February 1, 2017

Stephen Cushman: Stephen Crane, Historical Researcher

The reason that we in the twenty-first century need to develop these complementary sensibilities is that the Civil War erupted against a standard of literacy different from our own, one with increasingly unfamiliar conventions of reading and writing. Because most of us know what we know about the war primarily through the medium of writing, understanding the war we read about depends to a large extent on our understanding as many historical and aesthetic layers of its writings as possible. Continue Reading Stephen Cushman: Stephen Crane, Historical Researcher

Categories Author blog entry/Civil War/Guest Bloggers/History/Literature
January 30, 2017

UNC Press Distributing the North Carolina Office of Archives and History’s Historical Publications

The University of North Carolina Press is now distributing the North Carolina Office of Archives and History’s Historical Publications—more than 150 books about the state’s history, people, and culture. Housed within the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and Parks, the Office of Archives and History has earned a reputation for offering well-researched and affordably-priced works of nonfiction… Continue Reading UNC Press Distributing the North Carolina Office of Archives and History’s Historical Publications

Categories UNC Press News
January 23, 2017

Karina Biondi: The Extinction of Sexual Violence in the Prisons of São Paulo, Brazil

In 1992, in order to contain a riot, police forces invaded the largest prison in Latin America and killed 111 prisoners. The event, known as the Carandiru Massacre, was illustrated in the Brazilian film Carandiru, directed by Hector Babenco. Episodes of sexual violence were frequent, as were violent disputes over material goods and the conquest of spaces within the prison. Another factor that defined the life inside the prison was the financial capacity of the prisoner. There were, therefore, two ways of obtaining material goods and sexual services in prison: money or physical violence. Continue Reading Karina Biondi: The Extinction of Sexual Violence in the Prisons of São Paulo, Brazil

Categories Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Latin American/Caribbean Hist.
January 19, 2017

David S. Brown: America’s Sunbelt Politics: The Story of Three Centuries

Historians and social scientists such as Richard Hofstadter and Daniel Bell first began to use the term “Radical Right” in the 1950s as something of a reaction to McCarthyism. A decade later, with the unexpected presidential candidacy of the Republican Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater accompanied by the growth in wealth, population, and thus political power of many southern states, the term “Sunbelt Right” came into vogue. Continue Reading David S. Brown: America’s Sunbelt Politics: The Story of Three Centuries

Categories American History/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/History/Politics
January 11, 2017

Katrinell M. Davis: Hoodwinked, Bamboozled, and Led Astray: Adjunct Professors’ Struggle for Job Security in the United States

While education might be the key to success, it doesn’t provide the boost it once provided to American workers. Continue Reading Katrinell M. Davis: Hoodwinked, Bamboozled, and Led Astray: Adjunct Professors’ Struggle for Job Security in the United States

Categories Education/Labor Studies/Sociology
December 6, 2016

Gregg A. Brazinsky: Sino-American Competition Past and Present

Trump’s campaign rhetoric and willingness to aggravate the thorny Taiwan issue have raised hackles in Beijing. Part of the reason for this is that China’s view of itself and its role in the international community differs starkly from Washington’s. Continue Reading Gregg A. Brazinsky: Sino-American Competition Past and Present

Categories American History/Asian Studies/Author blog entry/Current Events/Guest Bloggers/Politics
December 2, 2016

Early American Literature Invites Nominations for Its 2017 Book Prize

The editors of Early American Literature are pleased to announce the third annual Early American Literature Book Prize, which is given for the best newly released academic book about American literature in the colonial period through the early republic (roughly 1830). The prize is offered in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Press, the Society of Early Americanists, and the MLA’s Forum on American Literature to 1800. Continue Reading Early American Literature Invites Nominations for Its 2017 Book Prize

Categories Literature/UNC Press News
December 1, 2016

Cuba Scholars Respond to the Death of Fidel Castro

The death of Fidel Castro marks the end of an era. There are no simple obituaries for this man in American media; indeed, there is no way to talk about him in American culture without thinking critically about his role in history, his political power, and his relationship to the United States. Here, we share the perspectives of some of the historians of Cuba published by UNC Press who have been called on by the media to respond to this historical moment. Continue Reading Cuba Scholars Respond to the Death of Fidel Castro

Categories Cuba
November 30, 2016

Lisa A. Lindsay: The Enduring Allure of Emigration

The outcome of this nineteenth-century emigration movement offers little comfort for those who would leave today. At least half of the African Americans who settled in West Africa perished of tropical diseases, while others struggled to eke out a living. And they were not welcome there. Though they called their colony Liberia and touted “the love of liberty” in their official motto, the settlers’ encounters with local Africans were marked by violence, condescension, and—ironically—conditions not unlike slavery. Continue Reading Lisa A. Lindsay: The Enduring Allure of Emigration

