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August 26, 2021

A Women’s Equality Day Reading List

Happy Women’s Equality Day 2021! From the 1973 Joint Resolution of the United States Congress: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That August 26, 1973, is designated as ‘Women’s Equality Day’, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation in commemoration of thatday in 1920 on which the… Continue Reading A Women’s Equality Day Reading List

Categories American History/American Studies/Gender Studies/Women's Studies
August 25, 2021

Understanding Afghanistan’s Past: A Reading List

Some of you may be fully aware of what’s going on in Afghanistan right now, but for those who aren’t or would like to learn more information about what lead up to the recent events in Afghanistan, we’ve created a recommended reading list detailing some events that shaped the country into what it is today. Two weeks before the U.S.… Continue Reading Understanding Afghanistan’s Past: A Reading List

Categories American Studies/Diplomatic History / International Affairs/History/Islamic Studies/Literature/Middle Eastern Studies/Military History/Political Science/Religion
July 30, 2021

Celebrity and Crazy

The following is a guest blog post by Carolyn Eastman, author of The Strange Genius of Mr. O: The World of the United States’ First Forgotten Celebrity, published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press. The Strange Genius of Mr. O. is the biography of a remarkable performer—a gaunt Scottish… Continue Reading Celebrity and Crazy

Categories American History/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/History
July 15, 2021

Performing Politics from Sin permiso to Patria y vida

Guest blog post by Elizabeth Schwall, author of Dancing with the Revolution: Power, Politics, and Privilege in Cuba . Elizabeth’s book was also featured on our recent recommended reading list entitled “Cuba’s Fight For Freedom”. On Sunday July 11, 2021, unprecedented protests erupted across Cuba. People have taken to the streets due to an escalating COVID-19 crisis, food scarcity, limited… Continue Reading Performing Politics from Sin permiso to Patria y vida

Categories American Studies/Cuba/Cultural Studies/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Theatre & Performing Arts
July 12, 2021

Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Due to the protests happening in Cuba currently, we’ve decided to publish a recommended reading list pertaining to Cuba’s fight for freedom. This isn’t the first time revolts have taken place in Cuba, but what’s going on now has been referred to as the biggest protests Cuba has seen in decades. When I began researching what was going on in… Continue Reading Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/American Studies/Cuba/Cultural Studies/Diplomatic History / International Affairs/Health / Medicine/Latino Studies/Political Science/Sociology/Theatre & Performing Arts
July 8, 2021

UNC Libraries’ Off The Shelf Author Talk with Finis Dunaway

In May, Finis Dunaway, author of Defending the Arctic Refuge: A Photographer, an Indigenous Nation, and a Fight for Environmental Justice, was featured on UNC Libraries’ Off the Shelf series. In the Author Talk below, Finis discusses how his book wasn’t exactly the book he planned to write, how one image sparked the concept for his book and other topics.… Continue Reading UNC Libraries’ Off The Shelf Author Talk with Finis Dunaway

Categories American Studies/Environmental Studies/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/Public Policy
July 7, 2021

Happy Disability Pride Month! A Recommended Reading List

If you didn’t know already, July is Disability Pride month. The celebration of Disability Pride began in 1990 and has held on strong ever since. “This annual observance is used to promote visibility and mainstream awareness of the positive pride felt by people with disabilities.” Below are a few titles that align with that point of view; shedding light on… Continue Reading Happy Disability Pride Month! A Recommended Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/History/Labor Studies/Sociology/Women's Studies
June 22, 2021

Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Fresh off the heels of our JuneTeenth reading lists (Part One and Part Two) , I’m back with another celebration of black culture; Black Music Month. “Created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, this month celebrates the African American musical influences that comprise an essential part of our nation’s treasured cultural heritage.” Black people have had a hand in basically… Continue Reading Happy Black Music Month: A Recommended Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music
June 16, 2021

African American Children: Some of the Last Recipients of Emancipation

Guest blog post by Crystal Lynn Webster, author of Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood: African American Children in the Antebellum North This author’s book was also featured in part one of our JuneTeenth recommended reading list. Juneteenth is day in which we celebrate freedom. But it is also a recognition that for many African Americans freedom was delayed and unfulfilled.… Continue Reading African American Children: Some of the Last Recipients of Emancipation

Categories African American Studies/American Studies
June 14, 2021

Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Happy early Juneteenth! If you don’t know, June 19th is “the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and… Continue Reading Happy (early) Juneteenth! A Reading List, Part One

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/African American History/African American Studies/American Studies/Economics/Gender Studies/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Religion/Women's Studies
June 10, 2021

UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

In April, author of Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South Regina Bradley and Imani Perry, author of May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (available in paperback October 2021), spoke during one of the sessions for IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series. The series started in June 2020 and “offer writers and scholars… Continue Reading UNC Press authors Regina N. Bradley & Imani Perry speak at IASPM’s Popular Music Books in Process Series

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Literature/Music
May 18, 2021

New Series Announcement: Boundless South

The Boundless South publishes books that are regional, readable, and deeply researched while capturing the stories of people, places, and culture. Connecting audiences to real southerners, Boundless South presents the diversity of “southernness” and the extent of the southern diaspora with nuance and broad appeal. The Boundless South seeks to harness a new energy surrounding the discipline of history and calls on… Continue Reading New Series Announcement: Boundless South

Categories American Studies/Law / Legal History/Political Science/Politics/Southern Studies/UNC Press News
May 13, 2021

Redefining The Immigrant South: Indian and Pakistani Immigration to Houston during the Cold War

The following is an excerpt from Uzma Quraishi’s Redefining The Immigrant South: Indian and Pakistani Immigration to Houston during the Cold War, winner of the 2021 Theodore Saloutos Book Prize. Remember to enter promo code 01DAH40 at checkout for 40% off any UNC Press book! In the 1950s, a small number of immigrants and college students from India and Pakistan began arriving… Continue Reading Redefining The Immigrant South: Indian and Pakistani Immigration to Houston during the Cold War

Categories American History/American Studies/Asian Studies/History
May 6, 2021

Fighting Back: The Struggle against Anti-Alien Measures

In honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, the following is an excerpt from Stephanie Hinnershitz’ A Different Shade of Justice: Asian American Civil Rights in the South. This book is one of five titles from a reading list we created celebrating Asian American and Asian studies; view the entire reading list here. Because not all southern states amended their constitutions… Continue Reading Fighting Back: The Struggle against Anti-Alien Measures

Categories American Studies/Asian Studies/History/Law / Legal History/Southern Studies
May 4, 2021

How A New Christian Identity Came About

Guest post by Amy B. Voorhees, author of A New Christian Identity: Christian Science Origins and Experience in American Culture The reason I wrote this book is because I was intrigued by the distance between differing definitions of Christian Science within academics. Over the decades, these have had varying degrees of alignment with one another and with key primary sources, and I wanted to know how this variation arose.  Scholars today agree on some core things about the Christian Science religion. For example,… Continue Reading How A New Christian Identity Came About

Categories American Studies/Christian Studies/Guest Bloggers/Religion
May 3, 2021

Happy Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month!

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and in order to highlight and bring recognition to the Asian/Pacific American communities that enrich American culture, we’ve created a recommended reading list featuring some of our latest Asian American Studies and Asian Studies titles. A DIFFERENT SHADE OF JUSTICE: ASIAN AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS IN THE SOUTH BY STEPHANIE HINNERSHITZ In the Jim Crow South,… Continue Reading Happy Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month!

Categories American Studies/Asian Studies
April 30, 2021

Jason Berry’s City Of A Million Dreams film premieres at the 2021 Sarasota Film Festival

Author of City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300 Jason Berry is premiering his film City Of A Million Dreams, for which he is co-screenwriter, producer, and director, today at the 2021 Sarasota Film Festival. The premiere of Jason Berry’s City of A Million Dreams is virtual, so grab your popcorn and visit this… Continue Reading Jason Berry’s City Of A Million Dreams film premieres at the 2021 Sarasota Film Festival

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/American Studies
April 28, 2021

Happy National Guitar Month!

A little late to the party, but we would like to wish a happy national guitar month to all of you rockstar readers. We’ve created this reading list of some of our favorite guitar-related titles to hopefully inspire your next riff. STONE FREE: JIMI HENDRIX IN LONDON, SEPTEMBER 1966 – JUNE 1967 BY JAS OBRECHT A compelling portrait of rock’s… Continue Reading Happy National Guitar Month!

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Music/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies
April 22, 2021

Earth Day 2021 Recommended Reading List

Happy Earth Day and Earth Week from the UNC Press Staff! In celebration of the times, we’ve created a recommended reading list of some of our latest environmental justice books. DEFENDING THE ARCTIC REFUGE: A PHOTOGRAPHER, AN INDIGENOUS NATION, AND A FIGHT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE BY FINIS DUNAWAY Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Alaska is one of the… Continue Reading Earth Day 2021 Recommended Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Environmental Studies/Labor Studies/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/Public Policy/Sociology
April 13, 2021

Policing and Ongoing Social Injustice Towards Black Lives in America: A Reading List

In response to recent events in Brooklyn Center MN, the following curated reading list provides information regarding ongoing injustices and discriminatory practices perpetuated by a lack of criminal justice reform that’s historically targeted Black Americans. In the aftermath of the police killing of Daunte Wright, here are resources for donating and healing. The Punitive Turn in American Life: How the… Continue Reading Policing and Ongoing Social Injustice Towards Black Lives in America: A Reading List

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American Studies/Civil Rights