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Known for his insightful surveys of key environmental history in the United States, history professor and Rothman Family Chair in the Humanities JACK E. DAVIS turns his attention to another important facet of the country’s ecosystem in his latest release, The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America’s Bird — his first book since winning the Pulitzer Prize for History in 2018 for The Gulf: The Making of An American Sea. The new work illustrates the many cultural perceptions of this creature, ranging from native people who lived peacefully among the bird, to hunters who have relentlessly pushed it to near-extinction, to the heroic bird rescuers who helped keep them alive amid threats such as pesticides. The book has been met with the enthusiastic response Davis’ works reliably receive: The New York Times called it “rollicking, poetic, wise” and “exuberantly expansive.”

For JACOB U’MOFE GORDON and history professor PAUL ORTIZ, African American Studies is essential to understanding all of American history. In African American Studies: 50 Years at the University of Florida, the pair have collected testimonies, historical research and perspectives of the alumni, faculty and students who have made the UF African American Studies program department a beacon of inclusivity and academic success. Through the voices of UF leaders and trailblazers going back to the 1960s, the book invokes a deep understanding of the struggles Black faculty, students and friends faced and continue to face today.

Five years after the end of World War II, a group of Florida attorneys formed a small organization dedicated to the belief that every person has the right to a fair justice system. The group, today known as the Florida Justice Association (FJA), became a force in the world of law as it challenged legal practices that put businesses over people. In Chasing Justice, former FJA president LARRY S. STEWART (BA ’60, JD ’63) documents the first 50 years after the organization’s formation and the figures who brought it to life.

Revisiting the “sex wars” that took place in the United States from the 1970s to the 1990s, political theorist LORNA N. BRACEWELL (MA ’12, PhD ’15) analyzes the complex debates over feminism that laid the groundwork for today’s sexual politics. Her work considers conceptions of sexuality, whether in the fight for civil liberties or through depictions in pornography. Through Bracewell’s research, readers see how sexual-political issues like the #MeToo movement arise — and how these movements and the conversations around them impact feminism as a whole.

Joe Madison, known on the radio as “The Black Eagle,” has joined with UF Director of African American Studies and Associate Professor of History DAVID A. CANTON to write a memoir that details Madison’s life as both a broadcaster and activist. After beginning his journey in advocacy as a college student whose fiery energy to voice his beliefs led him to the NAACP, Madison later became a lively voice on SiriusXM discussing activism and culture. With Radio Active, Madison hopes to spur the momentum of future advocates and inspire the next generation of changemakers.

BENJAMIN HEBBLETHWAITE, associate professor of Haitian Creole, Haitian and francophone studies, connects four centuries of political, social and religious history in his latest publication. In the first part, Hebblethwaite captures the African origins of Haitian ancestry through the slave trade and European colonialism, providing a deep look into the spiritual and religious sources that would influence Haiti. In the second part, he focuses on the significance of Vodou in Haitian music and culture. Hebblethwaite’s analysis offers a multidisciplinary overview of this vital aspect of Haitian life.

Alumna MAUD NEWTON (English ’93) embarks on a quest to discover her lineage and unpack her anxieties about intersecting family bloodlines and the traces of mental illness that flow through them. The result, Ancestor Trouble, approaches topics of intergenerational trauma and spiritual traditions that have seeped through her family tree. From an ancestor accused of being a witch in Puritan-era Massachusetts to her grandfather’s thirteen marriages and his eventual murder, Newton combs through her family’s genealogy and uncovers surprising truths about her ancestors.

In post-Civil War Florida, Gussie Dwyer sets out on an invigorating adventure to find his father, a man unaware the boy was ever born. Alone and only 12 years old, Gussie is determined to take on the difficulties in his path by tackling the grittiest of Floridians and several life-threatening obstacles. JOHN BRANDON (English ’99) depicts the resilient quest of a young boy ready to uncover the truth about his family and, in the process, discover more about himself. The Tampa Bay Times called the novel “a bracing mix of Florida history and fleet adventure, livened with dry wit and a tender regard for its characters.”

Based on talks he gave for the University of Oxford’s Clarendon Lectures in English series, MICHAEL HOFMANN’S Messing About in Boats examines four poems in German, French, Italian and English, each connecting to the long lineage of boats in verse. The creative writing professor, poet and translator invites readers to climb aboard boats dreamed up by Rainer Maria Rilke, Arthur Rimbaud, Eugenio Montale and Karen Solie. Hofmann will soon follow up this release with an English translation of Werner Herzog’s debut novel, The Twilight World, in June 2022.

MARIT TOLO ØSTEBØ, assistant professor of anthropology, examines the case of Awra Amba, an Ethiopian village that in 2001 was depicted in a television documentary. The portrayal challenged perceptions about gender roles in the country, and the village has since been held up as a model for other communities to follow. In Village Gone Viral, Østebø examines the more complex truth, showing how the digital circulation of policy models can have unintended and underappreciated consequences for the people they are meant to help. Richard Rottenburg of Wits University called the book “engaged, excellently researched, and accessible.”

With a focus on Neo-Baroque, an art and architectural style first developed in the late 19th century, Spanish lecturer ANDREA VILLA RUIZ illustrates the incorporation of femininity within this aesthetic as seen in literary and artistic works from Latin America. Her subjects include the novels Delirio by Colombian writer Laura Restrepo and A hora da estrela by Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector. The book offers examinations on work pertaining to themes of tension, internal conflict and contradiction through a feminine Neo-Baroque perspective.

The advancement of technology and software development has progressed exponentially since its introduction in the1940s. But there is still room for improvement. In Software Development Patterns and Antipatterns, CAPERS JONES (English ’61) points out seven chronic problems that have persisted since the beginning of software development. From expensive maintenance issues to ambiguous user requirements, Jones has set his sights on solving these issues and addresses possible routes to combat them in the future. The first section of the book identifies these problems, and the second half demonstrates key ideas that can lead to success.

Are you striving to make a change in your community and in need of some inspiration? In Writing for the Public Good, STEVEN NOLL, master lecturer of history, has compiled more than 100 essays spanning the last 30 years from DAVID R. COLBURN, the late historian and former UF provost, and former Governor and Senator BOB GRAHAM. The two prominent Florida figures provide a glimpse into American politics and culture while demonstrating the power of civic engagement, through topics of economics, race relations, education, environment and even international affairs.