Winter 2019 Issue

Ántonia Takes Him Home

Professor of English Joshua Doležal’s memoir, “Down from the Mountaintop: From Belief to Belonging,” recently was excerpted by the Willa Cather Foundation as part of its centennial celebration of the publication of Cather’s novel “My Ántonia.” In the featured chapter, Doležal reflects on his experience as a college student struggling to choose a major and envision a career and how Cather’s novel—“The first book I’d ever read that spoke directly to my family history”—helped him decide.

“Down From the Mountaintop” was published by the University of Iowa Press in 2014 and shortlisted for the 2015 William Saroyan Prize. Doležal’s creative work has appeared in journals such as Shenandoah, Kenyon Review, Gettysburg Review and Fourth Genre. He also has published essays on the works of Willa Cather in Cather Studies, Literature and Medicine, Teaching Cather, and the Willa Cather Review.

Read the Willa Cather Foundation’s excerpt

A Memoir in Latin Jazz

Associate Professor of Music Gabriel Espinosa released his latest album, “Nostalgias De Mi Vida,” in October.

“At age 66, [the] Mexican-born composer/singer/electric bassist is looking back fondly on his life in jazz, from his first days with his brother’s band, Los Deltons, in Mexico to recording in NYC with world class Latin jazz musicians,” writes Jim Hynes in a review in Making A Scene: The Independent Music Magazine. “As you’d expect, the music has a warm, tropical quality, full of upbeat passages. His joy comes through on every tune.”

“I chose the title ‘Nostalgias De Mi Vida’ in honor of my life in music,” Espinosa says. “I have great affection for this musical journey that I am still exploring with new challenges and sounds.”

Zoho music calls the album “A gorgeous mashup of the music of his homeland and of Brazilian Samba Jazz, in six Espinosa originals and four Mexican Songbook Classics.”

Sample the album

Romancing Science

Professor of Chemistry Catherine Hinga Haustein ’76 just published her third romance novel. “Wolves and Deer: A Tale Based on Fact,” was released last fall by Rogue Phoenix Press. The science in the book, says Haustein, “is 100 percent realistic—based on 1832.”

“A smart, funny book,” writes one reviewer, “unlike anything else I’ve ever read.”

Haustine also has written two other romances, both with science themes. “Natural Attraction” is a comedy about a female naturalist in 1871 who must take the guise of a man. “Mixed In” features a female chemist protagonist in a dystopian setting. In addition to teaching chemistry, Haustein teaches Short Story Writing at Central.

More information at catherinehaustein.com

Publishing on Python

Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Mark Johnson has just completely reorganized and rewritten his textbook “A Concise Introduction to Programming in Python.” The recently released second edition incorporates all that Johnson and his colleagues at Central and elsewhere have learned from teaching from the book since it was published in 2012.

Johnson says he wrote both editions to be read, not just used as a reference, and reviewers of the first edition agree.

“This book was a major part of what transformed me from a lost and confused college student into the programmer I am today,” wrote one.

The book is published by Chapman and Hall and is available online or through any bookstore.

More information