Figures of Play

Figures of Play
Author: Gregory W. Dobrov
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2001
Genre: Aesthetics, Ancient
ISBN: 0195116585

"The book should be of particular interest to those working in Greek tragedy and comedy and classical literary theory."--Jacket.

Figures of Possibility

Figures of Possibility
Author: Niklaus Largier
Publisher: Cultural Memory in the Present
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2022
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9781503630437

From medieval contemplation to the early modern cosmopoetic imagination, to the invention of aesthetic experience, to 19th century decadent literature, and to early 20th century essayistic forms of writing and film, Niklaus Largier shows that mystical practices have been reinvented across the centuries, generating a notion of possibility with unexpected critical potential. Arguing for a new understanding of mystical experience, Niklaus Largier foregrounds the ways in which devotion builds on experimental practices of figuration in order to shape perception, emotions, and thoughts anew. Largier illuminates how devotional practices are invested in the creation of possibilities, and this investment has been a key element in a wide range of experimental engagements in literature and art from the 17th to the 20th century, and most recently in forms of 'new materialism.' Read as a history of the senses and emotions, the book argues that mystical and devotional practices have long been invested in the modulating and reconfiguring of sensation, affects, and thoughts. Read as a book about practices of figuration, it questions ordinary protocols of interpretation in the humanities, and the priority given to a hermeneutic understanding of texts and cultural artefacts.

Fun Games and Physical Activities to Help Heal Children Who Hurt

Fun Games and Physical Activities to Help Heal Children Who Hurt
Author: Beth Powell
Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2018-02-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1784506788

Develop children's brains and bonds with this collection of no-tech, physical games, strategies and activities. Ideal for children who have experienced neglect, abuse and trauma, these "real-world" experiences draw on therapeutic, trauma-focused-care play principles and promote positive attachment between child and caregivers. Explanations for how and why specific play themes and caregiver attitudes can help children's brain development enhance the text. The book also shows how children learn to problem-solve real life situations by playing them out, finding workable solutions to their own problems, and increasing their resiliency. Further benefits include better cause-effect thinking, impulse control, and increased cognitive and emotional functioning by practicing physical movements that exercise specific areas of the brain.

The Reason We Play

The Reason We Play
Author: Marc Bona
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2021-10-15
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1538140942

An inspirational look at a diverse group of popular American sports figures and how they found success in sports and life. Young athletes all dream of what they might become. They might see themselves as a soccer player racing through defenses at the World Cup, as a hockey player scoring the winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final, or as a figure skater in the Winter Olympics. But to get there takes hard work, dedication, and passion. In The Reason We Play: American Sports Figures and What Inspires Them, Marc Bona profiles some of the nation’s top athletes and sports personalities from the past several decades to reveal what it takes to make it in the world of professional sports. Along with fascinating accounts of the sports figures’ lives and careers, Bona includes, in their own words, what motivated them, what obstacles they overcame, and even what books they loved to read when they were young. Featuring athletes such as soccer icon Kristine Lilly, basketball star Victor Oladipo, and softball phenom Cat Osterman, The Reason We Play has something for everyone. From football to rodeo, baseball to racing, the front office to coaching, the subjects all share a common trait of excellence on and off the field.

Playful Materialities

Playful Materialities
Author: Benjamin Beil
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2022-08-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3839462002

Game culture and material culture have always been closely linked. Analog forms of rule-based play (ludus) would hardly be conceivable without dice, cards, and game boards. In the act of free play (paidia), children as well as adults transform simple objects into multifaceted toys in an almost magical way. Even digital play is suffused with material culture: Games are not only mediated by technical interfaces, which we access via hardware and tangible peripherals. They are also subject to material hybridization, paratextual framing, and processes of de-, and re-materialization.

Cultural Issues in Play Therapy

Cultural Issues in Play Therapy
Author: Eliana Gil
Publisher: Guilford Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2006-07-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1593853807

Helping therapists hone their skills for working with diverse children and families, this unique volume looks at play therapy through a multicultural lens. Experienced practitioners examine how cultural factors may influence the ways children express themselves through play, the feelings they associate with different activities, and the responses of children and parents to particular interventions. Filled with evocative clinical material, chapters highlight specific issues to consider when working with African American, Latino, Native American, and Asian American children. The book also provides suggestions for setting up a therapeutic playroom that is engaging and welcoming to all.

The Poetics of Golf

The Poetics of Golf
Author: Andy Brumer
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0803213654

Many golfers would agree with Andy Brumer that there is poetry in the game of golf. And Brumer is not the first to insist that there is more to the game than the superstars, swing gurus, and high-tech equipment that dominate talk of the game today. In this series of essays, Brumer, one of the most insightful writers on golf, considers the game from unexpected and often surprising angles. At once contemplative and compelling, The Poetics of Golf explores the links between golf and life by way of art and literature, philosophy and psychology. In portraits of various players?including Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Annika Sorenstam, and Arnold Palmer, among others?Brumer teases out the truths that their games can tell us, not just about golf, but about character and courage. And he also offers an unconventional yet enlightening look at the intricacies of the golf swing, course architecture, and golfing equipment. Finally, his book reveals to us?in its content and also in its wide-ranging, often lyrical style?that golf is by no means only a game.

Fabulous Figures

Fabulous Figures
Author: Jane Davenport
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781942021322

Start with a heart . . . and create beautiful in-proportion people! Aspiring artists who feel intimidated at drawing figures will love Jane Davenport's amazingly easy technique, developed while she worked as a fashion illustrator. It involves using equal-size hearts to build the body's structure, and the results are astounding. Jane lays out the basics and walks you through working with different mediums; drawing the head, face, clothing, hair, and features; and constructing figures inspired by fashion, fantasy, life drawing, and more.

Aristophanes and Women (Routledge Revivals)

Aristophanes and Women (Routledge Revivals)
Author: Lauren Taaffe
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2018-02-06
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1317700155

Aristophanes and Women, first published in 1993, investigates the workings of the great Athenian comedian’s ‘women plays’ in an attempt to discern why they were in fact probably quite funny to their original audiences. It is argued that modern students, scholars, and dramatists need to consider much more closely the conditions of the plays’ ancient productions when evaluating their ostensible themes. Three plays are focused upon: Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, and Ecclesiazusae. All seem to speak quite eloquently to contemporary concerns about women’s rights, the value of women’s work, and the relationships between women and war, literary representation and politics. On the one hand, Professor Taaffe tries to retrieve what an ancient Athenian audience may have l appreciated about these plays and what their central theses may have meant within that culture. On the other hand, Aristophanes is discussed from the perspective of a late twentieth-century, specifically female, reader.