Christopher R. Matthews

Doing Good Social Science takes readers on a personal and thought-provoking journey and empowers readers to become unshakeable, free-thinking scholars. Drawing from nearly two decades of experience in research and mentorship, this book shares insights gained from creating ‘immersive moments’ to challenge conventional methodology and social theory. In doing so, it integrates ideas from classical and contemporary scholarship across various disciplines, bringing them to life through engaging field notes, interviews, and often humorous examples. The book outlines how to cultivate disciplined and systematic scholarship on complex topics while critiquing the ‘wonky’ practices that often pervade modern academia. Part One advocates for a more scientific approach to social science, offering guiding principles for scholars striving to understand social life. Part Two deepens and complicates these arguments by examining the philosophical foundations of social science, focusing specifically on the ‘in-between’ aspects of the human condition and our social nature. The writing and thinking in the book are distinctive, passionate and brave. This book is a compelling read for advanced students, early career researchers, and any academic seeking to develop a more liberated, inventive approach to methods.

Lessons from Immersion, Understanding Social Life and Exploring the In-between

Doing Good Social Science

Alex Channon

Ursula Edgington

This book uses research and personal stories from university lecturers to explore pedagogical strategies that illuminate how students’ minds can be ‘switched on’ in order to unlock their extraordinary potential. It presents diverse ways to create inspiring learning environments, in chapters written by internationally respected experts in the broad field of the social sciences. Each author illustrates how – through their unique teaching philosophies and practices – they seek to enhance students’ experiences and promote their critical thinking, learning and development. The respective chapters provide conceptual arguments, personal insights and practical examples from a broad range of classrooms, demonstrating various ways in which students’ sociological imagination can be brought to life. As such, the book is both practical and theoretical, and is primarily aimed at educators working in both higher and further education institutions who wish to develop their understanding of classroom pedagogy as well as gain practical ideas for teaching and learning in the social sciences.

Contexts, Pedagogies, Reflections

Teaching with Sociological Imagination in Higher and Further Education

This volume offers a wide-reaching overview of current academic research on women's participation in combat sports within a range of different national and trans-national contexts, detailing many of the struggles and opportunities experienced by women at various levels of engagement within sports such as boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts.

Women Warriors around the World

Global Perspectives on Women in Combat Sports

François Bovon

Ann Graham Brock

"The scope of this collection, as it examines the transformation of the ancient world into Byzantine Christianity, demonstrates that the early Christian apocryphal literature is a vital source for historians of Christianity, for scholars of patristics and of the New Testament, and for those inquiring into such timeless issues as the structure of political authority, the role of women, religious experience, and the organization of social responsibility."--BOOK JACKET.

Harvard Divinity School Studies

The Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles

This fresh approach to the texts that coalesced around the name Philip in the New Testament and other early Christian literature finds the impetus for their formation and preservation in the apostolic identity of this historical/literary figure.

Christopher R. Matthews

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