University Press Week to Be Held November 11-15
The Association of University Presses (AUPresses), a global organization of 161 mission-driven publishers, is proud to announce a collection of 123 books, journals, and projects that embody the #StepUP theme of this year’s University Press Week, happening Nov. 11 to 15. The featured publications, curated by AUPresses members in 14 countries, present thought-provoking concepts, new points of view, and inspiring ideas, many of which advocate for social change.
“Every day, university presses worldwide step up to educate and enlighten, motivate and inspire, support and act,” says AUPresses executive director Peter Berkery. “University Press Week 2024 offers the opportunity to explore the myriad ways that university press publications and projects give context to current issues and events, offer solutions to global challenges, and present diverse voices in a broad range of disciplines.”
The StepUP reading list ranges widely in subject matter, from politics and current events, business, environment, and education, to Black studies, history, gender studies, Indigenous studies, poetry and fiction, and more.
“A majority of university presses have a primary focus in the humanities, the disciplines that drive critical thinking, justice, democracy, and our understanding of what really matters,” says AUPresses president Anthony Cond, director of Liverpool University Press. “So by publishing books that amplify the humanities, university presses not only help scholars but also all general readers who want to learn more about history, culture, and the wider world. And that mission has never felt more important.“
Fittingly, the StepUP reading list includes a number of books about climate change, immigration, democracy, and other issues of contemporary concern. For example some of the titles in this year’s list include:
- Big Box USA: The Environmental Impact of America’s Biggest Retail Stores (University of Wyoming Press)
- Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees (Athabasca University Press)
- The Painful Truth About Hunger in America: Why We Must Unlearn Everything We Think We Know — And Start Again (MIT Press)
- Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran (Leuven University Press)
- Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis (University of Toronto Press)
- To Keep the Republic: Thinking, Talking, and Acting Like a Democratic Citizen (Rutgers University Press)
In addition to trying to make a difference through the works they publish, university presses are also advocating for change by supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), which call on all to do their part to end poverty, protect the planet, and improve the lives of people everywhere.
Several AUPresses members have signed the UNSDG Publishers Compact and are taking steps to support various goals. For example, Liverpool University Press staff is taking stock of how much their office wastes and recycles, as well as working with other university presses in the U.K. and Ireland to share best practices for diversity and inclusion in publishing. Other AUPresses member signatories include Bristol University Press, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Edinburgh University Press, Marine Corps University Press, University of Ottawa Press, Oxford University Press, Qatar University Press, University of Toronto Press, and the University of the West Indies Press.
The Association itself signed the compact in 2021, and since then has begun to document gender pay parity in its compensation survey; to create transparency around scholarly publishing career skills and advancement; and to alternate between in-person and virtual annual meetings to better steward resources.
Finally, since UP Week 2024 will begin on Veterans Day / Remembrance Day, the StepUP reading list highlights several books about military history and veterans’ experiences, such as Coalition Leadership: Lessons Learned While Commanding a NATO Brigade in Afghanistan (Marine Corps University Press) by retired Colonel James L. Creighton, A Debt of Gratitude: How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veterans’ Issues on the National Agenda (University Press of Kansas) by Glenn Robins, and Why the European Union Failed in Afghanistan (Bristol University Press/Policy Press) by Oz Hassan.
In fact, five AUPresses members are presses that are associated with U.S. Armed Forces universities. They are: Air University Press, Army University Press, Marine Corps University Press, Naval Institute Press, and West Point Press. These presses publish books and journals that appeal to scholars, strategists, and the general public, addressing topics ranging from leadership and history to national security, geopolitics, and even fiction. Naval Institute Press, for example, is famously the original publisher of The Hunt for Red October, by Tom Clancy, as well as Flight of the Intruder, by Stephen Coonts.
An annual event, now in its 13th year, University Press Week celebrates and raises awareness of the work that university presses do every day. Throughout the week of Nov. 11 to 15, the Association and participating presses will present an online gallery, contribute to a blog tour, and present in-person and virtual author events, in addition to promoting the reading list featured here.
To schedule an interview with Peter Berkery or Anthony Cond or for more information, please contact Lauren Carrane at 954-554-0336 or Lauren@sharppencilmarketing.com.
About the Association of University Presses
AUPresses is an organization of 161 international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association of University Presses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association holds intellectual freedom, integrity, stewardship, and equity and inclusion 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.