Works Recommended by Faculty

Einat Natalie Palkovich, Lecturer at NYU Shanghai’s Language Center recommends Why We Read Fiction: Theory of Mind and the Novel by Lisa Zunshine.

“Lisa Zunshine’s book came out just as I was settling in to begin writing my PhD. I had done an enormous amount of research for my thesis , but had not come across anyone doing Cognitive Poetic criticism who was applying it in ways that I had hoped to be doing. Thus, to be honest, when I first encountered Zunshine's book it threw me for a loop. I felt like I had to revise my entire thesis because all I had wanted to say had been ‘said before’ and then I gradually realized the ways in which my theory could be improved and all that I could yet learn. Thus, a book that at first felt like the end of the world, became the front door to the rest of my life.”

Assistant Arts Professor Antonius Wiriadjaja recommends Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakchyan:

“This is one of the first books on crafting interactive fashion ever published, and it helped nurture a community of makers interested in the field of soft circuits and wearable technology. Although the glossy and colorful cover stands out from more conventional electronics textbooks, this book covers well the basics of electronics such as how to use a multimeter, how components like resistors and LEDs work and where to get certain tools and materials. Whenever I am struggling with an idea for a wearable, I always page through this book for information and inspiration.”

Associate Professor of Computer Science Paul Melliès recommends French filmmaker Georges Méliès’ “A Trip to the Moon.”

“Did you know that the first people who ever walked on the Moon were French? The space rocket was launched from Montreuil, a small city adjacent to Paris, more than one hundred years ago. This was an impressive technological achievement. Transistors were not yet invented, and there was no embedded computer to guide the rocket. Believe it or not, the ballistics were done with so much precision that the rocket ended up right in the Moon’s eye!

Half-magician, half-engineer, Georges Méliès designed the mission as well as the special effects which made it possible. He was a true visionary and a precursor of his time. If you are an adventurous mind, you are welcome to experience the original "Trip to the Moon," directed in 1902, which you will find in its hand-coloured version, here.  

The film is only 15 minutes, so please, do not miss the psychedelic sequence with the giant mushroom!”

For some of the best translations of Rabindranath Tagore's poetry, NYU Shanghai Professor of History Tansen Sen recommends Gitanjali. This translation, by one of the leading scholars and translators of Tagore’s works, William Radice, renders with beauty and precision the poetic rhythm and intensity of the original Bengali text. These revelations of ‘true self’ are a collection of poems and songs that explore love, faith, nature, and tender evocations of childhood. "The translation and rendition of Tagore’s work has quite a history in China, and this history is not without its controversies,” writes Sen in a blog for The Times of India, about novelist Feng Tang’s translation of the Nobel Laureate’s Stray Birds (Feiniao ji, lit. “Flying Birds Collection”).

“Written in beautiful prose, this important book is about Wu Zetian (625-705 CE), the only woman to rule as emperor of China. It brings readers to the historical context of seventh century China and the revolution in printing that occurred during Wu's rule. It compellingly describes the many reasons behind Wu's deliberate and sophisticated use of Buddhist materials before and after declaring herself ruler of the Zhou dynasty in 690 and argues that her vision was key to developing a technology that allowed the mechanical reproduction of texts on a massive scale. Because she was a woman, those in authority ignored the technology for a full two centuries after her death. The author of The Woman who Discovered Printing is T. H. Barrett, a wonderfully erudite leading scholar of medieval China. He asks a set of important questions -- "Why is early Chinese printing so little acknowledged, despite anticipating Gutenberg by centuries? Why are the religious elements of all early printing overlooked? And why did printing in China not have the immediate obvious impact it did in Europe?”

"Being inside the Rain Room was an amazing sensory experience and absolutely visually beautiful. It is a successful blending of art and technology."

The “Rain Room”, by the artist collective Random International, is currently on view at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai. It is a large-scale environment, a black room with one light, where it is raining everywhere except where you are walking. It was shown at MoMA in NYC in 2013 where the waiting lines were 8 to 10 hours long. Reservations are advised, and there is an entrance charge.

Photo by Jian-Jun Zhang

During my high school years, I became a devotee of the mathematically inspired artist M.C. Escher, most famous for his never-ending staircase, Klimmen en dalen. In my junior year, my mother happened upon the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Gödel, Escher, Bach, and remembering my admiration for Escher, she purchased it for me. The book is Douglas Hofstadter’s paean to self-referencing systems like Escher’s never-ending staircase, and Bach’s ever-rising fugues. The book deeply explores recursion in logic, as in the classic liar's paradox: “This statement is false”.  GEB (as it is affectionately known) served as my introduction to fundamental concepts in logic, mathematics, computer science and cognitive science, and is probably a central reason I became a computational neuroscientist. It is a challenging, fun, and intensely thought-provoking read, even 35 years later. 

Pamuk is one of my all-time favourite authors. His Nobel Prize-winning My Name is Red, my all-time favourite book, helped propel me into historical fiction in general and the Eastern mediaeval world in particular. But why do I think it'd be of interest to Shanghai-based globalists? Because, "his new novel describes the dizzying period when Istanbul’s population increased from three to 13 million. Weaving his way through this mutating landscape, where old meets new and east meets west, is Mevlut Karata, who, aged 12, migrates with his father from rural Anatolia." Knowing Shanghai, is it possible to read this book without experiencing double-exposure? I'm sure that a reader who has experienced Shanghai cannot read this book in the same way as a reader who has not experienced Shanghai. Is the double exposure necessarily a bad thing, an interference with what Pamuk intended? I don't think so. I would guess that A Strangeness in my Mind is about being a consciously urban person. Of course I would say that — I teach Cities and Urban Consciousness.

In recommending Deborah Fallows' book, Prof. Keith Ross, Dean of Engineering and Computer Science, says it is, "Fascinating, poetic and so funny. a must read for everyone at NYU Shanghai!"