BY DAVID LAU

In print | January 19, 2006

Four of Swarthmore’s renowned professors have recently published or are about to publish books on diverse topics, ranging from wedding advice for brides-to-be to the legacy of Rosa Parks.

Professor Herbert Kohl, the Lang Visiting Professor for 2005-2006, has published a book on civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks entitled “She Will Not Be Moved.” The book focuses on Rosa Parks’ legacy and points out that what made her the rallying point and one of the symbols of the civil rights movement was her “unusual moral integrity and standing in the community.”

Psychology professor Andrew Ward published “The Bargaining Bride” in conjunction with Shirit Kronzon, a faculty member of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Ward spent two years researching and writing material for the book, and remarked that since he wasn’t married, “it was eye-opening to learn about all the ways in which wedding vendors try to extract more money from their clients. Writing the book has given me a new perspective on weddings, which turn out to be a $50 billion dollar industry,” Ward said.

“Failing to Win: Perceptions of Success and Failure in International Politics” is the upcoming book from political science professor Dominic Tierney. The book, which Tierney co-wrote with Dominic Johnson of Princeton University, focuses on the perceptions and misperceptions of victory throughout history. Professor Tierney offers two competing models in his book, “scorekeeping” and “matchfixing.” “In scorekeeping, people judge victory based on material gains such as territory or casualties. In matchfixing, people fix the results in their own minds based on beliefs they have before the war occurs, symbolic events that may have little or nothing to do with the actual battles, and the role of media and elite spin,” he explained.

Sociology professor Robin Wagner-Pacifici also recently published “The Art of Surrender” focusing on three wars—the 30 Years War, the American Civil War and World War II before break.

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