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March 17th, 2022
We talked to Scott Berg, the author of Finding Order in Diversity: Religious Toleration in the Habsburg Empire, 1792–1848, about the aspects of the Habsburg Empire studied for the first time in this book and their possible relevance to readers today.
Finding Order in Diversity: Religious Toleration in the Habsburg Empire, 1792–1848 covers the tumultuous period in the Habsburg Empire from Joseph II’s failed reforms through the Revolutions of 1848, documenting the ongoing struggle between religious activism and civil peace. Though civil peace and religious toleration eventually became the norm, this book documents the decades of heavy-handed state efforts to get there.
Q: Could you give a brief description of your book?
My book looks at policies of religious toleration in what has typically been seen as a pretty conservative period in Habsburg history: the French Revolution to the aftermath of the1848 Revolutions. The Habsburg Empire developed a well-deserved reputation for toleration and multiculturalism at the end of the nineteenth century, which I argue originated in these policies of religious toleration that developed in this conservative era. Implementing toleration also involved restraining some activities of the Catholic Church, which the Habsburgs kept, politically, at arm’s length for the only time in its history.
I also wanted to stress the imprint of the Enlightenment on Habsburg institutions, even conservative ones. The Habsburg Empire offers a good case study for this project because of the presence of significant numbers of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Eastern Christians, and Orthodox Christians across present-day Austria, Hungary, northern Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, southern Poland, western Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and northern Italy.
Q: What is the goal of your book? What motivated you to write it?
The goal of the book is to illustrate how the state navigated the rocky waters of religious tensions in a period in which the majority of people still fiercely adhered to the tenets of their particular confession. Basically, how did the state make sure people, with ancient feuds, get along? In addition, this book offers a nuanced analysis of the Habsburg state’s relation to the Catholic Church, which was quite distant, especially compared to other European governments and their relationship with the institution of the majority confession in these states.
I did not have an “aha” moment when coming across this topic. I have always liked religious history and grew up in a period when historians were moving away from national frameworks, which drew me to this topic. In addition, as a student, I found Joseph’s reforms in the 1780s fascinating and was never satisfied with the simple answer that they just disappeared when he died and rigid conservatives took over. I originally wanted to look at religious policy, in general, in this time period but found that topic way too broad and found myself looking, increasingly, at toleration and attempts to regulate peaceful co-existence, which was a nagging question for me. Finally, the increasing acknowledgment diversity in our own society pushed me to this topic of how diverse societies manage to get along.
Q: What are a few things that are being studied for the first time in this book?
As I stated above, I was never satisfied with the answer that Joseph’s reforms sort of just ended when he died. Now, when you dig into the literature, particularly the literature in German, works do acknowledge the continuing influence of Joseph’s reforms, particularly in the bureaucracy. However, while that theme does recur in this book, it really is not the point of it. This book looks at Habsburg toleration from an objective point of view and analyzes how Habsburg institutions approached conversions, mixed marriages, and religious polemics, which were explosive issues at the time. The few that have looked at these issues in any detail have done so through a nationalist or ideological lens, often without the benefit of archival documents.
Q: Is there anything about this book you think readers would find particularly relevant to their own experiences in today’s world?
Many people today interact with various forms of media designed to keep them perpetually enraged, often using misinformation, and which politicize even the most mundane events, which few people argue is good for institutions. The Habsburgs sort of foresaw this problem of controversial topics being available for open discussion because it would lead to mobs and instability. They also addressed the problem of how to depoliticize difference, not exploit it, and did so through the police. When censorship collapsed in 1848 and, later, in the second half of the nineteenth century, differences, including mundane everyday ones, became politicized as irreconcilable ethnic or religious ones, which ultimately weakened faith in institutions. One could argue a vaguely similar trend, with many important differences of course, is happening today.
We also see the legacy of Habsburg toleration and promotion of the Enlightenment on the successor states of this empire. One could point, for example, to one of the most dangerous hotspots in the world since 2014: the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian nationalism, as with other nationalisms, came about in the nineteenth century and emerged in the Habsburg Empire, in part to combat Polish domination of Galicia, which is in present-day southern Poland and western Ukraine.
