Indiana University Press blog

'Taliaferro' author Dawn Knight to appear at Barnes & Noble store in Carmel this Saturday

Dawn Knight will discuss and sign copies of her book, Taliaferro: Breaking Barriers From the NFL Draft to the Ivory Tower, at 11:00 a.m. this Saturday, February 4 at the Barnes & Noble store in Carmel, IN.

“We ... are excited during this Super Bowl weekend and Black History Month to have Dawn Knight discuss her biography about the legendary Indiana University football player, NFL star and pathfinder, George Taliaferro, and the challenges he faced as an athlete and citizen,” said Thomas E. McLean, Community Relations Manager for the Barnes & Noble store in Carmel.

For more information on the event, call the store at 317-844-2501.

5 IU Press books named Choice Outstanding Academic Titles of 2011

We are pleased to announce that five of our books have been chosen as Choice Outstanding Academic Titles of 2011! This selective list includes just under 10 percent of the 7,000 titles that Choice reviewed in 2011. IU Press honorees are:

African American Actresses
Arab Filmmakers of the Middle East
Jane Campion
Tabloid Journalism in South Africa
West African Narratives of Slavery

For a complete lists of titles, visit Choice Reviews Online.

IU Press to publish new journal on black male studies

The subject of Black masculinity and the notion of what it means to be male in a gendered, heteronormative, capitalist society have become central to the study of intersectional relations in various academic disciplines. Though a small number of books have anthologized the various possibilities of discourses concerned with the Black male perspective, no journal until now has produced focused academic writing from a broad contributor pool on this topic.

Spectrum, the latest addition to the Indiana University Press Journals catalog, is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary research journal whose articles focus on issues related to aspects of Black men’s experiences, including topics such as gender, masculinities, and race/ethnicity. Spectrum examines the social, political, economic, and historical factors that influence the life chances and experiences of African-descended males using disciplinary and interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, empirical methods, theoretical analysis, and literary criticism.

“Indiana University Press is honored to partner with the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University to publish this important and timely new journal. Spectrum is an exciting addition to IUP’s strong list of journals and books that focus on the Black Diaspora,” said Janet Rabinowitch, Director of Indiana University Press.

Housed in the Department of African American and African Studies at the Ohio State University, the editorial board includes faculty from colleges across the country, with interests ranging from English and Sociology to Education Policy and Leadership.

Published semiannually beginning March 2012, Spectrum will be a space where advocacy and imagination meet in order to reveal a global, complex Black manhood from the dawning of modernity through the present time. The online version will also feature multimedia resources.

Journal Information—Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men
Editors: Judson L. Jeffries, Terrell L. Strayhorn
Frequency: Semi-annual
To order: call 1-800-842-6796 or visit the IUP/Journals website
For review copies & interview requests contact:
Linda Bannister, Marketing Manager, llbannis@indiana.edu, 812-855-9449

Submission inquiries can be sent to the office of H. Ike Okafor-Newsum, newsum2@humanities.osu.edu.

Author event: Charlene Regester on North Carolina Book Watch

Charlene Regester, author of African American Actresses, will be on North Carolina Bookwatch Friday, July 8 at 9:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 10 at 5 p.m. (repeat episode). According to its website, North Carolina Bookwatch highlights "the best and brightest southern scribes," focusing on their work, their lives, and the impact North Carolina has had on these authors.

Book review: Fugitive Vision

"Fugitive Vision [is] an important and well-researched study ... Michael A. Chaney makes a distinct contribution to the literature about slave-born men and women who were dedicated to the permanent liberation of minds and bodies." —American Studies

Book review: Word, Image, and the New Negro

"Carroll's book would serve well in an upper-level undergraduate course as an introductory study of the interaction of texts and visuals in American magazines of the twentieth century. Her ideas are generally clear ... and easy to follow." —American Studies

Black Camera receives honorable mention for best new journal

The Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) recently awarded Black Camera: An International Film Journal an “Honorable Mention” for Best New Journal 2010. The CELJ holds an annual competition for members who publish scholarly and literary journals. A panel of judges independently evaluates journals submitted in each category of the competition. According to the CELJ website, “a CELJ award or citation gives independent testimony to your journal’s quality and visibility.”

To read the rest of the post, visit the IUP/Journals blog.

Richard Brent Turner to present at AAA annual meeting

For those attending this year's American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, be sure to check out Richard Brent Turner's presentation of “Recreating the Congo Square Beat: The Second Line and African Diasporic Culture in New Orleans Jazz.” Turner's presentation takes place November 19 during the panel "Short Circuits: The Circulation of African and African Diasporic Art, Film, and Music in Global Contexts."

Richard Brent Turner is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa and author of Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans.

Book review: Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans

"Richard Brent Turner has written a remarkably accurate, entertaining, and poignant account of what is known as jazz religion, the second line, and Black New Orleans. This is an interesting book, a book that is hard to put down once the reader gets into the chapters." —Lee Prosser, jazzreview.com

Richard Brent Turner featured in University of Iowa Spectator

An article about Richard Brent Turner and his book, Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans, appears in the Spring 2010 issue of the University of Iowa Spectator. You can download a PDF of the article on the Spectator's website.