September 28, 2010

A Womanist Reading of “Service: Panel 8—Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy” or “Anna Julia Cooper and Willa Player”

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading A Womanist Reading of “Service: Panel 8—Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy” or “Anna Julia Cooper and Willa Player”

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Art / Architecture/Biography / Autobiography/Civil Rights/folklore/Guest Bloggers/History/North Carolina/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
September 28, 2010

Banning Books is Alive and Well in America

The following are rulings on and objections to books in the last year.  Read on to see which books these are. 1. “The teacher must appropriately prepare students for parts of the book that may be considered provocative; limit the book to juniors and seniors; should a parent object to the book, board policy is currently in place that allows… Continue Reading Banning Books is Alive and Well in America

Categories Literature/The Book Biz
September 27, 2010

Erica Eisdorfer: Reader, Writer, Bookseller, Defender of Your Freedom to Read

As we kick off Banned Books Week, we welcome a guest post today from someone committed to the freedom to read. Erica Eisdorfer is more than just a booklover, she’s a novelist and a bookseller, too, and she’s had first-hand experience on the censorship front.–ellen Banned Books Week 2010 is the 29th annual celebration of our freedom to read. The… Continue Reading Erica Eisdorfer: Reader, Writer, Bookseller, Defender of Your Freedom to Read

Categories Current Events/Guest Bloggers/Literature/Local Indy Booksellers/Politics/Public Policy/The Book Biz
September 24, 2010

Celebrating Banned Books Week 2010

We’re revving our engines in anticipation of Banned Books Week 2010, which starts tomorrow and runs through October 2. Banned Books Week is a weeklong celebration of the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. The project is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the… Continue Reading Celebrating Banned Books Week 2010

Categories Current Events/Education/Law / Legal History/Public Policy/The Book Biz/UNC Press News
September 23, 2010

Chad Williams takes the page 99 test

Hot off the press this month is a new book by Chad L. Williams, Torchbearers of Democracy: African American Soldiers in the World War I Era. In the book, Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens alike, committed to fighting for democracy at home… Continue Reading Chad Williams takes the page 99 test

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/History/Military Studies
September 21, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 7: Somerset Place Plantation

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 7: Somerset Place Plantation

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/North Carolina/UNC Press News
September 20, 2010

Cuba Scholar Lou Perez Says End the Embargo

Renowned scholar of Cuba Louis A. Perez Jr. makes the case at CNN.com for an end to the failed U.S. policy of embargo against Cuba. He begins: In April 2009, the White House released a presidential memorandum declaring that democracy and human rights in Cuba were “national interests of the United States.” Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela repeated the… Continue Reading Cuba Scholar Lou Perez Says End the Embargo

Categories American History/Cuba/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Politics/Public Policy
September 16, 2010

Paulo Freire, Lula, and the Next Step for Brazil

We welcome a guest post today from Andrew J. Kirkendall, author of Paulo Freire and the Cold War Politics of Literacy. In his political biography of Freire (1921-97), a native of Brazil’s impoverished northeast who developed adult literacy training techniques that remain influential today, Kirkendall gives new perspectives on the history of the Cold War, the meanings of radicalism, and… Continue Reading Paulo Freire, Lula, and the Next Step for Brazil

Categories Biography / Autobiography/Economics/Education/Guest Bloggers/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Politics/Sociology
September 14, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 6: The US Colored Regiment

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We are featuring each of the eight panels in a series, highlighting… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 6: The US Colored Regiment

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/Civil War/Military History/North Carolina/Religion/Southern Studies/Women's Studies
September 13, 2010

Introducing the Farm Fresh North Carolina blog

This past weekend I took a trip back to my hometown of Oxford, N.C., to attend the North Carolina Hot Sauce Contest. The festival was fantastic – booth after booth of hot sauce vendors, wineries, and breweries from all over our great state. It’s rare for so many local producers to gather in one area, making the event that much… Continue Reading Introducing the Farm Fresh North Carolina blog

Categories Cooking / Food/North Carolina/Travel
September 10, 2010

A Middle East Policy in Deep Denial

Denial is a well known defense mechanism that keeps unpleasant realities at bay. U.S. policymakers seem well practiced in this common coping device. Heaven knows they have good reason, no matter which direction of the Middle East they turn. Afghanistan seems right now to occasion the deepest denials because the realities are the grimmest. Two reports by the London-based International… Continue Reading A Middle East Policy in Deep Denial

