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Mark V. Tushnet is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is the author of fifteen books, most recently Out Of Range: Why the Constitution Can’t End the Battle Over Guns. Out Of Range is an honest guide to both sides of the 2nd amendment debate and an insightful analysis of how our view of the 2nd amendment reflects our sense of ourselves as a people. Part of Oxford’s Inalienable Rights Series, Tushnet’s book challenges our views of one of our most controversial freedoms, the right to bear arms. In the article below Tushnet helps us understand this week’s oral arguments in the District of Columbia v. Heller case.

What should interested observers look for in this week’s oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller? The issue in the case is whether the District’s complete ban on private ownership of handguns – coupled with a requirement that long guns (rifles and shotguns) in private homes have trigger-guards – violates the Second Amendment. The Amendment reads, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

With Oscar season in full swing it seems fitting that this month’s Very Short Introduction column comes from Patricia Aufderheide, author of Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction. Patricia is a professor in the School of Communication at American University, Washington DC, and in the past has served as a Sundance Film Festival juror and as a board member of the Independent Television Service. Regular OUPblog readers will also have read Patricia’s previous posts for OUPblog here, here and here.

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Pat Aufderheide is a professor in the School of Communication at American University and is the author of Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction. In the post below Aufderheide gets excited for the Academy Award nominations by recalling some of her favorite documentaries.

Ready to handicap the documentary short list for the Academy Awards?

I didn’t think so.

In fact, unless you go looking, you might never even find a mention of these films before the Oscars, much less watch them, even with new Academy rules requiring more theatrical showings than before. But before long, they’ll start creeping into circulation, and feeding the growing appetite for documentaries. (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

A very Happy New Year to you all from OUP-UK. My maiden post for 2008 is the latest in the Very Short Introductions column. This month Joseph Dan, author of Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction, has kindly answered some questions for me. Joseph Dan is a renowned expert on Kabbalah, and is the Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His many books include The Heart and the Fountain: Jewish Mystical Experiences, The Early Kabbalah, and The Teachings of Hasidism. He resides in Jerusalem and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is a visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School.

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Award season is upon. The parade of Golden Globes, Oscars etc… will soon begin and the internet will be drowning in commentary. Yet, these awards are all a bit different then they used to be. Documentary film is now in the spotlight and Patricia Aufderheide, author of Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction is here to help us identify which films to watch for, whether you are on your way to Sundance (which begins next week) or lining up your queue at Netflicks.

The word “documentary” used to be a synonym for dreary. It was what happened to you in grade school when they finished the curriculum but not the school year. Public relations people called it the “d-word.” At film festivals, documentarians were the flannel shirts in a sea of Spandex. Film critics were asked, “Did you see the movies, or just the documentaries?” (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

This month’s column comes from Khalid Koser, author of International Migration: A Very Short Introduction. Khalid is an expert on international migration, refugees and internal displacement. A former policy advisor on global migration issues, he is also deputy director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.

OUP: Why has international migration become an issue of such intense public and political scrutiny? (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

Now that we’re in November, it is only 12 months until the next American Presidential Election. With this in mind, I am thrilled to bring you this month’s VSI column on The American Presidency: A Very Short Introduction. Author Charles O. Jones is Hawkins Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a non-resident Senior Fellow in the Governmental Studies Program at The Brookings Institution. He is an expert on the American presidency, and has written or edited some 18 books.

OUP: The US has a President separately elected by the people and who does not necessarily come from the ruling Party. The political leader in the UK, the Prime Minister, is not chosen by the general electorate and does come from the Party in power. How would you compare the two systems? (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

In the latest of my monthly Very Short Introductions columns, I have been speaking to Andrew Clapham, author of Human Rights: A Very Short Introduction. Andrew is Director of the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and Professor of Public International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva. He has also been a Representative of Amnesty International to the UN in New York, and has written several books on human rights for OUP.

OUP: What has caused the recent backlash in Britain against ‘human rights culture’ and the Human Rights Act? (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

It’s time for the second of OUP blog’s new monthly Very Short Introductions columns. This month I spoke to L. Sandy Maisel, author of American Political Parties and Elections: A Very Short Introduction. Professor Maisel teaches at Colby College, Maine, and has written extensively on the American political system.

OUP: The US has a strictly two party system, in contrast to many European countries, which generally have multi-party systems. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this, and could America ever have a multi-party system? (more…)

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By Kirsty OUP-UK

Today sees the start of another exciting new column for the OUP blog, inspired by our acclaimed series of Very Short Introductions. Every month I will be posing questions to a different author from the series about their topic and bringing you suggestions for more books to read on the subject, direct from the authors themselves. This month’s inaugural Q&A is with Julian Baggini, author of Atheism: A Very Short Introduction. He is the editor and co-founder of The Philosophers’ Magazine, as well as the author of a number of books including Making Sense: Philosophy Behind the Headlines (OUP), The Pig that Wants to be Eaten (Granta), and his latest book Welcome to Everytown: A Journey into the English Mind (Granta).

OUP: Is atheism just another religion for people to follow? (more…)

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