However, these origins are contested, often in religious terms, most notably by Vladimir Putin, and while this book does not provide a detailed analysis of the origins of Ukrainian nationalism, it does describe how the Habsburgs protected the largely Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and promoted Ukrainian language (called Ruthenian) and education for the priesthood, in contrast to Russification polices in Tsarist Russia. As a result, it helped create a Ukrainian identity and helps explain the pro-western stance of the country, particularly in western Ukraine.
Q: Your book makes the observation that the famed Habsburg toleration took root through deeply conservative policies. Can you tell us about that dichotomy?
It is sort of counterintuitive to associate efforts to promote toleration and co-existence with conservativism, but in the period after the French Revolution, conservatives feared popular politics, and even Liberals only wanted to expand political representation to elites without an aristocratic background. However, that didn’t stop rulers in other countries from appealing to the majority religion in the states they ruled in order to garner popular support for their regime. The Habsburg regime, however, feared popular support, even if in their favor, because of the unpredictability of it. In addition, appealing to the majority religion for public support would imply that political power rested with the people.
However, although the Habsburgs were the face of the post-French Revolutionary conservatism, the Enlightenment had made deep inroads into the ruling class and the bureaucracy, which also explains why the government promoted vague notions of morality rather than confessional dogma. In short, one can point to the desire for order, which would not be well served by stirring up the general population with religious polemics, and to Enlightenment values that the ruling class held, which also militated against promoting political Catholicism.
Q: What are some of the factors that motivated the Habsburgs to institutionalize toleration and reject confessionalism?
Embracing Catholic confessionalism, which would have rallied the 2/3 of the population that was Catholic, would have implied that obtaining popular support mattered. Officials did not, of course, explicitly spell it out in these terms, but you can read between the lines. Few officials had an appetite for a culture war, even when it would benefit Catholicism, and the desire to avoid discussion of controversial topics trumped other concerns. In documents, officials stressed avoiding uproar on controversial topics, such as mixed marriages and conversions, and often preferred not addressing topics for fear that a ruling on a certain matter would spark discussion on it. While one can read these actions as sweeping problems under the rug, one can also appreciate the desire to avoid exploiting divisions among diverse populations, which was done in the 20th century, with tragic consequences.
I have focused on the cynical explanations for the Habsburgs institutionalizing toleration and rejecting confessionalism, but we also cannot ignore how deep the Enlightenment had penetrated Habsburg society and institutions. While present-day expectations for religious freedom were not present in the Habsburg Empire (as they were not in most places around the world at the time), freedom of conscience and the rule of law were considered core rights of living in the Habsburg Empire, and the Counter-Reformation, which had only ended in 1780, was considered a shameful event in Habsburg history.
Q: Can you tell us a little about the interesting tension between the Habsburgs’ political and state policies and their continued familial dedication to Catholicism?
I state at the beginning of the book that Emperor Francis II/I and top officials were good Catholics and that nothing indicates otherwise. However, they had been educated in the Enlightenment, which did not deny the core tenets of their religion but which also stressed toleration and disavowed fanaticism. Instead, officials stressed the vague concept of morality and good behavior, which aligned with the Enlightenment and middle-class values of the nineteenth century. Francis Joseph adhered to more traditional forms of Catholicism, thanks to the influence of his mother, but he was not willing to break with the precedent of toleration that had been set in the pre-1848 period.
Q: Is there anything that shocked or surprised you while working on this project?
I was surprised at the popularity of religion, which has been studied in German literature, in the nineteenth century. Issues, such as mixed marriages between Catholics and Protestants, really did arouse popular outrage. Even Liberals, who are typically associated with anticlericalism, actually sympathized with the Church, which it viewed as oppressed under the heavy hand of the state. I was also surprised at the extent Habsburgs officials went to in order to regulate religious practices, particularly of the Catholic Church. For example, obtaining a religious blessing for interconfessional mixed marriages today is arguably harder today than in the Habsburg Empire in this period because of the heavy hand of the state in regulating religious affairs.
You can get 30% off Finding Order in Diversity: Religious Toleration in the Habsburg Empire, 1792–1848 and any other Purdue University Press book by ordering from our website and using the discount code PURDUE30 at checkout.
Filed under: PurduePress
March 1st, 2022
Trees have always been a passion for Carroll D. Ritter. Taking inspiration from reading a variety of historical accounts of Indiana’s great natural heritage, Ritter authored Magnificent Trees of Indiana, published by Purdue University Press. He has written this book as a fresh approach to looking at the State of Indiana through the lens of its great trees – past to present. Their beauty, character, and importance to humankind are worth the highest consideration and admiration from all persons.
