Book Review: <i>Political Trust in China</i> by Lianjiang Li LiLianjiang, Political Trust in China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2025; xii + 159 pp. with figures, tables, notes, references, and index: 9780472057528, US$19.95 (pbk)

Hart, Timothy C. 2024. &lt;em&gt;Beyond the River, Under the Eye of Rome&lt;/em&gt;. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; 978-0-472-13353-6 hardback $80 ebook Open Access.

Kuin, Inger N.I. (2023). Lucian’s Laughing Gods. Religion, Philosophy, and Popular Culture in the Roman East. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press

In recent decades, along with the emerging inquiry into the social and political dimensions of language education (e.g., Crookes, 2022), advocacy in English language teaching (ELT) – efforts on behalf of English language learners to promote social justice language education (Linville &amp; Whiting, 2019) – has received growing attention. While there is growing global interest in ELT advocacy, the majority of published studies are situated within the Global North (e.g., United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia); advocacy research in postcolonial and/or underrepresented regions remains limited (Guerrero Nieto, 2020). Decentering advocacy in English language teaching: Global perspectives and local practices contributes to this body of work through the narratives of advocacy efforts within 11 diverse geopolitical and educational contexts in Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon), Central America (Belize, El Salvador), Asia (Vietnam, Laos), Middle East (Türkiye, Israeli and Palestinian Territories), and South America (Paraguay, Uruguay), each documented and reflected upon by the advocates themselves. It serves as a valuable resource for educational professionals working within the space of ELT advocacy, or students and researchers learning about current ELT advocacy efforts in the global context.

Caplan, N. A., &amp; Johns, A. (2019). Changing Practices for the L2 Writing Classroom: Moving Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay. (Eds.). University of Michigan Press ELT.

Making Sense of the Arab State , edited by Steven Heydemann and Marc Lynch. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2024. 298 pages. $85 cloth, $34.95 paper; open access.

Queer Livability: German Sexual Sciences and Life Writing. <i>By Ina Linge. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023. 268 pages. $70.00 hardcover, $24.95 paperback, open access eBook.</i>

Bodies on the Front Lines: Performance, Gender, and Sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean Edited by Brenda Werth and Katherine Zien. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2024; pp. x + 459, 41 illustrations. $95 cloth; $39.95 paper; $39.95 e-book.

In 1987, LeAnn Fields acquired Lynda Hart‘s Making a Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women’s Theatre. By the time Fields retired in 2024, she had built a list of more than 280 books in the field of theatre and performance studies at the University of Michigan Press. Hart’s Making a Spectacle is a foundational and still radical book of critical essays on gender, the body, and spectatorship, topics that continue to chart and reverberate among the many intellectual commitments of our field. Like nearly all the books that Fields acquired for University of Michigan Press, Making a Spectacle drew from and responded to another interdisciplinary field of study, women’s studies, as it simultaneously broke new ground in theatre and performance studies. In this special section, thirteen authors discuss the ways in which Fields encouraged the development of their work and our field. These author accounts are followed by an interview with Fields by Jill Dolan, in which Fields describes how her work as an acquisitions editor began and how it changed, how she navigated the press boards and changes in technology and staffing, and how, from her perspective, our field fosters a unique sense of community. The author accounts and interview offer an invaluable collection of personal histories that trace the development of our field over the past four decades to our vibrant present.

Black Performance Studies scholar Anita Gonzalez takes us onboard a cruise ship that travels between the US and the Caribbean in this excerpt from Shipping Out: Race, Labor, and Performance at Sea.

The Bastard Instrument: A Cultural History of the Electric Bass. By Brian F. Wright. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 2024. 392 pp. ISBN: 978-0472056811.

A MULTI-FORM TRANSLATION OF NONNUS - (W.) Levitan, (S.) Lombardo (edd.) Tales of Dionysus. The <i>Dionysiaca</i> of Nonnus of Panopolis. Pp. xviii + 798. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2022. Paper, US$39.95 (Cased, US$90). ISBN: 978-0-472-03896-1 (978-0-472-13311-6 hbk).

Writing Pirates: Vernacular Fiction and Oceans in Late Ming China. By Yuanfei Wang. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2021. viii, 218 pp. $75 (cloth), $29.95 (paper), Open Access (e-book)

Book Review: <i>Between HIV Prevention and LGBTI Rights: The Political Economy of Queer Activism in Ghana</i> by Ellie Gore Between HIV Prevention and LGBTI Rights: The Political Economy of Queer Activism in Ghana. By GoreEllie. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2024, 216 pp., $70.00 (cloth); $24.95 (paper).

This review considers Jody Enders's translation and edition Trial by Farce: A Dozen Medieval French Comedies in English for the Modern Stage.

Security. Cooperation. Governance: The Canada-United States Open Border Paradox Christian Leuprecht and Todd Hataley, eds. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023, pp. 232.

