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.
Among the many practices in which musicians engage are several that may be viewed as modes of interpretation, a kind of interpretation that Paul Thom calls “performative” to contrast it with another kind he calls “critical.” The difference is that the latter discusses a musical work; the former presents or enacts it. ......
Creating Economic Networks in Early America, 1790-1807
Examines the role that country storekeeper Samuel Rex of Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, played in the society and economy of the mid-Atlantic region from 1790 to 1807. Studies consumption patterns of one typical Pennsylvania-German community.
First published in Philadelphia in 1859, History of Independence Hall combines Belisle’s meditations on the hall as a sacred part of our nation’s history with biographical accounts of each signer of the Declaration of Independence and a meticulous catalogue of the contents of the hall. The author states his hope that the ......
A History of the Gettysburg Battle-field Memorial Association with an Account of the Battle Giving Movements, Positions, and Losses of the Commands Engaged
John Mitchell Vanderslice’s Gettysburg offers an overarching history of the Battle of Gettysburg and describes the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association’s origins and accomplishments. The Memorial Association, established by an act of the Pennsylvania legislature in 1864, aimed to preserve and protect the battlefield ......
A Paper Read Before the Pennsylvania-German Society at the Annual Meeting, York, Pennsylvania, October 14th, 1910
Published in 1916 and based on a paper presented at the Pennsylvania German Society’s annual meeting in 1910, The Folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans constitutes one of the first collections of Pennsylvania German stories, rhymes, and ballads (most in their native dialect). John Baer Stoudt’s compilation includes numerous ......
This brief volume provides readers with an overview of Centre County’s history from its earliest European settlement up to the year 1915. Exploring the county’s major events across several centuries, J. Thomas Mitchell delves into such subjects as early living conditions, county government, and the establishment of townships. ......
This guidebook to the art, architecture, and historic interests of Pennsylvania was compiled before World War I by Anna Margaretta Archambault in association with the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women. Arranged by county, the guide begins with a lengthy section on Philadelphia and its many historical and cultural attractions; it then ......
Trafficking and Terrorist Networks, Government Bureaucracies, and Competitive Adaptation
From Pablo to Osama is a comparative study of Colombian drug-smuggling enterprises, terrorist networks (including al Qaeda), and the law enforcement agencies that seek to dismantle them. Drawing on a wealth of research materials, including interviews with former drug traffickers and other hard-to-reach informants, Michael Kenney ......
Democratization and Community Mobilization in Low-Income Mexico
Addresses the success and failures of the Union de Colonos Independientes (UCI), a community organization in Guadalajara, Mexico. Critiques the civil society concept and questions the strategy of political democratization as a way to assert control over the global economy.