Featuring more than two hundred gorgeous color photographs of Indiana’s champion trees and old-growth forest remnants, Magnificent Trees of Indiana is a celebration of the state’s natural beauty. Seventy-four trees are featured as well as twenty old-growth woods. Each has been photographed to illuminate the grandeur of the natural world. Accessible to the outdoor enthusiast, this book details the changes that have occurred over the last two centuries in Indiana’s forests, including the landscape geology and physiography. The forest is celebrated as a living community, with highlights including odd forms, curious trees, and unique occurrences—many of which can still be visited today.
John A Bacone, director emeritus, Indiana Division of Nature Preserves, Indiana Department of Natural Resources said, “Ritter is an exceptional naturalist and an excellent writer. In this wonderful volume, he brings the reader from ancient times to the present, and from landscapes to individual old growth tracts. We learn about Indiana’s biggest trees, the remaining old growth forests, and about odd and curious trees as well.”
Magnificent Trees of Indiana makes a beautiful coffee-table gift book for any Hoosier or nature lover, walking the reader through the geologic past, into early pioneer times, and onward to the present, all while covering the history, value, and economic importance of our hardwood forests.
Magnificent Trees of Indiana
Carroll D. Ritter
Purdue University Press (March 1, 2022)
Hardcover, ISBN 9781612497419, $34.99
9×12 trim size; 280 pages; more than 270 color images
Receive 30% off all print titles by ordering directly from Purdue University Press and entering the discount code PURDUE30 at checkout.
About Purdue University Press
Founded in 1960, Purdue University Press is dedicated to the dissemination of scholarly and professional information. We publish books in several key subject areas including Purdue & Indiana, Aeronautics/Astronautics, the Human-Animal Bond, Central European Studies, Jewish Studies, and other select disciplines. Learn more at www.press.purdue.edu.
February 17th, 2022
Meet Bridget Arnold, the winner of Libraries’ MakeYourStory narrative podcast contest. She’s blazing her own trail at Purdue University, with majors in Anthropology and Organizational Leadership and minors in Spanish and Design & Innovation. The journey to this unique program of study was not without its stumbles, surprises, or sidetracks (into camper living on a Lake Erie island!), but it led Bridget to channel her many passions and regain her sense of purpose after the COVID-19 pandemic upended her first-year college plans. Listen to the story in Bridget’s own words in her award-winning podcast episode, “How Tiny Homes Help Me Explain My Majors.”
Of her podcasting future, Bridget says, “I do hope to make some more podcasts since it encompasses two things that I love and that I am good at: writing and speaking.” Besides exploring her podcaster potential, Bridget plans to live a life full of travel, adventure, and good stories. “I have lived in Central Indiana my entire life,” she says. “I need to branch out and do some traveling and gain some life experience. Hopefully, my work with the National Parks Service will take me to parks out west, or to areas where I can put my Spanish skills to the test.” After listening to her episode, curious listeners will undoubtedly wonder if her future plans include living in a tiny house. “ I would absolutely live in a tiny home again someday,” Bridget says, “but that is contingent on three criteria: not during the winter, not with another person, and not without a full-time job.”
The student podcast contest is part of the MakeYourStory podcast series created by Libraries and the Brian Lamb School of Communication. Following the success of 2020-2021’s Diversity and Making podcast and video series, a collaboration between Libraries and the Asian American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center, the MakeYourStory series aims to introduce Purdue students to the beauty of oral storytelling, the craft of writing a compelling narrative, and the tools needed to effectively deliver that narrative through the popular medium of podcasting. The next episode of MakeYourStory will be released in late February 2022.
Bonus Fact: With eight libraries on Purdue’s campus, we asked Bridget if she has any favorite Libraries spaces. “I’m a third or fourth floor of HSSE kind of gal,” she says. “There’s something particularly comforting about being surrounded by books while I’m trying to work. Sometimes, when I need a break, I go up and check out Archives, too.”
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, servicesFebruary 15th, 2022
Open Access publishing leads to more discovery, more downloads, and more global access to Purdue’s giant leaps in research. Purdue authors may now include an open access option when publishing their research in Wiley hybrid journals without incurring author’s fees or embargoes. This new opportunity resulted from the collective bargaining of the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s consortium of academic research libraries, of which Purdue is an active member.