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/African American History/African American Studies/American History/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/History
November 29, 2016

Nora E. Jaffary: Ancient Abortifacients in Modern Mexico

One of the things that surprised me the most was that throughout the colonial period and up until as late as the 1860s, neither community members nor judicial authorities in Mexico seemed particularly troubled that women were procuring abortions. Continue Reading Nora E. Jaffary: Ancient Abortifacients in Modern Mexico

Categories Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine/Women's Studies
November 21, 2016

Lorien Foote: How Slaves Prayed for Yankees during the Civil War

In the fall of 1864, slaves prayed with and for hundreds of Yankee soldiers who sought refuge in their cabins. The words of these prayers reveal slaves’ powerful faith that God would intervene in history to defeat the Confederacy and bring about their freedom. Continue Reading Lorien Foote: How Slaves Prayed for Yankees during the Civil War

Categories American History/Author blog entry/Civil War/Guest Bloggers/History
November 18, 2016

University Press Week 2016 Blog Tour Day 5: #FF UNC Press Publishing Partners

We have celebrated the theme of Community for the past several days with our sibling publishers in the Association of American University Presses’ #UPweek. Today we invite you into our own virtual rolodex to introduce you to just some of the many partner organizations with whom we have collaborated to make many of your favorite books and journals possible. Continue Reading University Press Week 2016 Blog Tour Day 5: #FF UNC Press Publishing Partners

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Biography / Autobiography/Civil Rights/Documentary Studies/History/Journals/Media Studies/Music/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/North Carolina/Photography/Southern Studies/The Book Biz/Travel/UNC Press News/Women's Studies
November 17, 2016

Excerpt: Written/Unwritten, by Patricia A. Matthew

To some degree, all of the contributors to this volume are engaged in some form of what might be called “activism,” though almost no one will apply the label to themselves or their work. They may call it “community service,” “community building,” or, as I prefer, “community engagement.” Or they may resist labels by not calling it anything at all. All, however, are rooted in the understanding that their research and teaching need to have a material impact on the world outside of the work the academy recognizes. The challenge, then, is to think through the implications, through the risks and stakes. Continue Reading Excerpt: Written/Unwritten, by Patricia A. Matthew

Categories African American Studies/Education/Excerpts
November 17, 2016

Michael Jarrett: John Hammond’s Golden Ears

John Hammond’s knack for discovering talent was so uncanny, so unparalleled in the history of American music, that it’s regularly celebrated. It is, however, rarely examined. Perhaps, that’s because scrutiny can come off as suspiciousness poisoned by ungratefulness. Continue Reading Michael Jarrett: John Hammond’s Golden Ears

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Music
November 16, 2016

University Press Week 2016: Blog Tour Day 3

University Press Week continues with the blog tour day 3’s theme of UP Staff Spotlight. Today’s posts: Wednesday, November 16 Seminary Co-op Bookstores UP Staff Spotlight: John Eklund Wayne State University Press University of Washington Press University Press of Mississippi Staff Spotlight: Valerie Jones University of Wisconsin Press A Community of Printmakers: Wisconsin & UW Press Johns Hopkins University Press UP Week 2106: Why… Continue Reading University Press Week 2016: Blog Tour Day 3

Categories UNC Press News
November 15, 2016

University Press Week 2016: Blog Tour Day 2

Community is at the center of AAUP members’ missions: from the community of a discipline to a regional home and culture, from the shared discourse of a campus to a bookstore’s community of readers. We celebrate #UPweek 2016 with the annual blog tour, where each day several UPs post about a particular theme. Our contribution will go live on Friday. Until then, we’ll share our colleagues’ posts. #ReadUP! Continue Reading University Press Week 2016: Blog Tour Day 2

Categories The Book Biz/UNC Press News
November 14, 2016

Greta de Jong: Who Lost the War on Poverty?

Poverty may have won in the end, but this outcome was not inevitable. Innovative projects sponsored by the federal government in the 1960s put poor people to work providing needed services in their communities and helped to lift many participants into the middle class. Continue Reading Greta de Jong: Who Lost the War on Poverty?

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Labor Studies
November 7, 2016

Anne M. Blankenship: Pilgrimage to the WWII Japanese American Incarceration Centers: Championing Civil Rights for All

One of the greatest challenges to pilgrimage today is the dwindling number of former incarcerees. In Memory, History, Forgetting (2004), Paul Ricoeur emphasized the need to preserve one’s heritage, while remaining separate from victimization. He said that descendants should not take on the “moral priority” of past victims. Continue Reading Anne M. Blankenship: Pilgrimage to the WWII Japanese American Incarceration Centers: Championing Civil Rights for All

Categories American History/Asian Studies/Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers