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.
The Philosophy of Generosity in Shakespeare and Marlowe
Forgiving the Gift challenges the tendency to reflexively understand gifts as exchanges, negotiations, and circulations. Lawrence reads plays by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare as informed by an early modern belief in the possibility and even necessity of radical generosity, of gifts that break the cycle of economy and ......
Works from an Inquisitional Theorist, a Heretic, and an Inquisitional Deputy
Examines writings by three early modern Spanish Franciscans in Mexico. Alfonso de Castro, an inquisitional theorist, offers a defense of Indian education. Alonso Cabello, convicted of Erasmianism by the Mexican Inquisition, discusses Christ's humanity in a Nativity sermon. Diego Muñoz, an inquisitional deputy, investigates witchcraft in ......
This volume examines divine anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible, a study characterized by disagreement and contradiction. Discussions of anthropomorphism in the Hebrew Bible are typically found in three areas of inquiry: ancient Israelite religion, as reflected by the compositions of the Pentateuch; comparisons with ancient Near Eastern ......
Representing Consciousness in the English Renaissance
A collection of essays exploring how biocultural and literary dynamics acted together to shape conceptions of sleep states in the early modern period. Essays envision sleep states as a means of defining the human, both literally and metaphorically.
Representing Consciousness in the English Renaissance
Forming Sleep asks how biocultural and literary dynamics act together to shape conceptions of sleep states in the early modern period. Engaging with poetry, drama, and prose largely written in English between 1580 and 1670, the essays in this collection highlight period discussions about how seemingly insentient ......
Proceedings of the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Warsaw, 21-25 July 2014
In the week between July 21 and 25, 2014, the University of Warsaw hosted more than three hundred Assyriologists from all over the world. In the course of five days, nearly 150 papers were read in three (and sometimes four) parallel sessions. Many of them were delivered within the framework of nine thematic workshops. The publication of most ......
A Theory of Citizenship, the State, and Social Service Delivery
Building on a feminist conception of individual autonomy, explores the obligation of the state to foster autonomy in its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable, through social service delivery. Draws on both successful and less successful examples of service delivery to generate a theoretical account of the autonomy-fostering ......
A Theory of Citizenship, the State, and Social Service Delivery
Building on a feminist conception of individual autonomy, explores the obligation of the state to foster autonomy in its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable, through social service delivery. Draws on both successful and less successful examples of service delivery to generate a theoretical account of the autonomy-fostering ......
Foundation Sacrifice in Dante's "Commedia" is the first book to take an anthropological approach to the Divine Comedy, applying it to a previously unexplored dimension of Dante's great poem. Ricardo Quinones examines foundation sacrifice—the death of another that has become a parable for existence—as a ......