“This is a great opportunity for Purdue authors to increase discovery and accessibility of their scholarship,” said Dean of Libraries and School of Information Studies and Esther Ellis Norton Professor of Library Science Beth McNeil. “The Wiley partnership contributes to Libraries’ goal of creating more equitable, sustainable publishing options for Purdue authors, which furthers the University’s land-grant mission by fostering more equitable access to Purdue research across Indiana and around the world.”
Purdue authors interested in learning more about specific journals available through this or any of Purdue’s other open access publishing agreements should explore this libguide or contact Nina Collins, scholarly publishing specialist, at nkcollin@purdue.edu for more information.
Information for Authors
Eligible publications have a corresponding author from a participating BTAA institution, are primary research and review articles (which may include original articles, case studies, reviews, and short communications), and are accepted for publication in a Wiley hybrid journal between February 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. If interested, you must accept the offer to make your article OA at the time your article is accepted for publication. Your article is no longer eligible once it is published in Early View or In Issue online. Learn more.
Open Access Publishing at Purdue University
Libraries has long been a champion for open access publishing and Open Science at Purdue. Since 2020, Libraries has negotiated several open access publishing partnerships for Purdue authors with major academic publishers, including Wiley, Cambridge University Press, the Public Library of Science (PLOS), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Libraries’ Open Access Publishing Fund and negotiated publishing discounts provide further assistance and incentive to Purdue authors.
Filed under: faculty_staff, general, Open_Access, scholcommFebruary 15th, 2022
Parrish Library’s Featured Database will give you a very brief introduction to the basic features of one of our specialized subscription databases. This time we’re featuring SAGE Business Cases, brought to you by SAGE.
The SAGE Business Cases database includes over 4,000 cases on entrepreneurship, accounting, healthcare management, leadership, and social enterprise from over 100 countries.
The List of Business Databases is the alphabetical list of the databases specially selected for those in a business program of study. Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue Career Account.
Click Getting Started with SAGE Business Cases to see the basics of using this database.
Some other resources you might want to explore are:
Featured Database comes to you from the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact parrlib@purdue.edu. Also let us know if you know of a colleague who would benefit from this, or future Featured Databases.
Since usage statistics are an important barometer when databases are up for renewal, tell us your favorite database, and we will gladly promote it. Send an email to parrlib@purdue.edu.
Filed under: database, general, MGMTJanuary 27th, 2022
Humanities, Social Science and Education Library’s Featured Database will give you a very brief introduction to the basic features of one of our specialized subscription databases. This time we’re featuring INSPIRE, brought to by the Indiana State Library.
Link: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/db/inspire
Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue login and password.
Focus: Sometimes referred to the Indiana Virtual Library, this resource provides access to a full range of commercial databases free to all Indiana users. You can also access historical information about Indiana, and testing preparation.
Tutorial: Click here see the basics of using INSPIRE.
Why you should know this database: Beyond the access to a wide array of databases, this resource has an extensive collection of historical information about the state, including newspapers, digital collections from libraries across Indiana, and genealogy resources. Also, the testing preparation has a section for graduate exams like the LSTAT, GRE, and GMAT.
Quick tip: On the Purdue Libraries database list, if you see a little IN symbol next the title of a database, it means that this database can be access through the INSPIRE website.
Related Resource:
Another resource you might want to explore is:
Gale Access: https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/db/galeaccess
January 10th, 2022
Libraries is proud to announce that their new fulfillment network, PurdueBorrow with Purdue Northwest and Purdue Fort Wayne, is now live in Library Search. PurdueBorrow allows easier requesting and borrowing of physical materials across all three campuses from their respective online catalogs. If a user performs a search from the main Libraries webpage using the Search All option, PurdueBorrow materials will now be included in the results. Requested materials may be checked out and returned to any library on the three campuses.
To assist new users, Libraries has created a helpful library guide that includes more information about PurdueBorrow. Libraries is extremely excited for this new contribution to world-class education and research for all Purdue students, staff, and faculty.
Note: Libraries plan to assess PurdueBorrow later in the spring semester. If you encounter any issues while placing requests or searching for PurdueBorrow materials, please submit a ticket so that staff can make note and investigate.
