Authors of Union – March ’21

Welcome to Authors of Union, highlighting our many published authors. Each month, we will highlight a selected few of our accomplished community of writers who are transforming lives and communities.

The Glorious American Essay

By alumnus Dr. Philip Lopate (Ph.D. ’79)

Dr. Philip Lopate is an award-winning author, essayist, editor, educator,  and film critic. His latest book is The Glorious American Essay

The New York Times review describes the book as a kind of essay-built history of America, as opposed to a history of American essays — though Lopate points out that those histories are naturally intertwined. And naturally echoing. Many of these essays “speak vividly to our present moment,” he writes, about issues that “keep recurring on the national stage.”

The review goes on to say, “Lopate has cast his net intentionally wide, embracing critical, personal, political, philosophical, humorous, literary, polemical, and autobiographical essays, and making room for sermons, letters, speeches, and columns dealing with a wide variety of subjects. Americans by birth as well as immigrants appear here, famous essayists alongside writers more celebrated for fiction or poetry. The result is an extensive overview of the endless riches of the American essay.”

Dr. Lopate is the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Public Library Center for Scholars and Writers Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and two New York Foundation for the Arts grants. He received a Christopher medal for “Being With Children,” a Texas Institute of Letters award in the best non-fiction book of the year category for Bachelorhood, and was a finalist for the PEN best essay book of the year award for Portrait of My Body. His anthology, Writing New York, received a citation from the New York Society Library and an honorable mention from the Municipal Art Society’s Brendan Gill Award.

Dr. Lopate has taught creative writing and literature at Fordham, Cooper Union, University of Houston, Hofstra University, New York University, and Bennington College. He is a professor at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, where he teaches nonfiction writing. Dr. Lopate earned his Ph.D. from Union in 1979, with concentrations in arts and education.

On Freedom and Revolt: A Comparative Investigation

By alumnus Carl E. Moyler (Ph.D. ’00)

Alumnus Carl E. Moyler presents a comparative analysis of the writings of Nobel Prize winners Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and French philosopher Albert Camus in On Freedom and Revolt: A Comparative Investigation.

Even though they came from vastly different backgrounds, both men stood for justice and freedom. Dr. Moyler explains. “Camus and King were born, reared, and lived as personal witnesses to the political, economic, and social ravages of their time and place. Neither man was willing to stand in the presence of tyranny, oppression, racism, exploitation, murder, and war and do nothing. Therefore their response, based on their calling, was a revolt for freedom. Camus was the moral conscience of thousands of people, young and old, in Europe, the United States, and beyond. He was able to impart to generations past and present a vision of hope and courage that gave optimism to doubt and uncertainty.

Likewise, Dr. King, in his nonviolent American civil rights struggle, has left a message for present and future times – a philosophy of militant nonviolent revolt in the face of overwhelming nullification against himself and his followers that is infused with hope, justice, and love. I hope, that by comparing the writings of these two Nobel Laureates and international hero-scholars, I have made a contribution to the never-ending quest for a more just, humane, and rational world where we coexist in a civilized society in pursuit of being ‘My brother’s keeper’.”

Dr. Moyler was born in Newport News, Virginia, and currently resides in Dayton, Ohio. He was a graduate of West Virginia State University in 1954 with a major in foreign languages and was elected Alumnus of the Year in 2007. He holds a master’s degree in French from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He taught foreign languages at several high schools and served as professor and administrator at Urbana University and Wilberforce University. He is also a small business founder and president/CEO. Dr. Moyler graduated from Union in 2000.

TechStress-How Technology is Hijacking our Lives, Strategies for Coping and Pragmatic Ergonomics

By alumnus Eric Peper’s (Ph.D. ’75)

In alumnus Eric Peper’s new book, TechStress-How Technology is Hijacking our Lives, Strategies for Coping and Pragmatic Ergonomics, co-authored with Richard Harvey and Nancy Faas, he asks you to reenvision your relationship with technology to reclaim health, happiness, and sanity in a plugged-in world.

Dr. Peper argues, “Evolution shapes behavior—and as a species, we’ve evolved to be drawn to the instant gratification, constant connectivity, and the shiny lights, beeps, and chimes of our ever-present devices. In earlier eras, these hardwired evolutionary patterns may have set us up for success, but today they confuse our instincts, leaving us vulnerable and stressed out from fractured attention, missed sleep, skipped meals, aches, pains, and exhaustion.”

So how can we avoid the pitfalls programmed into modern technology use?

Tech Stress offers practical tools to avoid the evolutionary traps that trip us up and helps us address the problems associated with technology overuse. You will find a range of effective strategies and best practices to individualize your workspace (in the office and at home), reduce physical strain, prevent sore muscles, combat brain drain, and correct poor posture. The book also provides fresh insights on reducing stress and enhancing health.

Dr. Peper is a professor at the Institute for Holistic Health Studies, Department of Recreation, Parks, Tourism and Holistic Health at San Francisco State University. He serves as president of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe and is past president of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. An international authority on biofeedback and self-regulation, he was a behavioral scientist for the United States Rhythmic Gymnastics team and received the 2004 California Governor’s Safety Award for his work on Healthy Computing. He is an author of numerous scientific articles and books, including Biofeedback Mastery, Muscle Biofeedback at the Computer, Make Health Happen Training and De Computermens. He is also the co-producer of weekly “Healthy Computing Email Tips.” His research interests focus on the psychophysiology of healing, illness prevention, voluntary self-regulation, holistic health, healthy computing, respiratory psychophysiology, and optimizing health with biofeedback. He graduated from Union in 1975 with a Ph.D. and concentrations in Holistic Health and Biofeedback Training.

Check back next month for more Authors of Union and their publications.

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