TAMIU Faculty Authors Publish New Books

Newly published books written by four Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences add another set of expert resources and scholarship to the fields of psychology, contemporary literature and public administration.

Dr. Roberto Heredia, TAMIU professor of psychology and Dr. Anna Cieślicka, TAMIU associate professor of psychology, have launched their new book, “Bilingual Figurative Language Processing,” published by Cambridge University Press.

“Bilingual Figurative Language Processing” is the first book of its kind to address how bilinguals acquire, store and process figurative language such as idiomatic expressions, metaphors, and irony, and how these tropes might interact in real time across the bilingual’s two languages.

As cognitive scientist Tej K. Bhatia of Syracuse University notes, “This groundbreaking book dares to venture not just in one, but in two areas that are rarely visited by research in bilingualism and figurative language. Grounded in state-of-the-art theoretical, methodological, analytical and experimental approaches, this volume offers cutting-edge research on acquisition, production, processing, and comprehension of figurative language in the bilingual linguist repertoire.”

Dr. Heredia’s and Dr. Cieślicka’s book also provides readers with the opportunity to acquire hands-on experience in the development of psycholinguistic experiments in bilingual figurative language.

Also recently published by Routledge is “Religion in Cormac McCarthy’s Fiction: Apocryphal Borderlands” by TAMIU Regents Professor and director of English and Spanish Programs, Dr. Manuel Broncano.

A review by Darren J.N. Middleton of Texas Christian University notes that Dr. Broncano’s book provides an erudite and judicious appraisal of how and why Cormac McCarthy inscribes religious sensibilities throughout his fiction, especially his Southwestern cycle of novels. The reviewer states that the book signifies the most important new direction in McCarthy Studies in recent years.

“In the end, McCarthy’s religion-steeped fiction reflects the prayers and tears of an ‘agonizing agnostic,’ Broncano avers, which is why McCarthy remains a relevant writer -- he addresses a world coming to terms with the death of the death of God. “Religion in Cormac McCarthy’s Fiction” is an exciting and exceedingly clever book, one that repays close attention,” Middleton concludes.

A third book, “Public Administration Training in Africa: Competencies in Development Management,” was authored by Dr. Peter Haruna, TAMIU professor of public administration, and published by CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group.

The book, also partly edited by Dr. Haruna, presents research findings related to talent and competency development within the framework of public service institutional capacity building in Africa. It focuses on public administration questions as they relate to training, development and competency building that will strengthen public managers’ capacity to implement governance policies and work towards improving development management.

It uniquely draws on national experiences to provide research and scholarship to advance dialogue on training and development relevant to African culture and history, while contributing to enhance the field of practice.

Heredia holds his Ph.D. from the University of California-Santa Cruz and Cieślicka, originally from Poland, holds her Ph.D. from Adam Mickiewicz University there. Broncano, a native of Spain, earned his doctoral degree from the University of Salamanca. Haruna, from Ghana, earned his Ph.D. from The University of Akron, Ohio.

The four authors ably represent TAMIU’s gifted and global faculty who daily contribute to the University’s mission to pursue a progressive agenda for global study and understanding across all disciplines.

For more information, please contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 326.2180, e-mail prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.

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