University Press Roundup
Welcome to our weekly roundup of the best posts from the blogs of academic publishers! There were a ton of great posts this week, so as always, if you particularly enjoy something or think that we missed an important post, please let us know in the comments.
The verdict in the State of Florida v. George Zimmerman case, resulting from the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012, dominated the headlines of academic publishing blogs this week, and different blogs looked at the result in a variety of different ways. The UNC Press Blog has a roundup of responses from historians across the web, including Anthea Butler, Minkah Makalani, and Robin Kelley. This Side of the Pond, the blog of Cambridge University Press, features an article by Elizabeth K., an intern, on online protests in the wake of the trial. The Harvard University Press Blog connects Trayvon Martin’s shooting with the death in 1984 of Eleanor Bumpurs, and has an excerpt from Patricia Williams’ book on the Bumpurs case. And finally, at the JHU Press Blog, Neil Roberts has an article discussing the difficulties and necessity of talking about an ongoing or recent event in a measured and scholarly manner.
The Zimmerman case was not the only high-profile legal issue discussed this week, though. At the OUPblog, Geoff Gilbert looks at Edward Snowden’s pursuit of asylum. International law concerning asylum is, as one might guess, quite complicated and fairly ambiguous, but Gilbert makes the general law and Snowden’s particular case quite understandable.
In a more publishing-specific vein, the Indiana University Press blog has a great post breaking down eight highlights from the AAUP 2013 annual meeting. And for those who haven’t already seen them, the 28 pages of notes on the AAUP meeting provided on Scribd by IUP are an excellent resource!
Moving back to matters of national politics, The MIT Press blog has a great post this week from Tom Barry discussing the stalled immigration reform that is stuck in the House of Representatives.
Michael Bloomberg has been the mayor of New York City for twelve years, and at North Philly Notes, the blog of Temple University Press, Scott Larson looks over some of the successful and some of the less savory aspects of Bloomberg’s three terms in office.
Public stances on vaccinations have been in the news lately, as Jenny McCarthy, known for her anti-vaccination views, has been discussed as a potential new member of the popular show The View. At the OUPblog, Peter C. Doherty examines the accusations of the risk associated with vaccines.
At the University of Minnesota Press blog, Columbia University’s own David Smiley looks at the ways that suburban shopping malls changed the way that the US thought about architecture and the city.
Americans are, of course, very aware of the history and legacy of the Civil War, but it’s not a conflict commonly connected with the nearly contemporaneous Franco-Prussian War. At This Side of the Pond, the blog of Cambridge University Press, Alison Efford talks about the parallels between the two wars.
Immanuel Kant: biologist? Ryo Yamaguchi, writing at The Chicago Blog, discusses how Kant can be situated among names like Miescher, Locke, van Leeuwenhoek, Linnaeus, and de Buffon.
At Beacon Broadside, Philip Warburg discusses the results of a recent study that shows that wind turbines have “no serious impacts on greater prairie chickens or their reproduction,” and explains why this study is monumental for the green energy movement.
Finally, we’d like to join the UVA Press blog in congratulating Mark Saunders in his new appointment as Director of the University of Virginia Press!
Thanks again for reading this week’s roundup! Have a great weekend, and leave any thoughts in the comments!
