Connections and Collaborations at the Association of American University Presses Annual Meeting

This week in North Philly Notes, Ann-Marie Anderson, Marketing Director at Temple University Press, recounts her experiences at the recent Association of American University Presses annual meeting in Denver, Colorado.

I had the pleasure of attending my first AAUP annual meeting in many, many years–in Denver no less, the Mile-High City. The theme this year was “Connect, Collaborate,” and sessions ranged from discussions of successful product development to the continuing challenges of establishing realistic book schedules and the constant interplay that takes place between acquisitions and marketing in publishing decisions.

But what I always find most rewarding about attending the annual meetings is crossing paths with people I’ve not seen in years and meeting new people. And this year was certainly no different. Right at the start, at the opening celebration and banquet, I encountered old friend Liz Scarpelli, former Rutgers University Press marketing manager now publishers’ rep for Baker & Taylor. And I was introduced to Ellen Chodosh, New York University Press‘s new director, who was chatting with Mary Beth Jarrad, the press’ sales and marketing director, whom I see only at the Barnes & Noble holiday party if at all. Not long after, I ran into Tony Sanfilippo, director of Ohio State University Press, and Albert Harum-Alvarez, designer and owner of SmallCo, the FileMaker database design consultancy firm with many clients in the university press world, and his wife Enid. I shared a dinner table with Jack Farrell, executive publishing headhunter, of Farrell & Associates, and East-West Export Books sales manager Royden Muranaka and other members of the University of Hawaii Press.

At the Chronicle of Higher Education party in the Daniels & Fisher Tower (a building with an elevator capacity of eight, where a hundred-plus eager university press folks in the lobby awaiting the ride up), I climbed a flight of stairs (or two) to what I believe was the seventeenth floor with Dean Smith, author of the Temple University Press title
Never Easy, Never Pretty. He is now the director of Cornell University Press. On the balcony overlooking downtown Denver, I saw Kate Fraser, an old acquaintance from Eurospan, a UK-based sales agency. Sometime before, during, or after that, I met–in the flesh–Dennis Lloyd, newly appointed director of the University of Wisconsin Press, with whom I’ve previously had only email conversations; Norris Langley, CFO at Duke University Press; and Kate Davey and her staff, Dan and Ben, of Bibliovault, the  scholarly book repository.  I had to hug Kate; she is just incredible to work with. And the list goes on and on.

Finally, it is always a pleasure to connect with the staff at AAUP, who work tirelessly to support the membership and put together the various activities associated with the annual meetings year after year. Here’s a shout-out to Kim Miller, office manager and program administrator. It was great to see ya!

Celebrating Dads for Father’s Day

This week in North Philly Notes, we celebrate fathers everywhere with a trio of books that highlight fatherhood.

Not from Here by Allan G. Johnson

When Allan Johnson asked his dying father where he wanted his ashes to be placed, his father replied—without hesitation—that it made no difference to him at all. In his poignant, powerful memoir, Not from Here, Johnson embarks on an extraordinary two-thousand-mile journey across the Upper Midwest and Great Plains to find the place where his father’s ashes belong.

As a white man of Norwegian and English lineage, Johnson explores both America and the question of belonging to a place whose history holds the continuing legacy of the displacement, dispossession, and genocide of Native Peoples.

More than a personal narrative, Not from Here illuminates not only the national silence around unresolved questions of accountability, race, and identity politics but also the dilemma of how to take responsibility for a past we did not create. Johnson’s story—of the past living in the present; of redemption, fate, family, tribe, and nation; of love and grief—raises profound questions about belonging, identity, and place.

Men Can by Donald N.S. Unger

In Men Can, writer, teacher, and father Donald Unger uses his personal experiences as a stay-at-home dad; stories of real-life families; and representations of fathers in film, on television, and in advertising to illuminate the roles men now play in the increasingly fluid domestic sphere.

Unger tells the stories of a half dozen families—of varied ethnicities, geographical locations, and philosophical orientations—in which fathers are either primary caregivers or equally sharing parents. He personalizes how Americans are now caring for their children and discusses the ways that popular culture reflects these changes in family roles. Unger also addresses the evolving language of parenting and media representations of fathers over several decades.

Men Can shows how real change can take place when families divide up domestic labor on a gender-neutral basis. The families profiled here offer insights into the struggles of—and opportunities for—men caring for children. Unger favors flexible arrangements and a society that respects personal choices and individual differences, crediting and supporting functional families, rather than one in which every household must conform to a one-size-fits-all mold.

The Package Deal by Nicholas W. Townsend
In The Package Deal, Nicholas Townsend explores what men say about being fathers, and about what fatherhood means to them. He shows how men negotiate the prevailing cultural values about fatherhood, marriage, employment, and home ownership that he conceptualizes as a “package deal.” Townsend identifies the conflicts and contradictions within the gendered expectations of men and fathers, and analyzes the social and economic contexts that make emotionally involved fathering an elusive ideal.

Drawing on the lives and life stories of a group of men in their late forties who graduated from high school together in the early 1970s, The Package Deal demystifies culture’s image of fatherhood in the United States. These men are depicted as neither villains nor victims, but as making their best efforts to achieve successful adult masculinity. This book shows what fathers really think about fatherhood, the division of labor between fathers and mothers, the gendered difference in expectations, and the privileging of the relationship between fathers and sons.

These revealing accounts of how fatherhood fits into the rest of men’s lives help us better understand what men can and cannot do as fathers. And they clearly illustrate that women are not alone in trying to “have it all” as they strive to combine work and family.

Celebrating Gay Pride Month

This week in North Philly Notes, we celebrate Gay Pride. Temple University Press has a long history of outstanding and award-winning LGBT titles. Each title documents and explores the struggles and victors of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender community as we reflect on the strides the community has made and the work still needed to be done.

Modern American Queer History edited by Allida M. Black

Courts, Liberalism, and Rights by Jason Pierceson

Machos, Maricones, and Gays by Ian Lumsden

The Homoerotic Photography of Carl Van Vechten by James Smalls

A Genealogy of Queer Theory by William B. Turner

Gay and Lesbian Politics by Mark Blasius

Tortilleras edited by Lourdes Torres and Inmaculada Perpetusa-Seva

The Changing of the Guard by Dana Rosenfeld

Just Queer Folks by Colin R. Johnson

Transfeminist Perspectives edited Anne Enke

Q & A edited by David L. Eng and Alice Y. Hom

Mobilizing Gay Singapore by Lynette J. Chua

Gay and Lesbian Politics edited by Barry D Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and André Krouwel

Officially Gay by Gary L. Lehring

Poisoned Ivy by Toni A.H. McNarson

Honey, Honey, Miss Thang by Leon E. Pettiway

Lesbian and Bisexual Identities by Kristin G. Esterberg

Out in the South edited by Carlos L. Dews and Carolyn Leste Law

Out in the Union by Miriam Frank

City of Sisterly and Brotherly Love by Marc Stein

Legalizing Gay Marriage by Michael Mello

In a Queer Voice by Michael Sadowski

Get Caught Reading

This week in North Philly Notes, we present a slideshow featuring the Temple University Press staff members, students, and authors who participated in our recent Get Caught Reading campaign!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.