In this book, the philosopher, theologian, and poet Jean-Louis Chretien revisits one of his enduring themes: how human life is shaped by the experience of call and response. Using art as a context, Chretien argues that imaginative works are acts of response to what the creator sees or hears, and to the ways in which viewers, readers, and other participants themselves respond to the experience of art: by voice, sight, hearing, touch, silence. Ranging broadly across philosophy, literature, and theology, from the Platonic idea of beauty to a phenomenology of touch and sense, Chretien identifies and explores the spiritual and philosophical dimensions of the aesthetic experience, rooting it in the irreducibly human attempt to make sense of ourselves and all the others in our world.

Whether sung around a campfire, in a classroom, or on a family road trip, call and response songs, in which a leader sings a phrase and a group sings back a reply, are a wonderful interactive experience for kids! Because they are easy to learn and fun to sing, call and response songs are a wonderful way to engage children, while at the same time plant the seeds of musical sensitivity and imagination. This special book, for the first time, collects the most cherished of these songs (some in danger of being lost or forgotten), enabling your family to carry on the tradition of laughter and learning that call and response songs have inspired for generations!

During 2020, widespread protests rooted in the call-and-response tradition of the Black community gained worldwide attention in the wake of high-profile wrongful deaths of Black people. From the founders to watershed moments, follow the activists and organizers on their journeys and discover the ways that protest has been fundamental to American democracy, eventually making meaningful change.

This comprehensive, chronological anthology of African and African American literature asserts that there is a distinctly black literary and cultural aesthetic, one that originated in the oral traditions of Africa and was kept alive during the American slavery experience. This text represents the centuries-long emergence of this aesthetic in poetry, fiction, drama, essays, speeches, sermons, criticism, journals, and the full range of song lyrics from the spiritual to rap. Produced in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution, the audio CD is a one-of-a-kind collection of many of the poems, chants, and songs included in the book.

Writer Susan Tweit and her economist-turned-sculptor husband Richard Cabe had just settled into their version of a “good life” when Richard saw thousands of birds one day—harbingers of the brain cancer that would kill him two years later. This compelling and intimate memoir chronicles their journey into the end of his life, framed by their final trip together, a 4,000-mile-long delayed honeymoon road trip. As Susan and Richard navigate the unfamiliar territory of brain cancer treatment and learn a whole new vocabulary—craniotomies, adjuvant chemotherapy, and brain geography—they also develop new routines for a mindful existence, relying on each other and their connection to nature, including the real birds Richard enjoys watching. Their determination to walk hand in hand, with open hearts, results in profound and difficult adjustments in their roles. Bless the Birds is not a sad story. It is both prayer and love song, a guide to how to thrive in a world where all we hold dear seems to be eroding, whether simple civility and respect, our health and safety, or the Earth itself. It’s an exploration of living with love in a time of dying—whether personal or global—with humor, unflinching courage, and grace. And it is an invitation to choose to live in light of what we love, rather than what we fear.

"Forrest Hamer's poems rise out of the places where religion and dancing-- spirit and body-- join, and in reading Call and Response 'We are journeying to the source of all wonder, / We journey by dance. Amen.' Amen! We call in celebration. Amen!" --Andrew Hudgins

Author Jan Cohen-Cruz draws on a career of groundbreaking research and work within the fields of political, applied, and community theatre to explore the impact of how differing genres of theatre respond to social "Calls." --