English Department

University of Alabama, B.A. (1983);
M.A. (1985) Southern Baptist Theological Seminary,
M.Div. (1989)
Indiana University, Ph.D. (1997)


afdtk@uaa.alaska.edu






 

Medieval Literature for Children

Scholars once believed that childhood was alien to the Middle Ages. Too many children died. Life was too hard and too short to cherish youth. Only in recent years have historians looked beyond this general assumption to discover the significance children and childhood had for medieval culture. Based on material, cultural, and historical evidence, many now agree that medieval parents valued their children as children, not as “miniature adults.” If so, what were medieval children reading? How does it function as children’s literature? What does it tell us about childhood in the Middle Ages? Medieval Literature for Children is the first critical anthology of texts written for children during the Middle Ages. The volume includes selections from nearly 20 medieval texts, accompanied by incisive critical introductions by an outstanding group of interdisciplinary scholars that illuminate the diversity; sophistication, and complexity of literature for medieval children an(l youth. The selection of original texts includes material written in Middle English, as well as translations from Latin, Old English, and medieval Welsh. The selections span a broad range of genres, from didactic literature to popular romance and drama, and include the “ABC of Aristotle”; Aelfric’s colloquy, The Fables of Avianus, Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe, The Eclogue of Theodulus, Sir Gowther; Occupation and idleness, along with many others.

 

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing seeks to recover the lives and particular experiences of medieval women by concentrating on various kinds of texts: the texts they wrote themselves as well as texts that attempted to shape, limit or expand their lives. Contributors investigate the roles traditionally assigned to medieval women (as virgins, widows and wives). They also consider the lives and writings of remarkable women, including Marie de France, Heloise, Joan of Arc, and Julian of Norwich among others.

SQL in a Nutshell

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standardized query language for maintaining and querying database information. Historically, SQL has been the choice for database management systems _ running on minicomputers and mainframes. Increasingly, however, SQL is being adapted to PC systems that support distributed databases and  allow users on a local-area network to access the same data simultaneously. Although there are different dialects of SQL, it is the closest thing to a standard query language that currently exists. SQL in a Nutshell is a practical and useful command reference to the latest release of the Structured Query Language standard (SQL99), which assists readers in learning how their favorite database product supports any standard SQL command. This hook presents each of the SQL commands and describes its use in both commercial(Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Oracle 81) and open source (MySQL, PostgreSQL 7.0) implementations. Each command reference includes the command syntax (by vendor, if the syntax differs across implementations), a description, and informative examples that illustrate important concepts and uses. SQL in a Nutshell is more than a convenient reference guide for experienced SQL programmers, analysts, and database administrators. It’s also a great learning resource for novice and auxiliary SQL users, such as system administrators, users of packaged client/server products, and consultants who need to he familiar with the various SQL dialects across many platforms.