Required Reading

The Kinks: Songs of the Semi-Detached

Mark Doyle, Professor, Department of History

MUSIC HISTORY

Of all the great British rock bands to emerge from the 1960s, none had a stronger sense of place than The Kinks, a London group often described as the archetypal English band. In this illuminating study, Doyle examines the relationship between The Kinks and their city, from their early songs of teenage rebellion to their later album-length works of social criticism, providing a unique perspective on the way in which the band responded to the shifting nature of working-class life. The book examines brothers Ray Davies, the bandleader, and Dave Davies, lead guitarist, through the lens of their transition from their working-class roots to a middle-class neighborhood following the Nazis’ attack on Great Britain. A working-class sensibility remained consistent in Ray’s lyrics, while Dave pursued the more hedonistic rock lifestyle. Doyle also studies The Kinks though the philosophical prisms of various British intellectuals, including Charles Dickens, Edmund Burke, and George Orwell.

Basic Athletic Training (7th edition)

Ken Wright, D.A., Physical Education (’84), and Randall Deere (’92), D.A., Physical Education

SPORTS MANAGEMENT

Wright served as a doping control officer from 1990 to 2012, which included working three Olympic Games (London, Vancouver, and Salt Lake City). He is a professor at the University of Alabama and director of the Sports Business Management graduate program. Deere, another alumnus of MTSU’s doctorate program, is professor emeritus at Western Kentucky University. Published with two other coauthors in fall 2020, this college textbook is a comprehensive introduction to current philosophies, procedures, and practices related to the care and prevention of athletic injuries.

Decompressed: How to Find Joy as a Producer in a Flattened World

Misty Jones Simpson, Assistant Professor, Department of Recording Industry

BUSINESS

Even before COVID-19 redefined how people function around the world, Simpson was very aware of how people in the audio production profession are vulnerable to becoming isolated . . . depressed even. So much so that she wrote this practical book about ways to stay upbeat in a career that often entails deep concentration at a mixing board or other similarly solitary work. Forced to teach the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester online like colleagues across campus and the globe, she adapted an Audio Production lesson plan that relies almost exclusively upon hands-on experiences.

Dangerous Dames: Representing Female-Bodied Empowerment in Postfeminist Media

Roberta Chevrette, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Studies

CULTURAL MEDIA STUDIES

This book illuminates the rhetorical work performed by contemporary representations of a specific type of postfeminist hero who has garnered a lot of cultural capital: women who are smart, capable, physically agile and fit, and proficient with weaponry and technology. Employing critical/ cultural and feminist approaches, Chevrette and co-authors Heather Hundley and Hillary Jones engage with a range of theories including intersectionality, critical race theory, postmodernism, and posthumanism to examine a range of contemporary works, including Kill Bill, Volumes I and II; The Hunger Games films; Wonder Woman; Atomic Blonde; Proud Mary; The Bionic Woman; Deus Ex; Dark Matter; and Caprica.

United States History in Rhyme—A Child’s First History Book: A Must Read for All Americans

Larry Markus, B.S., Agriculture (’70)

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Markus, whose original musical based on American history has been performed multiple times over the past decade, transformed its narrative into his debut picture book, United States History in Rhyme—A Child’s First History Book: A Must Read for All Americans. Detailing important moments in the American story, Markus uses rhyme and illustrations to educate young readers concerning the events that contributed to the establishment of this country. Markus, of Lawrenceburg, was a teacher for over 40 years.