July 9, 2013

North Carolina Icons: Wright Brothers and Jockey’s Ridge

Our State explains the best way to appreciate the pioneer’s of aviation: “Stand at the base of the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, right where it all began.” Then, just a few miles to the south you can visit Jockey’s Ridge State Park, home to the East Coast’s tallest active sand dune, where Our State recommends, “Want to be a daredevil? Try hang-gliding. Rather keep your feet in the sand? Fly a kite. Continue Reading North Carolina Icons: Wright Brothers and Jockey’s Ridge

Categories Birds & Birding/History/Nature/North Carolina/Travel
July 3, 2013

UNC Press to Study Digital Publishing Models with Mellon Grant

In addition to attending the AAUP meeting, last month I was pleased to be able to announce that the Mellon Foundation had awarded a grant of $100,000 to UNC Press for the next year to aid in our experimentation with new digital publishing models. It will significantly enhance our exploration of a broad range of proposals from our new “Digital First” initiative, to our efforts to begin developing a model for publishing digital humanities projects, to exploring new distribution methods. Continue Reading UNC Press to Study Digital Publishing Models with Mellon Grant

Categories The Book Biz/UNC Press News
July 1, 2013

Two New Ebook Shorts: Excerpts from The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond

Both of the new UNC Press Civil War Shorts originally appeared in The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond, edited by Gary W. Gallagher, a collection that combines fresh evidence with the reinterpretation of standard sources to testify to the enduring impact of the Civil War on our national consciousness and refocus our view of the third day at Gettysburg. Continue Reading Two New Ebook Shorts: Excerpts from The Third Day at Gettysburg and Beyond

Categories Civil War/History/UNC Press News
June 26, 2013

Preview: C-SPAN’s coverage of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary

July 1st marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, and to kick of the celebration C-SPAN’s American History TV will be live all day long from the battlefield on June 30th. The weekly program “American Artifacts” has produced a 30-minute special, “The Monuments at Gettysburg,” where Carol Reardon and Tom Vossler take viewers around Gettysburg and showcase nine of their favorite monuments. Continue Reading Preview: C-SPAN’s coverage of Gettysburg 150th Anniversary

Categories Civil War/History/UNC Press News/Video
June 24, 2013

UNC Press books in Chicano/a Studies offer timely insights

In reality, scholarship in the fields of Chicana/o and Latina/o studies defies such easy simplifications, revealing that the struggle for citizenship, inclusion, and social justice in this country has historic, deep roots, and that forces for change do not always begin and end in Washington. Continue Reading UNC Press books in Chicano/a Studies offer timely insights

Categories American History/Guest Bloggers/History/Latino Studies/Politics
June 19, 2013

UNC Press Receives Grant from Mellon Foundation

The funding will be used to study expanded publication models that can successfully and sustainably connect the emerging forms of scholarship that rely on digital and computer-based methods with the book and journal formats long associated with university press publishing. Continue Reading UNC Press Receives Grant from Mellon Foundation

Categories UNC Press News
June 17, 2013

Michael H. Hunt: Obama and Syria: Trapped in a Web of Words

Language is in its potency a trap—in this case an inducement to action even when careful consideration warns of potentially dire consequences. Put differently, the axioms handed down from earlier policy practice have demonstrated their capacity to overrule prudent calculation. That insight leaves us with a set of genuine questions. Continue Reading Michael H. Hunt: Obama and Syria: Trapped in a Web of Words

Categories American History/Author blog entry/Columnists/Guest Bloggers/History/Michael H. Hunt/Military History/Political Science
June 12, 2013

Andrew Cayton: History, Romance, and Conversations with Dead People

I like the discipline of history, especially the requirements that I support what I say with evidence and that I not ignore inconvenient evidence. But I wanted to write a book with emotional as well as intellectual depth. And so, borrowing elements of form and tone from fictional personal histories, I attempted a narrative of a love affair informed by the sensibility of a novelist. Continue Reading Andrew Cayton: History, Romance, and Conversations with Dead People

Categories Author blog entry/Guest Bloggers/Literature
June 10, 2013

Interview: T. DeLene Beeland, author of The Secret World of Red Wolves

Red wolves are shy, elusive, and misunderstood predators. Until the 1800s, they were common in the longleaf pine savannas and deciduous forests of the southeastern United States. However, habitat degradation, persecution, and interbreeding with the coyote nearly annihilated them. Today, reintroduced red wolves are found only in peninsular northeastern North Carolina within less than 1 percent of their former range. In The Secret World of Red Wolves: The Fight to Save North America’s Other Wolf, nature writer T. DeLene Beeland shadows the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s pioneering recovery program over the course of a year to craft an intimate portrait of the red wolf, its history, and its restoration. Continue Reading Interview: T. DeLene Beeland, author of The Secret World of Red Wolves

