Faculty and administration gathered Thursday afternoon for the annual book party hosted by the Deans of the School of Arts and Sciences.
The event, which took place in the Coolidge Room of Ballou Hall, featured all the books published by Tufts faculty and researchers within the past year. Approximately 30 faculty and administrators circulated the room, leafing through the 57 books on display and discussing them among colleagues.
Kevin Dunn, dean of Academic Affairs in the School of Arts and Sciences, said the book party was a great opportunity to witness the range of talent across departments, among faculty members.
"It's a great way to celebrate people in disciplines like the humanities and the arts - traditionally the 'book disciplines,' - but when you walk around, you can see that there are books from nearly every discipline," Dunn said. "It really demonstrates the vibrancy of intellectual culture across the departments."
Susan Ernst, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, echoed Dunn's optimism regarding the gamut of subject material covered by the many books represented at the book party.
"We're delighted to see the real breadth of scholarship in the University, and books are a great way to recognize it. The subjects of the books here are all so different - math, children, literature, novels, astronomy, Japanese ... I could go on and on," Ernst said. "There's just something about books when you hold them in your hands."
The book party is a tradition that began 10 years ago by then-Deans Elizabeth Ammons and Marilyn Glater. In past years, books authored by graduate students have been featured at the book party. This year, however, most of the 57 books represented at the book party were written by faculty members - none of the books were authored by graduate students.
According to Dunn, the longevity of the book party has helped him chart his colleagues' progressions in their many studies.
"It's a great opportunity each year to come together and see what your colleagues have been doing," said Dunn. "Books are a concrete manifestation of that."
For many professors, this year's book party provided them with the opportunity to showcase their very first publications. Of the 57 books displayed in total at the book party, four were the authors' firsts.
One of these authors was Deborah Schildkraut, alumna and recently hired Professor of Political Science, whose book "Press 'One' for English: Language Policy, Public Opinion, and the American Identity," is slated to be released on April 1 of this year by Princeton University Press.
Neva Goodwin and Julie Nelson, researchers at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University (GDAE), also had two books displayed at the event. Nelson, who, with Goodwin, wrote "Microeconomics in Context," said she saw the book party as being "a good way to celebrate everyone's accomplishments," not simply her own.
English Professor Ronna Johnson, author of "Breaking the Rule of Cool: Interviewing and Reading Women Beat Writers," said she didn't even realize how busy her colleagues have been until she attended the book party.
"I didn't even know my colleague had been working on a book until I saw it here. It's definitely a great way to publicize and a major way that people find out what's going on in other departments here," Johnson said.
-Mark Pesavento contributed to this article
