Dan Rather to Address Austin Gathering
Famed journalist and Texan Dan Rather will open the 2017 Association of American University Presses Annual Meeting in Austin. Rather, president and CEO of News and Guts, a multi-media production company focusing on high-quality nonfiction, published a viral essay in January decrying the “Orwellian phrase ‘alternative facts.’” This June, he will speak to the importance of university presses and their work at a time when such a phrase has gained unfortunate currency at the meeting’s Opening Banquet.
The Association’s Annual Meeting and Workshops will be held June 11-13. The event is an opportunity for nonprofit scholarly publishing professionals to come together with colleagues and experts from across our community. Panel sessions, round tables, and collaboration labs will reflect the many ways Association members join with university libraries, administrators, faculty, and technology and industry partners in support of the dissemination of vetted scholarship and work of vital regional and cultural importance. A preliminary program is available online:
http://www.aaupnet.org/events-a-conferences/annual-meeting/aaup-2017/2017-program
Conference attendees will also address important issues that are sometimes difficult to talk about—a plenary session will feature Marilyn Sanders Mobley, Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Case Western Reserve University, and Earl Lewis, President, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, on both having conversations about and incorporating diversity. A second plenary will look at the difficulty many smart, successful people have finding happiness, through a discussion with Raj Raghunathan, author of If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? On June 12, professor, university press author, and first Texas State Historian Jesús F. de la Teja will speak at the conference luncheon.
The Association will also have many opportunities to enjoy what makes our host city, Austin, unique and “weird.” The Typewriter Rodeo is coming to the Newcomers Reception, writing poems on the spot in response to attendees’ ideas. And conference goers will be invited to a publishing and typography film festival at the Alamo Drafthouse.
Providing professional education opportunities to members is core to the Association’s mission. Newcomer, Early Career, and Diversity Grant programs, and a free registration for the smallest presses, are made available in order to help ensure that all members can take advantage of the unique professional development and networking opportunity that is the Annual Meeting.
About the Association
The Association of American University Presses is an organization of 140+ international nonprofit scholarly publishers. Since 1937, the Association advances 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. 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.