Diversity and Inclusion a Focus of 2019 Annual Meeting
At this summer’s Annual Meeting, the Association of University Presses will reflect its members’ continuing commitment to cultivating diversity in all its forms. Drawing inspiration from this year’s host city of Detroit, the program will feature opportunities for mission-driven scholarly publishing professionals to discuss ways of making publishing practices more inclusive.
Community activists Lauren Hood and Desiree Cooper will open the conference. Hood will speak Tuesday evening, June 11, on her work as the founding director of the nonprofit Live6 Alliance, committed to enhancing the quality of life and economic opportunity in northwest Detroit. Cooper, a former attorney, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, and award-winning Wayne State University Press author of Know the Mother, will offer the morning plenary address on Wednesday, June 12. Christopher P. Long, Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University, will close the conference on Thursday, June 13, with an interactive discussion of the values of community, quality, equity, openness, and collegiality that inform intentional publishing practices.
Throughout the conference participants will consider strategies for building a culture of gender equity; making digital content more accessible; fostering inclusivity in language; creating new paths for people of color at mid-career in scholarly communications; and applying anti-racist principles to publishing.
This year’s program committee, chaired by Mary Francis (Editorial Director, University of Michigan Press), has also sought to highlight ways that publishing professionals collaborate to support the dissemination of vetted scholarship and other culturally or regionally important work. Sessions such as “Building Collaborative Partnerships on Campus and in the Community” and “Federating Accessible Resources Among Libraries, Presses, and Repositories” will allow participants to explore best practices and common ground.
A preliminary program is available online and registration is now open.
During the conference, the AUPresses community also celebrates the premiere of this year’s Book, Jacket, and Journal Show. This annual juried competition honors the design and production teams whose work furthers a long tradition of excellence in university press publication design; this year’s competition received more than 600 entries.
Providing professional education opportunities to members is core to the Association’s mission. A free registration for the smallest presses; newcomer, early career, and diversity grants; a cross-pollination waiver grant for librarians (in cooperation with the Library Publishing Coalition); and discounted registration rates for nonprofits and libraries are all offered to support this essential mission at the Detroit meeting. The meeting will also host a vibrant mentorship matching program, organized by the Association’s Professional Development Committee and now in its fifth year. In these ways, the Association works to assist all in taking advantage of the unique professional development and networking opportunity that is the Annual Meeting.
About AUPresses
The Association of University Presses is an organization of nearly 150 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses has advanced the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds integrity, diversity, stewardship, and intellectual freedom as core values. AUPresses members are active across many scholarly disciplines, including the humanities, arts, and sciences, publish significant regional and literary work, and are innovators in the world of digital publishing.
Contact: Annette Windhorn, awindhorn@aupresses.org