Categories Environmental Studies/Interviews/Nature/North Carolina
June 6, 2013

Sheila Kay Adams named 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellow

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced UNC Press author Sheila Kay Adams as a 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellow. Adams is a seventh generation-ballad singer and has been performing Appalachian ballads and telling stories for over thirty years. Continue Reading Sheila Kay Adams named 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellow

Categories Awards/folklore/Music/UNC Press News
June 3, 2013

Excerpt: Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina, by Rebekah E. Pite

Therefore, even as Petrona included some explicitly nationalistic recipes, such as a cake with an Argentine national flag, along with some typical criollo cuisine, like empanadas, she presented French, Spanish, and Italian dishes as equally important for Argentine amas de casa to master. Continue Reading Excerpt: Creating a Common Table in Twentieth-Century Argentina, by Rebekah E. Pite

Categories Cooking / Food/Excerpts/History/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Women's Studies
May 30, 2013

Excerpt: Recognition, Sovereignty Struggles, and Indigenous Rights in the United States

As Sherman points out, whether gaming can be a viable means of asserting and defending tribal sovereignty in the long term remains under debate. What does seem clear, however, is that Mashantucket Pequots’ recognition by the federal government produced new political, cultural, and economic dilemmas as well as important new possibilities for revitalizing and sustaining the tribal nation. Continue Reading Excerpt: Recognition, Sovereignty Struggles, and Indigenous Rights in the United States

Categories Excerpts/History/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies
May 29, 2013

Here Comes Hurricane Season 2013

The National Weather Service is in the middle of their National Hurricane Preparedness Week, running from May 26–June 1. The website provides a helpful Tropical Cyclone Preparedness Guide with meteorological information on hurricanes, the many hazards that occur both during and after the storm, and a checklist precautions to take to ensure your safety through the six-month hurricane season. Continue Reading Here Comes Hurricane Season 2013

Categories History/Nature/North Carolina
May 28, 2013

Michael H. Hunt: Obama and the War on Terror: Toward Greater Realism

Reading the address delivered 23 May at the National Defense University surprised me not just because it went well beyond the drone issue to address the conduct of the war on terror. More than that, Obama took some significant steps toward dealing with the war in terms of classical realism. Continue Reading Michael H. Hunt: Obama and the War on Terror: Toward Greater Realism

Categories American History/Author blog entry/Columnists/Current Events/Global Studies/Guest Bloggers/History/Michael H. Hunt/Military Studies/Politics
May 21, 2013

North Carolina Icons: Sandhills

Our State describes the variety of the region: “Southern Pines is the horse capital of N.C., Pinehurst is the golf capital, and Candor is the peach capital.” Stretching into South Carolina and Georgia, the Sandhills are also known for a dry climate, sandy soils (hence the success of peaches), and vast Longleaf Pine forests that support threatened and endangered species like the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Continue Reading North Carolina Icons: Sandhills

Categories Cooking / Food/Nature/North Carolina
May 20, 2013

Excerpt: The Strange History of the American Quadroon, by Emily Clark

Abolitionists, fed on the fictional fare of the tragic mulatto, expected New Orleans to be filled with “white” slaves catering to the sexual appetites of immoral men. Other visitors to the city, informed by sensationalized travelers’ accounts, hoped for a glimpse of one of its renowned kept women of color, and perhaps contemplated engaging one for themselves. Continue Reading Excerpt: The Strange History of the American Quadroon, by Emily Clark

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Excerpts/History/Women's Studies
May 13, 2013

Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery Hosts Thomas Day Exhibit

Much like Marshall and Leimenstoll’s book, Dubrow describes the Smithsonian’s exhibit as, “doubly intriguing—combining his startlingly unique cabinets, bureaus, chairs, even a child’s Gothic-Classical style ‘commode’ (potty), architectural designs, with his extraordinary career.” Continue Reading Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery Hosts Thomas Day Exhibit

Categories African American History/African American Studies/Art / Architecture/Biography / Autobiography/Craft/History/North Carolina