Books published by Georgetown University Press

How do people learn nonnative languages? And is there one part or function of our brains solely dedicated to language processing, or do we apply our general information-processing abilities when learning a new language? This book presents an overview of the latter approach to adult second language acquisition.

Is it possible to reconcile two different nationalities, cultures, and psychologies? And what do Americans have a right to expect of immigrants and what do they have a right to expect of Americans? This title offers insight into the political and national ramifications of personal loyalties.

Demonstrating that the family is both distinctive in its own right and deeply interwoven with other institutions, this title examines the roles of education, work, leisure, consumption, legal regulation, public administration, and biology in shaping the ways we court and marry, bear and raise children, and make and break family bonds.

Suitable for students, faculty, and scholars in search of the developments, thinking, and issues in the world of Christian and religious ethics.

Equips those who work, travel, and study in Arab countries with an educated form of spoken Arabic that functions flexibly in the face of various regional colloquial variants in the Arab world.

Although the linking of 'ethics' and 'politics' may seem more like the ingredients for a comedian's monologue, it is a sober issue and one that affects every American. This title offers an exploration with that moment when New York became the first state to enact a general ethics law, setting standards and guidelines for behavior.

Brings together perspectives from cognitive linguistics, language acquisition, discourse analysis, and linguistic anthropology. This book examines language processing and first language learning and illuminates the insights that discourse and usage-based models provide in issues of second language learning.

Taking the theory of pluralistic casuistry with conventional bioethical wisdom, this title challenges the rigid principalism of contemporary bioethics. It argues for the fundamental distinction between active and passive euthanasia, and for a need to reconceptualize approaches to brain death.

Examining the tension between incompetent patients' wishes and their interests as well as other challenges to advance directives, this title offers a comprehensive argument for favoring advance instructions during the dying process. It presents and develops a theory of prospective autonomy that recasts and strengthens patient and family control.

Offers an introduction to Spanish phonetics and phonology that improve both the pronunciation and understanding of spoken Spanish. This title introduces the fundamental concepts of Spanish language, and the teaching and learning of phonetics. It also discusses the relation between both the physical and psychological aspects of pronunciation.

Provides a combination of contemporary policy analysis, an interbranch perspective, and diverse methodological approaches that speak to a gap in the literature dealing with the role of the courts in the American policymaking process. This book unravels the interplay of governmental agencies and provides a look at how the US government functions.

Provides insight into the central role that municipal governments play in the governance of metropolitan areas. This title explores the theory of institutional collective action through empirical studies of land use decisions, economic development, regional partnerships, school choice, morality issues, and boundary change.

Deriving from a Hastings Center research project, this text explores the ethical aspects of decisions made by hospital trustees.

Examines the history, state, and future of "concepts" in medicine. This title shows the evolutionary arc of medical concepts from the Greek physician Galen of Pergamum (ca 150 ce) who proposed that "the best doctor is also a philosopher", to contemporary discussions of the genome and morality.

Explores how brownfields (environmentally contaminated land), trashed lots and abandoned buildings, and greenspaces (parks, community gardens, etcetera) are affected by the decisions of local governments, and shows how vacant land can be a valuable strategic asset for localities.

Has our system of checks and balances between the three branches of our federal government undergone changes for good or ill over the years since the Constitution was set as the cornerstone of our nation? This book examines the theory and practice of American democracy and the dichotomy that currently exists between them.

To dismiss the work of philosophers and theologians of the past because of their limited perceptions of the whole of humankind is tantamount to tossing the tot out with the tub water. Such is the case when feminist scholars of religion and ethics confront Thomas Aquinas, whose views of women can only be described as misogynistic.

This work covers a collection of 10 essays in which various authors explain and explore the relationship between the world's major religions and political power. It covers the complex nature of how each religion shapes political power, and how religion shapes itself in relation to that power.

That there is a 'digital divide' - which falls between those who have and can afford the latest in technological tools and those who have neither in our society - is indisputable. This title redefines the issue as it explores the cascades of that divide, which involve access, skill, political participation, as well as the obvious economics.

Suitable for undergraduate and graduate programs that focus on the acquisition of Spanish as a second language, due to the extraordinary range of the review research on theoretical and methodological issues.

This work provides an interdisciplinary approach to the history and politics of the disability rights movement and assesses the creation and implementation, successes and failures of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by federal, state, and local governments.

Offers a comprehensive analysis and criticism of the development of modern Catholic social teaching from the perspective of theology, ethics, and church history.

Offers an assessment of democracy in America that charts the strengths and weaknesses of the nation's democratic mechanisms and outlines the challenges that lie ahead. This title focuses on the quality of American political life, the representativeness of its governing institutions, and the issues of racial and economic equity.

Exploring the creation and development of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC), this title shows how many of its key leaders were mobilized by their own traumatic experiences with the disease and its treatments.

Suitable for those who consider a career in federal, state, or local government, this book conveys what life is really like in a public service job. It provides advice on the daily challenges that public servants can expect to face: working with politicians, bureaucracy, and the press; dealing with unpleasant and difficult people; and, more.

Focuses on the field of bioethics. Detailing how the legal analysis of an issue in bioethics often differs from the "ethical" analysis, this book covers such topics as abortion, surrogacy, cloning, informed consent, malpractice, refusal of care, and organ transplantation.

As the world's largest polluter and its wealthiest country, the United States has a potentially enormous impact on international efforts to protect the environment. This book examines how US foreign policy affects and is affected by global environmental change.

Argues that since the 1980s a distinctive suburban politics has emerged in the United States. This title also argues that the political differences between urban and suburban voters have found expression in changes in congressional representation and new electoral strategies for the major political parties.

Drawing on literature, philosophy, and medicine, this title offers insight into how to deal with the rewards of modern medicine without upsetting our perception of death. It examines how we view death and the care of the critically ill or dying, and suggests ways of understanding death that can lead to a peaceful acceptance.

From Harry and Louise through the McCaughey septuplets, this book explains stories and issues in health care ethics that have appeared in the news media. It outlines and applies principles of justice from the Catholic tradition to contemporary problems that increasingly affect us.