FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Julia and the Dream Maker, a novel dealing with technology, social issues and the future of human evolution, has been selected as required reading for a graduate course at Chestnut Hill College here.

Professor Ralph E. Swan, Coordinator, Instructional Technology, at Chestnut Hill’s School of Graduate Studies, will require P. J. Fischer’s novel for his course, Leadership: Theory into Practice, in spring 2007.

Julia and the Dream Maker follows three graduate students in the near future as they experiment at the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence, running afoul of society’s laws against certain types of science in the process. Their research takes an unexpected turn and ends up changing the pattern of human evolution.

This is P. J. Fischer’s first novel. A sequel, Green Eyes in the Amazon, is due out in the near future. Fischer has a degree in chemical engineering and lives in New York City.

Dr. Swan’s graduate course deals with the impact of technology on society and the development of responsible leadership in technical fields. It includes creating a multimedia project with possible scenarios for the future of technology in society.

“I felt Julia and the Dream Maker raised important issues about the roles of both science and society as new technologies emerge,” said Dr. Swan, “and a work of fiction adds a lighter touch to the course reading list.”

Chestnut Hill’s program in Instructional Technology provides a strong technical and theoretical foundation for teachers, consultants, instructional designers, and e-learning professionals. Four specializations share a common philosophy grounded in literature and research on learning, technology, and culture. The program places value on the reflective nature of learning, the need for each learner to construct unique meaning and the process of building learning communities. Instructional Technology courses are blended, a combination of online participation and on site class meetings that provide students the advantages of distance education without sacrificing the richness of face-to-face learning experiences.

Julia and the Dream Maker is published by Minted Prose LLC, New York, and is available at bookstores and online retailers.

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