Categories Current Events/Guest Bloggers/Michael H. Hunt/Middle Eastern Studies/Politics
September 8, 2010

Rosh Hashana evolves over generations in North Carolina

With the start of Rosh Hashana at sundown this evening, we welcome a guest post from Leonard Rogoff, author of Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina. Published in association with the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, Down Home is part of a larger documentary project of the same name that includes a film (view the trailer) and a… Continue Reading Rosh Hashana evolves over generations in North Carolina

Categories American History/Genealogy/Guest Bloggers/Jewish Studies/North Carolina/Religion/Southern Studies
September 8, 2010

Award winners: Blair Kelley, Amy Wood, Charles Eagles

We’re delighted to share lots of good news today. The 2010 Lillian Smith Book Award has been awarded to two UNC Press books this year: Amy Louise Wood’s Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America and Charles W. Eagles’s The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Old Miss. The prize, presented by the Southern Regional Council,… Continue Reading Award winners: Blair Kelley, Amy Wood, Charles Eagles

Categories African American Studies/American History/Blair L. M. Kelley/Southern Studies/UNC Press Authors/Women's Studies
September 7, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 5: NC School Desegregation

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicting a gathering of African American leaders at the counter of a diner was painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We will be featuring each of the eight panels in… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 5: NC School Desegregation

Categories African American Studies/American History/Civil Rights/North Carolina
September 3, 2010

The Chancellor and the Entrepreneur: Joining Forces for the Future

Rolling off the presses now is a brand new book by UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp and UNC entrepreneur-in-residence Buck Goldstein. In Engines of Innovation: The Entrepreneurial University in the Twenty-First Century, Thorp and Goldstein make the case for the pivotal role of research universities as agents of societal change. They argue that universities must use their vast intellectual and financial… Continue Reading The Chancellor and the Entrepreneur: Joining Forces for the Future

Categories Business/Education
September 2, 2010

Islamophobia and Our Love of Shopping

We welcome a guest post today from Susan Nance, author of How the Arabian Nights Inspired the American Dream, 1790-1835. Americans have always shown a fascination with the people, customs, and legends of the “East,” such as the stories of the Arabian Nights, the performances of Arab belly dancers and acrobats, the feats of turban-wearing vaudeville magicians, etc. In her… Continue Reading Islamophobia and Our Love of Shopping

Categories American Studies/Current Events/Film/Gender Studies/Guest Bloggers
September 1, 2010

Sport, Religion, and Native Identity

Michael Zogry, author of Anetso, the Cherokee Ball Game: At the Center of Ceremony and Identity guest blogs over at First Peoples, New Directions today about anetso, the precursor to field lacrosse which blends sport, religious ritual, and cultural identity. An excerpt: Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century, certain members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation have… Continue Reading Sport, Religion, and Native Identity

Categories History/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/Religion/Sports
August 31, 2010

The Story of Service, Part 4: Black Wall Street

On July 26, a mural named SERVICE was dedicated at UNC’s School of Government in the Knapp-Sanders Building. The mural depicts a gathering of African-American leaders at the counter of a diner, painted by Colin Quashie as a creative interpretation of the historical 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina sit-in. We will be featuring each of the eight panels in a series,… Continue Reading The Story of Service, Part 4: Black Wall Street

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Author blog entry/Civil Rights/Guest Bloggers/North Carolina/Southern Studies
August 31, 2010

‘Confederate Minds’ and the Page 99 Test

We’ve previously mentioned the “Page 99 Test,” with which one can “Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you,” according to Ford Madox Ford. Marshal Zeringue edits a blog that follows this theme, asking authors to test their books and analyze the content based on page 99. The authors… Continue Reading ‘Confederate Minds’ and the Page 99 Test

Categories American History/Civil War/History/Military History/Southern Studies
August 30, 2010

“Mama Dip is a blessing.”

That’s what employee–and prison inmate–Paul Scott says. Scott is one of the many inmates who have worked their way through Mama Dip’s Kitchen through a work-release program as they prepare to re-enter society upon completing prison sentences in Orange and Durham counties. We’ve written before about Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, who is a Chapel Hill institution in her own right,… Continue Reading “Mama Dip is a blessing.”

Categories African American Studies/Cooking / Food/North Carolina/UNC Press Authors