University of Michigan Press facts for kids
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| Parent company | University of Michigan |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Distribution | Chicago Distribution Center (US) Eurospan Group (Europe and Africa) |
| Publication types | Books, digital media |
| Nonfiction topics | Humanities and social sciences |
The University of Michigan Press is a special publishing house. It is part of the University of Michigan Library and helps share important ideas. This press is known as a university press, which means it publishes books and other materials for a university.
Each year, the University of Michigan Press publishes about 170 new books. These books cover subjects like history, literature, and how people live together (social sciences). Many of their books have won cool awards, like the Lambda Literary Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. They have even published works by authors who have won big honors like the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Contents
How the Press Started
For many years, from 1858 to 1930, the University of Michigan didn't have a special place just for publishing its scholarly works. These were often notes from meetings or research papers from different departments.
In 1930, the University Press was officially created. It was part of the university's Graduate School. A few years later, in 1935, a person named Frank E. Robbins became the managing editor. He was an assistant to the university president, Alexander Grant Ruthven. Mr. Robbins stayed in this important role until 1954.
At first, the press was only supposed to publish meeting notes and reading lists for former students. But Frank Robbins had bigger ideas! He wanted the press to publish books on many different topics. These included old civilizations (archaeology), languages (linguistics), and international issues.
In 2009, the press became a part of the University of Michigan Library. Today, the press publishes many kinds of books. These include textbooks for learning English, scholarly books on subjects like ancient studies, Asian studies, and political science. They also publish books about Michigan and the Great Lakes region.
Learning English with the Press
The University of Michigan Press is very famous for its books that help people learn English. This is called English as a Second Language (ESL). The University of Michigan was actually the first place in the United States to publish ESL textbooks and teacher guides back in 1941.
Because of this history, the University of Michigan Press eventually took over publishing these materials. While they once only published books by teachers at their own English Language Institute, now authors from all over the world contribute. Today, their "MICHIGAN ELT" books are well-known for helping students learn English for school and for training teachers.
Digital Books and Projects
The University of Michigan Press also uses technology to share knowledge. They have more than 1,100 books available as digital ebooks. They are also involved in several cool digital projects.
digitalculturebooks
digitalculturebooks is a special part of the University of Michigan Press. It focuses on publishing new and exciting works about new media and digital humanities. This project started in 2006. It was a team effort between the university library and the press. Their main goal is to try out new ways to publish books in the humanities and social sciences.
Fulcrum Publishing Platform
Fulcrum is an online platform that the press created. They got help from a grant and worked with other universities like Indiana and Northwestern. Fulcrum helps publishers show off all the cool research their authors create.
With Fulcrum, authors can link different types of materials to their books. This includes images, videos, audio clips, and even 3D models. These digital items can be extra materials that go with the book, or the story and the data can be presented together. It makes research more interactive and easier to explore.
Knowledge Unlatched
The University of Michigan Press is one of thirteen publishers that took part in a project called Knowledge Unlatched. This project helps libraries around the world work together to fund open access books. Open access means the books are free for everyone to read online. The press included three of its books in the first collection for Knowledge Unlatched.
Special Book Collections
Imprints
- English Language Teaching
- digitalculturebooks
Book Series
The University of Michigan Press publishes many ongoing book series. Each series focuses on a specific topic or theme. Some examples include:
- Class : Culture
- Configurations: Critical Studies of World Politics
- Corporealities: Discourses on Disability
- Digital Humanities
- Jazz Perspectives
- Law, Meaning, and Violence
- Legislative Politics and Policy Making
- Michigan Modern Dramatists
- New Comparative Politics
- Perspectives on Contemporary Korea
- Poets on Poetry
- Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany
- Theater: Theory/Text/Performance
- Tracking Pop
- Triangulations: Lesbian/Gay/Queer Theater/Drama/Performance
- Under Discussion
See also
In Spanish: University of Michigan Press para niños
- List of English-language book publishing companies
- List of university presses