This paper explores the integration of gaming software, specifically Unreal Engine into architectural design practice and education. It presents two case studies illustrating how these tools can be utilized to enhance architectural design processes, challenging abstract, static and service-oriented representation techniques. It argues for the importance of simulation and filmic practices as generative tools for architectural design allowing for immersive and interactive stakeholder engagement as well as public broadcasting, expanding modes of future practice. The paper advocates for the inclusion of these tools in design studio pedagogy valuing excellence in education and studio experience, environments and systems that promote future excellence. If ‘Simulation (…) is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal.’ (Baudrillard, 1994) then we can imagine architectural drawings working as models for the construction of this ‘hyperreal’. Drawings are the primary medium through which architects communicate their projects to clients, stakeholders, contractors or the public. Orthographic projections, models and images allow architects to describe and illustrate a design idea. Rendering outputs particularly, have taken over the marketing aspects of architectural practice for their visual immediacy amongst audiences not versed in reading abstract drawings. Images are incredibly powerful in ‘selling’ concepts, but digital rendering tools are expensive, complex and hard to master in an already time-poor practice. In recent years, open-source gaming engine software has emerged as a competitive alternative for architects to not only render still images but also to evaluate real-time design proposals in an immersive and highly accurate virtual environment. The research outlines two case studies illustrating the utilization of Unreal Engine 5 in architectural practice as well as in design studio pedagogy, arguing for the multifaceted ways in which these instruments allow for novel ways to simulate, evaluate and present design ideas to a broader audience. Through the Swan Hill Visitor Centre Project designed by Common, a first case study illustrates how the software allows precise design decisions pertaining to contextual information, materiality, light and spatial user experience. As a real-time design evaluation tool with fast rendering processing and vast amounts of embedded plugins and assets, it provides practitioners with valuable ways to assess design iteration and development in real-time. A second case study describing a Masters Design Studio pedagogy at the Melbourne School of Design in 2024 (Future Matters Studio D) illustrates how the software allows students to speculate on urban future challenges through a design fiction lens. Architectural design has ‘always been capable of con­structing fantasy and science fiction imagery, foreshadowing the future’ (Sambo, 2024) as illustrated in the works of Liam Young, Lebbeus Woods or Ian Cheng. As such, a filmic tool such as this could provide a novel way to engage with future design practice, expanding the scope of design impact. The above was exemplified through a series of images, video and user experience photographs to illustrate the effectiveness of the software, with a final reflection on the advantages and disadvantages of adopting these tools within established design studio models, while meeting intended learning outcomes. The research concludes with a positive appraisal of the incorporation of tools like Unreal Engine 5 as design enablers, rather than design visualizers, highlighting how simulation and immersion technologies can foster new ways of thinking, communicating and designing for practitioners and for students. References Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and Simulation (S. Glaser, Trans.). University of Michigan Press. https://press.umich.edu/Books/S/Simulacra-and-Simulation Candy, S. &amp; Young, L. (2019). I design worlds, Journal of Future Studies’ 23(3), 113-118. https://jfsdigital.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/10-Young-I-Design-Worlds.pdf Cheng, I. (2018). Emissaries Guide to Worlding. Koenig Books. DUNNE, A., &amp; RABY, F. (2013). BEYOND RADICAL DESIGN? In Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming (pp. 1–10). The MIT Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qf7j7.5 Sambo, M. M. (2024). Introduction. AR Magazine: From drawing to the metaverse/ Imagined architecture, scripts, artificial languages, 129/130. https://www.architettiroma.it/armag/ Young, L. (2020). Planet City. Uro Publications.

A review of Philip Ewell, On Music Theory and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone, Music and Social Justice (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023), ISBN 978-0-472-05502-9, 314 pp, $34.95 (paperback).

Seeds of Mobilization: The Authoritarian Roots of South Korea's Democracy by Joan E.Cho, Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan Press, 2024, xxi + 253 pp.

This study examined how creative strategies such as artificial intelligence (AI) tools, collaborative writing, and digital storytelling activities impacted the enhancement of academic writing skills of English learners at the university level. The research sought to understand the writing problems that were most common, evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the measures, and monitor the students' reception to the measures being implemented. A quantitative approach using surveys was used with a sample of 346 students from different fields of study. Structured questionnaires which had been tested in a pilot study (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.792) were used to gather data and were then processed in SPSS (Version 28). Descriptive statistics and cross tabulation were used to analyse the data and find the patterns pertaining to difficulties in writing, use of tools, and outcomes. The most critical findings were the remaining issues: grammar was a problem for 62.5%, coherence for 55.2%, and vocabulary for 49.4% of the students. In spite of this, self-reported use of innovative strategies was still high such as: AI tools usage (69.7%) and peer collaboration (65.4%) as well as engaging interactive methods (82.6%). Additionally, there was strong support for institutional adoption, with 87% of participants in favour; however, there was less support for advanced digital storytelling techniques (39.3% engagement). The ethical considerations such as anonymity and voluntary participation were followed. Testing in the pilot phase reduced bias and no personal information was stored. This study addresses the gap in the integration of technology and collaborative teaching processes in the teaching of academic writing. It provides empirical data on the effectiveness of modern approaches while also revealing gaps in adoption across levels of proficiency and disciplines. 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Ken Hyland's essential bookshelf: Academic writing. Language Teaching, 57(3), 399–407. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444824000109 Hyland, K., &amp; Hyland, F. (2019). Feedback in second language writing: Contexts and issues (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Kang, E. Y., &amp; Han, Z. (2021). Written corrective feedback. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing (pp. [page range]). Routledge. Karim, K., &amp; Nassaji, H. (2020). The effects of written corrective feedback. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 3(1), 28–52. Kessler, G. (2020). Professionalizing your use of technology in English language teaching. In Professionalizing your English language teaching (pp. 163–173). Springer. Kessler, M. (2023). Written corrective feedback in an online community: A typology of English language learners’ requests and interlocutors’ responses. Computers and Composition, 67, 102752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2023.102752 Kim, N. J., &amp; Kim, M. K. 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