BiblioVault - Books about Smith, Matthew

An Alternative History of Hyperactivity

Food Additives and the Feingold Diet

Smith, Matthew

Rutgers University Press, 2011

In 1973, San Francisco allergist Ben Feingold created an uproar by claiming that synthetic food additives triggered hyperactivity, then the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorder in the United States. He contended that the epidemic should not be treated with drugs such as Ritalin but, instead, with a food additive-free diet. Parents and the media considered his treatment, the Feingold diet, a compelling alternative. Physicians, however, were skeptical and designed dozens of trials to challenge the idea. The resulting medical opinion was that the diet did not work and it was rejected.

Matthew Smith asserts that those scientific conclusions were, in fact, flawed. An Alternative History of Hyperactivity explores the origins of the Feingold diet, revealing why it became so popular, and the ways in which physicians, parents, and the public made decisions about whether it was a valid treatment for hyperactivity. Arguing that the fate of Feingold's therapy depended more on cultural, economic, and political factors than on the scientific protocols designed to test it, Smith suggests the lessons learned can help resolve medical controversies more effectively.

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Empowering Men of Color on Campus

Building Student Community in Higher Education

Brooms, Derrick R.

Rutgers University Press, 2018

While recruitment efforts toward men of color have increased at many colleges and universities, their retention and graduation rates still lag behind those of their white peers. Men of color, particularly black and Latino men, face a number of unique challenges in their educational careers that often impact their presence on campus and inhibit their collegiate success. Empowering Men of Color on Campus examines how men of color negotiate college through their engagement in Brothers for United Success (B4US), an institutionally-based male-centered program at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Derrick R. Brooms, Jelisa Clark, and Matthew Smith introduce the concept of educational agency, which is harbored in cultural wealth and demonstrates how ongoing B4US engagement empowers the men’s efforts and abilities to persist in college. They found that the cultural wealth(s) of the community enhanced the students’ educational agency, which bolstered their academic aspirations, academic and social engagement, and personal development. The authors demonstrate how educational agency and cultural wealth can be developed and refined given salient and meaningful immersions, experiences, engagements, and communal connections.

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Hyperactive

The Controversial History of ADHD

Matthew Smith

Reaktion Books, 2012

Each year, doctors diagnose an average of nine percent of children between the ages of five and seventeen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. One of the most common childhood disorders, it is also one of the most controversial—since first identified in the late 1950s, everyone from medical professionals to politicians have debated its causes, its treatment, and its implications for children. Today, physicians believe it is an inherited neurological disorder best treated with stimulants.

Hyperactive provides the first history of ADHD, addressing why children were first diagnosed with the disorder, why biological explanations became predominant, how powerful drugs became the preferred treatment, and why alternative explanations have failed to achieve any legitimacy. Contending that hyperactive children are also a product of their social, cultural, and educational environment, Matthew Smith demonstrates how knowledge about the history of ADHD can lead to better choices about its diagnosis and treatment. A revealing and accessible study of this controversial subject, Hyperactive is an essential book for psychologists, teachers, policymakers, and parents.

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The Spires Still Point to Heaven

Cincinnati's Religious Landscape, 1788–1873

Matthew Smith

Temple University Press, 2023

A case study about the formation of American pluralism and religious liberty, The Spires Still Point to Heaven explores why—and more importantly how—the early growth of Cincinnati influenced the changing face of the United States. Matthew Smith deftly chronicles the urban history of this thriving metropolis in the mid-nineteenth century. As Protestants and Catholics competed, building rival domestic missionary enterprises, increased religious reform and expression shaped the city. In addition, the different ethnic and religious beliefs informed debates on race, slavery, and immigration, as well as disease, temperance reform, and education.

Specifically, Smith explores the Ohio Valley’s religious landscape from 1788 through the nineteenth century, examining its appeal to evangelical preachers, abolitionists, social critics, and rabbis. He traces how Cincinnati became a battleground for newly energized social reforms following a cholera epidemic, and how grassroots political organizing was often tied to religious issues. He also illustrates the anti-immigrant sentiments and anti-Catholic nativism pervasive in this era.

The first monograph on Cincinnati’s religious landscape before the Civil War, The Spires Still Point to Heaven highlights Cincinnati’s unique circumstances and how they are key to understanding the cultural and religious development of the nation.

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