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.
Donation and Devotion, Art and Music, as Heard and Seen in the Writings of a Birgittine Nun
Examines 58 letters written by Katerina Lemmel, a wealthy Nuremberg widow, who in 1516 entered the abbey of Maria Mai in south Germany, and rebuilt the monastery using her own resources and the donations she solicited from relatives.
Congregational Life and Religious Diversity in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1730-1820
Studies the development of religious congregations in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1730 to 1820. Focuses on German Reformed, Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans, and Presbyterians. Also examines how Roman Catholics, Jews, and African Americans were absorbed into this predominantly white Protestant society.
A collection of essays in feminist philosophy. Contributors theorize how we act through differently acculturated bodies in a variety of interpersonal and political contexts. Addresses recent feminist challenges to bring the body more fully and positively into theory.
Studies the path of natural philosophy (i.e., physics) from Isaac Newton through Scotland into the nineteenth-century background to the modern revolution in physics. Examines how the history of science has been influenced by John Robison and other notable intellectuals of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Examines the history and development of Moravian theology, from its origins in the Hussite movement to the work of Comenius. Explores the theology of the Unity of the Brethren within the context of the Protestant Reformation.
Elsie Singmaster and Her Pennsylvania German Writings
A selection of short stories by Elsie Singmaster that focus on the Pennsylvania-German experience. Includes commentary framing them in historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
The Identity Construction Model of Political Participation
Argues that active involvement in politics can be deeply fulfilling to the individual, and that the construction of identity for all activists is both about morality and about what one wants for oneself. Includes interviews with environmental, social justice, and pro-life activists.
Proverbs of the Pennsylvania Germans is a follow-up and companion volume to Edwin Miller Fogel’s 1915 publication Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans. This volume focuses on the proverb in its broadest sense, including adages, aphorisms, and some appropriate idiomatic expressions. This ......
