Founded in 1956, Penn State University Press publishes rigorously reviewed, high-quality works of scholarship and books of regional and contemporary interest, with a focus on the humanities and social sciences. The publishing arm of the Pennsylvania State University and a division of the Penn State University Libraries, the Press promotes the advance of scholarship by disseminating knowledge—new information, interpretations, methods of analysis—widely in books, journals, and digital publications.
Scholarly publishing has faced monumental challenges over the past few decades. The Press takes its place among those institutions moving the enterprise forward. Its innovative projects continue to identify and embrace the technological advances and business models that ensure scholarly publishing will remain feasible, and widely accessible, well into the future.
Slavery, Gender, and Social Control in Eighteenth-Century Sabara, Minas Gerais
To studies of Brazilian slavery, this book adds a new dimension by showing how it developed in a region where mining was the chief commercial activity and how important a role gender played in this frontier setting in creating opportunities for slaves to achieve some measure of autonomy, compared with slaves who worked in sugar-cane and ......
The Metaphorical World of Israel's Household in the Book of Isaiah
Explores how the Book of Isaiah portrays Israel and its capital city using five metaphors that arise from the realm of household relationships: sons/children, daughter, mother, wife, and servant.
The Rhetorical Function of Allusion to Genesis 1-3 in the Book of Leviticus
A methodologically constrained examination of the lexical, syntactical, and conceptual correspondence between the opening chapters of Genesis and Leviticus 11, 16, and 26. Explores the potential rhetorical function of allusion for the texts’ original ......
Who is Matt Cvetic? Hero? Scoundrel? Mole? The man who loosely provided the inspiration for the B-Grade cult movie I Was a Communist for the FBI had a life that was marred by alcoholism, damaged expectations, and greed.
Cvetic, at the request of the FBI, joined a Pittsburgh branch of the CPUSA in 1943. He became one of ......
Personal and Critical Perspectives on White Privilege
A collection of essays weaving together theoretical insights from philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, literature, and history, as well as the authors’ personal narratives, to examine the forms and persistence of white privilege.
Personal and Critical Perspectives on White Privilege
A collection of essays weaving together theoretical insights from philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, literature, and history, as well as the authors’ personal narratives, to examine the forms and persistence of white privilege.
Studies in Jewish History and Culture in Honor of Lee I. Levine
In 1961, when Lee Israel Levine graduated from both Columbia College in New York, majoring in philosophy, and Jewish Theological Seminary, majoring in Talmud, this accomplishment was only a precursor to the brilliant career that would follow. While researching his Columbia University dissertation in Jerusalem, Levine established close ties with ......
Biblical, Archaeological, and Egyptological Perspectives on the Exodus Narratives
The Hebrew Scriptures consider the exodus from Egypt to be Israel’s formative and foundational event. Indeed, the Bible offers no other explanation for Israel’s origin as a people. It is also true that no contemporary record regarding a man named Moses or the Israelites generally, either living in or leaving Egypt has been found. ......
Christian interpreters have struggled with the story of Ezra 910 for many reasons. Its apparent legalism and racism, as well as its advocacy of divorce as a solution for intermarriage, is unacceptable for many Christians, yet this incident is presented in implicitly positive terms, and the narrative forms a part of Scripture. What then ......
