Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The International Eliade, edited by ¾¨Ó㴫ý's Vira I. Heinz professor of religion Dr. Bryan Rennie, earned a Choice award from the American Library Association (ALA) as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2008.
Rennie, who chairs ¾¨Ó㴫ý's Department of Religion, History, Philosophy and Classics, said, "I was surprised by the award and genuinely honored to be included in so impressive a list of publications in the company of authors such as Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University; Charles Taylor, the renowned philosopher; and Theodore Ziolkowski, the Princeton professor emeritus."Ìý
Rennie, who has been with ¾¨Ó㴫ý since 1992, earned an undergraduate degree, master's and Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has authored four books and numerous articles on Eliade.
Every year the subject editors of Choice magazine, a publication of the ALA, single out for recognition the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in the magazine during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in the January issue, the list reflects the best in scholarly titles and attracts particular attention from the academic library community.
Among the criteria used are overall excellence in presentation and scholarship; importance relative to other literature in the field; originality and uniqueness of treatment; value to undergraduate students; and importance in building undergraduate library collections.
The 2008 list includes 679 titles, or approximately ten percent of the titles reviewed, in 54 disciplines and subsections. Rennie's book is one of 25 works on religion.
The review of The International Eliade appeared in the January 2008 issue and referred to "Rennie's scintillating and remarkable collection of articles on Eliade" as a "very well-written and well-edited volume" and "a most welcome set of scholarly responses to the life and work of this great phenomenologist of religion." It was highly recommended for general readers and for undergraduates and above.
Contact Rennie at (724) 946-7151 or e-mail brennie@westminster.edu for more information.