Filed under: collections, faculty_staff, general, servicesDecember 22nd, 2021
Judith M. Nixon, Professor Emerita of Library Science, has decided to donate her collection of illustrated versions of Clement C. Moore’s Night Before Christmas to Purdue Libraries Archives and Special Collections, and to provide a generous endowment for the care and development of the collection. Fittingly, the first nine editions of the donation were delivered to the library on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, 2021. There, Nixon personally passed these treasured volumes into the hands of Archivist for University History Adriana Harmeyer for preservation, safekeeping, and the enjoyment of generations of Boilermakers to come.
Nixon, a longtime Libraries faculty member and recent retiree, frequently shared the joy and wonder of this personal collection with the Libraries staff during her tenure at Purdue, often bringing select editions into the library and giving presentations during the holiday season; long considered a highlight for many who work in Libraries. The staff’s enthusiasm for these books was one of the main reasons Nixon decided to donate her collection to the Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections unit.
Nixon and her husband Bob have been collecting both old and new editions of Night Before Christmas since 1977 when they bought Elisa Trimby’s newly published illustrated edition in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for $5.95. Today, the Judith Nixon Night Before Christmas Collection includes illustrated editions by famous artists such as Thomas Nast, W. W. Denslow (the first illustrator of the Oz books), Jessie Wilcox Smith, Arthur Rackham, Grandma Moses, Reginald Birch, Tasha Tudor, Tomie de Paola, and hundreds of others.
About Judith M. Nixon: Nixon received her M.A. in Library Science from the University of Iowa in 1974 and her B.S. degree from Valparaiso University in Education in 1967.
Nixon and her husband Bob served in the U.S. Peace Corps as English language teachers from 1968-69 in the Kingdom of Tonga. After completing her M.A. in Library Science, Nixon worked as a reference librarian and business specialist from 1974-1984 at various institutions: Cedar Rapids Public Library, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and University of Arizona before coming to Purdue in 1984 as the Consumer & Family Sciences Librarian.
At Purdue, Nixon held several positions spanning nearly four decades: Consumer & Family Sciences Librarian, Head of the Management and Economics Library, Head of the HSSE Library, and since 2009 as the Education Librarian. A prolific researcher, she has mentored many scholars in the field of Information Science through her work as co-editor of the Collection Management journal. She retired from Purdue on January 2, 2021, and was subsequently honored by the American Library Association for her lifetime of “achievements to the world of librarianship.”
by Clement C. Moore, bound in purple velvet. Nixon considers this edition one of her favorites from the Judith Nixon Night Before Christmas Collection, now endowed through her generosity in Archives and Special Collections.
Filed under: collections, faculty_staff, general
November 30th, 2021
Purdue University Press is offering a 50% discount on ALL TITLES published in 2021 and our ENTIRE BACKLIST through January 10, 2022. All you need to do is enter code 21GIFT50 when ordering directly from our website.
From gorgeous coffee-table books on Purdue & Indiana to stirring biographies on some of the most important figures in the space race; books for green thumbs and naturalists to stories of survival in times of war, persecution, or health crises; Purdue University Press has plenty of books that would make wonderful gifts for your loved ones or yourself!
Here’s a guide to just a few of our favorite gifts:
Filed under: PurduePress
November 30th, 2021
Parrish Library’s Featured Database will give you a very brief introduction to the basic features of one of our specialized subscription databases. This time we’re featuring MRI Simmons Insights, brought to you by MRI Simmons.
MRI Simmons Insights, formerly known as Mediamark Internet Reporter, provides information on demographics, lifestyles, product and brand usage, and advertising media preferences reported by a sample of over 25,000 United States consumers.
The List of Business Databases is the alphabetical list of the databases specially selected for those in a business program of study. Access the databases off-campus with your Purdue Career Account.
Click Getting Started with MRI Simmons Insights to see the basics of using this database.
Some other resources you might want to explore are:
Featured Database comes to you from the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management & Economics. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact parrlib@purdue.edu. Also let us know if you know of a colleague who would benefit from this, or future Featured Databases.
Since usage statistics are an important barometer when databases are up for renewal, tell us your favorite database, and we will gladly promote it. Send an email to parrlib@purdue.edu.
Filed under: database, general, MGMT