University Press Roundup

Welcome to our weekly roundup of the best articles from the blogs of academic publishers! As always, if you particularly enjoy something or think that we missed an important post, please let us know in the comments. (And look back at our University Press Roundup Manifesto to see why we do this post every Friday.)

Last week, Yale University Press featured an article on their blog about the Makah Nation’s whale hunting practices. Joshua Reid (Snohomish), Professor and director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Massachusetts—Boston, gives historical background on the Makah’s long-standing relationship to the sea. He explains how their traditional engagements with fishing and whale hunting have changed over the years with United States government involvement, bringing us up to date with current political debates about native whale hunting practices.

Over at the Stanford University Press Blog, the poet Robinson Jeffers is remembered. The article ruminates on the question of why Jeffers, who once graced the cover of Time Magazine in 1932 and who published many volumes of poetry, has been overlooked by both critics and scholars. His biographer, James Karman, explores the decline of Jeffers’ celebrity and reasons why there has been so little critical engagement with the poet’s work.

Another recent post on the subject of literature and scholarship can be found on the blog of University Press of Colorado. The article explores changes in English education, asking the question of how “freshman” or introductory writing and English courses have changed at colleges over the past several decades. As Rhetoric & Composition departments crop up and expand in universities around the country, there have certainly been many changes.

At the University of Minnesota Press, Alice Kang of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, poses important questions about how our government and other large international humanitarian organizations evaluate women’s rights in different countries. Her article digs into where this data comes from, how these forms of measurement can potentially misrepresents gender equality or inequality in other countries, and how this data may function to pit Global North and South against one another as “civilized” versus “uncivilized.” Even as women’s rights advance, particularly with leaders like Hillary Clinton, Kang urges us to keep these tough questions in mind.

Cambridge University Press also delves into issues of gender inequality. Aaron A. Dhir, author of Challenging Boardroom Homogeneity, writes about male-dominated corporate culture and the distinct absence of women in business leadership positions. He discusses potential solutions and ways that different countries are beginning to deal with gender inequality in the corporate workplace.

Over at Harvard University Press’ blog, a recent post explores a comparison that many have drawn in past weeks between Roe v. Wade and the recent Supreme Court decision about marriage equality. How accurate is the comparison really? To what extent are current and past debates about abortion similar to those about gay marriage?

In keeping with this focus on current politics, a post from the University Press of New England discusses the issue of prison reform, Obama’s recent comments on the subject, and bipartisan efforts at change. Chris Innes, author of Healing Corrections: The Future of Imprisonment, takes us further, though, asking the question, “What next?” Once we’ve made strides at ending mass incarceration, what else must we do to “heal” the prison system? What indeed?

To finish off our roundup, this week the University of Virginia Press takes us back fifty years, reminding us of the anniversary of the escalation of the Vietnam War. The article gives readers a fascinating snippet of conversation between a very anxious President Lyndon B. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield on the subject of troop escalation.

Thanks for reading! As always, we hope that you enjoyed the links. Please let us know what you think in the comments!