Athens, Ga. – The Association of American University Presses, of which the University of Georgia Press is a member, will celebrate University Press Week Nov. 11-17. The week originated in the summer of 1978 when President Jimmy Carter proclaimed a University Press Week “in recognition of the impact, both in the U.S. and abroad, of American university presses on culture and scholarship.”
The mission of the UGA Press, along with the other 132 members of the AAUP, is to support creative and reliable scholarly communications. In celebration of that mission, University Press Week will highlight the work of university presses and their many contributions to culture, the academy, and an informed society.
“As the UGA Press prepares to celebrate 75 years of publishing seriously good books in 2013, we enthusiastically join the AAUP in marking University Press Week and illuminating the immeasurable academic and cultural contributions of university presses everywhere,” said Lisa Bayer, director of the UGA Press.
The UGA Press will kick off University Press Week with a celebration at the Georgia Literary Festival Nov. 9-11 on Jekyll Island, Ga. University Press Week giveaways will be available at the press’s booth.
Throughout the week, students, faculty, staff and members of the community can learn more about the press and University Press Week by visiting UGA’s main library where materials will be on display in the newly renovated entryway to the library.
In the spirit of collaboration that pervades the university press community, the UGA Press and 24 other presses will come together for a blog tour during University Press Week. This tour will highlight the value of university presses and the contributions they make to scholarship and society.
Harvard University Press will launch the blog tour on Nov. 12. It will continue coast-to-coast with stops in Canada and Hawaii before ending on Nov. 16, at Oregon State University Press. The tour comes to the University of Georgia Press’s blog (ugapress.blogspot.com) on Nov. 12, with a post by Doing Recent History co-editor and Tenured Radical blogger Claire Bond Potter.
In addition to the blog tour, the AAUP and other member presses are planning several features and events for University Press Week. For more information, see www.universitypressweek.org.
UGA Press
Founded in 1938, the UGA Press is the largest book publisher in the state. It has been a member of the Association of American University Presses since 1940. With a full-time staff of 24 publishing professionals, the UGA Press currently publishes 80-85 new books a year and has more than 1,500 titles in print. It has well-established lists in Atlantic World and American history, American literature, African-American studies, southern studies and environmental studies, as well as a growing presence in the fields of geography, urban studies, international affairs and security studies. For more information, see www.ugapress.org/.