Centenary Celebrates Newest Authors

SHREVEPORT, La.—The accomplishments of five authors were celebrated at Centenary College at a reception in their honor at the Magale Library April 30.The newest authors to be published include Dr. Ken Aizawa, Dr. David Bedard, Dr. Susan Brayford, Dr. Peter Huff and Dr. Ed Leuck II.

The Bounds of Cognition is the second book authored by Dr. Aizawa. The book has been called a timely and relevant study that exposes the need to develop a more sophisticated theory of cognition, while pointing a bold new direction in exploring the nature of cognition. It challenges the current popularity of extended cognition theory through critical analysis and by pointing out fallacies and shortcomings in literature. Dr. Aizawa is the Charles T. Beaird Professor of Philosophy and Chair of Philosophy Department at the College.

I Remember Quan Loi was written by David Bedard, Ed. D., a Professor Emeritus of Health and Exercise Science at Centenary College of Louisiana. After a thirty-three year teaching career, and four years as an Athletic Director, he began a career in writing. The book is the story of his experiences in Vietnam as a young soldier. After graduating from college, Dr. Bedard enlisted in the U.S. Army and arrived in Quan Loi, Vietnam five months later in February 1969. His book chronicles the way of life and living conditions of American soldiers in Vietnam, of the French and Vietnamese who lived in the vicinity of Quan Loi, the horrors of war, and of his return home to Texas where he struggled with the realization that he would never be the same person he was before going to Vietnam.

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Seven years is how long it took Dr. Susan Brayford to translate and write the commentary for Septuagint Commentary Series entitled Genesis. The associate professor of Religious Studies and associate Dean of the College, began the quest in 1998, her first semester at Centenary College when she received a letter from a publisher soliciting her contributions for their new commentary series on the Septuagint, the oldest Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. This is the first English language commentary on the Greek Genesis. This translation from the Torah allowed Greek-speaking Jews in the last centuries Before the Common Era to read their stories in the new language. A Commentary includes an English translation of the text of Codex Alexandrinus and provides insight into the theological, philological, and sociological issues that abound in the book of Genesis.

What Are They Saying About Fundamentalisms is Dr. Peter Huff's latest book, a brief, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to major trends in the academic study of fundamentalism, aimed at both college and seminary students as well as the general reader. This book offers a critical and empathetic survey of the world's major fundamentalist movements and the innovative scholars who study them. Dr. Huff, an advocate for interfaith dialogue with fundamentalists, covers the full range of the cross-cultural fundamentalist phenomenon. Dr. Huff is the T.L. James Eminent Scholars Chair of Religion and Chair of Religious Studies Department at Centenary College.

Plants of Beaver Island was co-authored by Dr. Ed Leuck II, Warters Chair of Biology and Chair of the Biology Department at Centenary College. In two parts, it covers bogs and ferns, then Lake Michigan beaches and sand dunes. Dr. Leuck spent many summers providing on-site photographs and evaluations to the Beaver Island Recreation Resource Project. His special interests are native plants and their use and incorporation into cityscapes. On Beaver Island, he works to keep out invasive species and aggressively promotes leaving the natural vegetation.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and is regularly rated as one of the top colleges in the South. In 2008 Centenary College celebrates 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.