A startling and original look at what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world, from bestselling author and art writer Henry Carroll, with images by a diverse and innovative group of contemporary photographers See through the eyes of a new generation of photographers responding to the rapidly unfolding issues shaping our lives. In this series of small, insightful, and beautifully presented books, Henry Carroll, the bestselling photography writer of the last decade, considers the ideas behind images to present personal perspectives on climate change, race, sexuality, gender, faith, inequality, beauty, power, and our contradictory relationship to animals and the natural world. The first book in the series, HUMANS, reveals how contemporary photographers use visual language to pose honest and confronting questions about our bodies, the purpose of faith in a fact-based world, systemic social structures that limit and allow freedom, and the opposing forces of unconditional love and abject cruelty. In this diverse collection of arresting images and insightful text, Carroll regards the photographers as modern-day philosophers, original thinkers who fuse technique, concept, and imagination in order to provoke meaningful visual reflections on what matters most. For both creators and consumers of images, HUMANS is an immersive and supremely relevant book offering a treasure trove of ideas and visual inspiration designed to cultivate a deeper, more personal understanding of who we are, why we are, and what we think.

From a nationally recognized expert, a fresh and original argument for bettering affirmative action Race-based affirmative action had been declining as a factor in university admissions even before the recent spate of related cases arrived at the Supreme Court. Since Ward Connerly kickstarted a state-by-state political mobilization against affirmative action in the mid-1990s, the percentage of four-year public colleges that consider racial or ethnic status in admissions has fallen from 60 percent to 35 percent. Only 45 percent of private colleges still explicitly consider race, with elite schools more likely to do so, although they too have retreated. For law professor and civil rights activist Sheryll Cashin, this isn’t entirely bad news, because as she argues, affirmative action as currently practiced does little to help disadvantaged people. The truly disadvantaged—black and brown children trapped in high-poverty environs—are not getting the quality schooling they need in part because backlash and wedge politics undermine any possibility for common-sense public policies. Using place instead of race in diversity programming, she writes, will better amend the structural disadvantages endured by many children of color, while enhancing the possibility that we might one day move past the racial resentment that affirmative action engenders. In Place, Not Race, Cashin reimagines affirmative action and champions place-based policies, arguing that college applicants who have thrived despite exposure to neighborhood or school poverty are deserving of special consideration. Those blessed to have come of age in poverty-free havens are not. Sixty years since the historic decision, we’re undoubtedly far from meeting the promise of Brown v. Board of Education, but Cashin offers a new framework for true inclusion for the millions of children who live separate and unequal lives. Her proposals include making standardized tests optional, replacing merit-based financial aid with need-based financial aid, and recruiting high-achieving students from overlooked places, among other steps that encourage cross-racial alliances and social mobility. A call for action toward the long overdue promise of equality, Place, Not Race persuasively shows how the social costs of racial preferences actually outweigh any of the marginal benefits when effective race-neutral alternatives are available.

With more than 200 images from all five New York City boroughs by more than 100 artists, reflects a perspective of how artists view this city in the twenty-first century.

'Street Photography Now' celebrates the work of 46 image-makers from across the globe. Included are such luminaries as Magnum grandmasters Gilden, Parr and Webb, as well as an international posse of emerging photographers. Four essays and quotes from interviews with the photographers are included--

“Looks behind the facade to see the hidden engineering marvels . . . will deepen anyone’s appreciation for New York’s most magnificent interior space.” —The New York Times Book Review Winner of the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Award in Architecture from the Association of American Publishers Grand Central Terminal, one of New York City’s preeminent buildings, stands as a magnificent Beaux-Arts monument to America’s Railway Age, and it remains a vital part of city life today. Completed in 1913 after ten years of construction, the terminal became the city’s most important transportation hub, linking long-distance and commuter trains to New York’s network of subways, elevated trains, and streetcars. Its soaring Grand Concourse still offers passengers a majestic gateway to the wonders beyond 42nd Street. In Grand Central Terminal, Kurt C. Schlichting traces the history of this spectacular building, detailing the colorful personalities, bitter conflicts, and Herculean feats of engineering that lie behind its construction. Schlichting begins with Cornelius Vanderbilt—“The Commodore”—whose railroad empire demanded an appropriately palatial passenger terminal in the heart of New York City. Completed in 1871, the first Grand Central was the largest rail facility in the world and yet—cramped and overburdened—soon proved thoroughly inadequate for the needs of this rapidly expanding city. William Wilgus, chief engineer of the New York Central Railroad, conceived of a new Grand Central Terminal, one that would fully meet the needs of the New York Central line. Grand Central became a monument to the creativity and daring of a remarkable age. More than a history of a train station, this book is the story of a city and an age as reflected in a building aptly described as a secular cathedral.