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.
Lucio Fontana, Yves Klein, and the Postwar European Avant-Garde
Explores an international network of artists, artist groups, and critics linked by their aesthetic and theoretical responses to science, science fiction, and new media. Focuses on the Italian Spatial Artist Lucio Fontana and French Painter of Space Yves Klein.
A growing frustration with “spin doctors,” doublespeak, and outright lying by public officials has resulted in a deep public cynicism regarding politics today. It has also led many voters to seek out politicians who engage in “straight talk,” out of a hope that sincerity signifies a dedication to the truth. While this is ......
Giorgio Vasari and the Traditions of Humanist Discourse
A study based on the text, the Lives of the Artists, by Giorgio Vasari. Discusses how the visual arts in the Renaisssance were an occasion for delight or pleasure. Argues that such an attention was encouraged by certain social and intellectual practices.
Explores the relationships between science and other societal sectors, notably law, religion, government and public culture, in terms of the concepts of expert and moral authority.
Chroniclers and Historians in Medieval and Renaissance Italy
Literally thousands of annals, chronicles, and histories were produced in Italy during the Middle Ages, ranging from fragments to polished humanist treatises. This book is composed of a set of case studies exploring the kinds of historical writing most characteristic of the period.
We might expect a typical medieval chronicler to ......
Since its release in 1954, scholars have been aware of the Central Intelligence Agency’s involvement in the making of the controversial animated motion picture adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. In Orwell Subverted, Daniel Leab gives an authoritative and well-documented account of the CIA’s powerful ......
The Promotion of Nontraditional Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America
An analysis of recent government efforts to promote nontraditional foreign direct investment (FDI) in Costa Rica; the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; and Chile. For comparative purposes, the book also examines the highly successful cases of Ireland and Singapore.
