phenomenology might investigate not only how the concept of orientation is informed by phenomenology but also the orientation of phenomenology itself. Thus she reflects on the significance of the objects that appear—and those that do not—as signs of orientation in classic phenomenological texts such as Husserl’s Ideas. In developing a queer model of orientations, she combines readings of phenomenological texts—by Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Fanon—with insights drawn from queer studies, feminist theory, critical race theory, Marxism, and psychoanalysis. Queer Phenomenology points queer theory in bold new directions.

This book is a philosophical exploration of disorientation and its significance for action. Disorientations are human experiences of losing one's bearings, such that life is disrupted and it is not clear how to go on. In the face of life experiences like trauma, grief, illness, migration, education, queer identification, and consciousness raising, individuals can be deeply disoriented. These and other disorientations are not rare. Although disorientations can be common and powerful parts of individuals' lives, they remain uncharacterized by Western philosophers, and overlooked by ethicists. Disorientations can paralyze, overwhelm, embitter, and misdirect moral agents, and moral philosophy and motivational psychology have important insights to offer into why this is. More perplexing are the ways disorientations may prompt improved moral action. Ami Harbin draws on first person accounts, philosophical texts, and qualitative and quantitative research to show that in some cases of disorientation, individuals gain new forms of awareness of political complexity and social norms, and new habits of relating to others and an unpredictable moral landscape. She then argues for the moral and political promise of these gains. A major contention of the book is that disorientations have 'non-resolutionary effects': they can help us act without first helping us resolve what to do. In exploring these possibilities, Disorientation and Moral Life contributes to philosophy of emotions, moral philosophy, and political thought from a distinctly feminist perspective. It makes the case for seeing disorientations as having the power to motivate profound and long-term shifts in moral and political action. A feminist re-envisioning of moral psychology provides the framework for understanding how they do so.

Psalms for Preaching and Worship a key addition to the critically acclaimed three-volume Lectionary Commentary / Despite the rich resources available for studying the Psalms, few are as focused on their place in worship and preaching as is this volume. The responsorial Psalms of the Revised Common Lectionary are here taken up in careful and often illuminating interpretation with attention also to their interaction with other lectionary texts. The many ways that psalms can function meaningfully in the liturgical life of congregations are explored especially in John Witvliet s concluding section. I know of no work that combines practice and substance better than this lectionary commentary. Patrick D. Miller / Princeton Theological Seminary / A fascinating book well organized, well written and edited, thorough, and informative. . . . An excellent resource not only for preachers using the Revised Common Lectionary but also for those wishing to preach a series of sermons on the Psalms. In addition, worship leaders and worship committees will appreciate the many excellent ideas for using the Psalms in worship. Highly recommended. Sidney Greidanus / author of Preaching Christ from the Old Testament and Preaching Christ from Genesis / Here is something even better than a simple completion of The Lectionary Commentary, which would be cause enough for gratitude. . . . Serious attention paid to this one book could go a long way toward remedying the scandalous neglect of the treasure of the Psalms in too much contemporary worship. Marguerite Shuster / Fuller Theological Seminary / Contributors: Nancy R. Bowen, William P. Brown, Walter Brueggemann, Richard J. Clifford, Nancy L. deClaiss-Walford, Jennifer S. Green, Karl N. Jacobson, Rolf A. Jacobson, Melody D. Knowles, Eunny P. Lee, Joel M. LeMon, James Limburg, J. Clinton McCann, James K. Mead, Carol A. Miles, Luke A. Powery, Stephen Breck Reid, Sandra L. Richter, Cynthia L. Rigby, Kathryn L. Roberts, Brent A. Strawn, Beth LaNeel Tanner, Roger E. Van Harn, Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, J. Ross Wagner, Gerald H. Wilson, John Witvliet, Christine Roy Yoder.

Using a model of orientation - disorientation - new orientation, Brueggemann explores how the genres of the Psalms can'be viewed in terms of their function. This results in fresh readings of these ancient songs that illumine their spiritual depth. The voices of the Psalms come through in all their bold realism.