“Family and Childrearing: Russia and the USA, A Cross-cultural Analysis,” a collection of essays by faculty from Coastal Carolina University and Russia State Social University, has been published in both English and Russian.

The book includes 21 chapters—11 by Russian authors and 11 by CCU professors—that examine the institution of the family in American and Russian society from multiple perspectives. The contributors are from a variety of disciplines including education, psychology, history, anthropology and political science. The presidents of the two universities each wrote a preface.

“This collection of articles is uniquely valuable,” said Dennis Wiseman, a former dean of CCU’s Spadoni College of Education and co-editor of the book. “Not only does it present an interdisciplinary inquiry into the changing American family that is remarkable on its own, but by interlinking complementary research by practicing Russian scholars on family and childrearing in a different culture, the book offers a penetrating, cross-cultural investigation into an extremely important topic.”

Articles by the Russian scholars focus largely on social values in a changing socio-cultural environment, such as “Family in the Context of Russian Social Policy,” “Family Values and Russian Reproductive Attitudes” and “Russian Society and the Elderly.” Coastal Carolina University professors contributed such articles as “Justice in the Family,” “What is Family: Defining the Terms of the U.S. Welfare State” and “Grandparenting Roles in the Evolving American Family.”

CCU faculty members who contributed to the book are Maria Bachman, Patricia Hardee, William Hills, Julinna Oxley, Nancy Ratcliff, Nils Rauhut, Holley Tankersley and Dennis Wiseman. Former faculty members Monair Hamilton, Michael Root and Stephanie Wright are also represented.

Coastal Carolina University and the Russian State Social University formed a collaborative exchange partnership in 2003. The Russian State Social University, established in 1991, is the largest institution of higher education in Russia, with an enrollment of more than 100,000 students and branch campuses throughout the country. RSSU specializes in the social sciences, offering undergraduate and graduate programs in such areas as social work, social pedagogy and psychology.