Presentation: Niza Yanay with Judith Butler

Posted on February 15th, 2013
by FUPress

The Ideology of Hatred: The Psychic Power of Discourse

Speakers: Niza Yanay, Ph.D., professor of sociology and anthropology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and Judith Butler, Ph.D., Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature and the co-director of the Program of Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley. Sponsored by Fordham University Press.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013 | 7:30 p.m. | Fordham University | 12th-Floor Lounge/Corrigan Center, Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center Campus

Contact: Fordham University Press (718) 817-4795

The Ideology of Hatred: The Psychic Power of Discourse Speakers: Niza Yanay, Ph.D., professor of sociology and anthropology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and Judith Butler, Ph.D., Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature … Full Story →

REVIEW: The Jewish Week

Posted on January 22nd, 2013
by FUPress

1/20/13

The Tangled History of Shuls and Real Estate

By Sandee Brawarsky

Had it been two blocks south and a bit farther east, the 16th Street Synagogue would have been included in Gerard R. Wolfe’s excellent new edition of his classic work, “The Synagogues of New York’s Lower East Side: A Retrospective and Contemporary View” (Empire State Editions/Fordham University Press). That shul, formerly the Young Israel of Fifth Avenue, is being evicted from its building, after a long dispute with a developer.

Those interested in New York City’s building genealogy and the intertwining connections between real estate interests, immigrant history, shifting populations and synagogue life will find much of interest in Wolfe’s book, first published in 1978. He details the active synagogues (12) and the “lost” or endangered synagogues (24), and also includes a great chronological chart documenting shul mergers and breakaways in New York City, 1654 – 1875.

Wolfe, an architectural historian, unpeels layers of the past behind the congregations and their buildings. He pays careful attention to the special features of the buildings (the Bialystoker Synagogue, built as a church, may have been a station on the Underground Railroad, sheltering runaway slaves) and their architects (the Erste Warshawer Congregation, First Warsaw Congregation, now repurposed to art studios and residence, was designed by Emery Roth, known for designing the Sam Remo apartment house on Central Park West); and their struggles, some ongoing.

Sadly, in this edition, Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagadol on Norfolk Street moved from the active synagogue to the endangered section, shortly before the book went to press. That shul ‘s sanctuary has magnificent wall paintings and carvings, along with a storied history of distinguished rabbis, most recently, the late Rabbi Ephraim Oshry, who had been the rabbi of the Kovno ghetto. A group including his son-in-law and leaders of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy is trying to secure funding for restoration and renovation. READ MORE

1/20/13 The Tangled History of Shuls and Real Estate By Sandee Brawarsky Had it been two blocks south and a bit farther east, the 16th Street Synagogue would have been included in Gerard R. Wolfe’s excellent new edition of his … Full Story →

Why University Presses Matter

Posted on November 15th, 2012
by FUPress

We are excited to have Fordham University Press Director, Fredric Nachbaur, blogging for us as part of the University Press Week blog tour! The tour continues today at Texas A&M University Press. A complete blog tour schedule is also available here.

Witnessing all the damage caused by Sandy has me feeling a melancholy. I was born and raised in New Jersey and spent many summers “down the shore.” In recent summers I have taken my daughter to some of the same beaches I enjoyed as a kid. I’ve been a New Yorker since 1991 and am a regular visitor to Coney Island, and lived for a short time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It is quite devastating to see all the massive destruction done to our great city and state and to our neighbors in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. As I was preparing to write my post for University Press Week, I reflected on how university presses have bonded together in the past during times of tragedy to help us all understand what is happening at the moment and how we can move forward. “Books for Understanding” was developed by the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) soon after 9/11 to bring the latest and most valuable scholarship to readers in an easy to find and easy to use place. The AAUP instantly became a resource for people who wanted to know more and to find it from reliable sources—University Presses—the pillars of knowledge. The day after hurricane Sandy hit, a reporter from the Huffington Post contacted me about a Fordham University Press (FUP) author who wrote a history of the NYC subways. She wanted to interview him about the flooding of the tunnels and the mass transit shutdown. It is a prime example of how the media turns to university presses for expertise during times of crisis.

We emphasize scholarship by being witnesses to global events, detectives for finding the best authors, and sharers of critical information that has been researched and vetted. Combining efforts to make all of our books on a specific topic of current concern to citizens of the world is invaluable. There are several lists related to Hurricane Sandy, including one on Katrina. Knowing this, I’m not feeling as sad. Thank you AAUP! In preparation for University Press Week to celebrate the AAUP turning 75, Will Underwood, Director of Kent State University Press, asked fellow directors to gather some endorsements from key stakeholders. Happily, I got a great response from faculty and administrators on the Fordham campus as well as some FUP authors and friends. Here is what the Provost of Fordham University wrote:

“As the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) celebrates its 75th anniversary, Fordham University joins in honoring a rich history of committed leadership and collaborative service to the academy and to society. Fordham University Press has partnered with AAUP since 1938 to advance academic excellence in the full pursuit of truth and to enrich public discourse through the dissemination of scholarly research of the highest quality across the disciplines. We look forward to our work with the AAUP to engage evolving challenges and opportunities for university presses in the decades ahead. —Stephen Freedman, Provost, Fordham University

FUP celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2007. Established in 1907 to help Fordham faculty publish monographs based on their research, we now publish up to 70 books per year from faculty at institutions all over the globe. Not unlike the AAUP, FUP is a small organization with big ambitions. We have established ourselves as a leading academic press concentrating in history, literary theory, philosophy and religion. We also publish well established series in continental philosophy, American philosophy, medieval studies, World War II, and the Civil War among others and have created new series spanning a diversity of topics from Orthodox Christianity to Italian American studies. We have a long history publishing regional books focusing on New York City and the Hudson Valley. In 2010, we established the Empire State Editions imprint to better brand and market these titles.

To kick off the festivities of UP week, we hosted an open house for faculty showcasing their work as authors and series editors. Despite the previous evening’s nor’easter, we got a nice turnout and received positive feedback. Here are a few shots.

On Veteran’s Day, FUP hosted a Veteran’s Day public program entitled Five Historians Reflect on World War II: What We Know, What We Still Need to Learn and What We May Never Know. It turned out to be a successful event with a lively engaged audience. Here are some pics.

Dr. Scott H. Bennett, author of Army GI, Pacifist CO: The World War II Letters of Frank and Albert Dietrich

Dr. G. Kurt Piehler, Dr. Scott H. Bennett, Dr. Sidney Pash, Dr. Ann Pfau, Dr. John Chambers, Dr. J. Garry Clifford

FUP is lean, resourceful, hardworking, and determined. I’d say that about captures the definition of a university press and the AAUP. I’m proud to be a member of this superb, caring, humane community. Happy birthday AAUP. Here’s to another 75 years.

I’ll end with a quote from a friend and a fan of university presses:

“What words to describe the university press? Patient, ambitious, demanding, sustaining, generous, utterly essential. Serious thinking is unimaginable without it.”
—William Germano, Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Cooper Union

Fredric Nachbaur (Twitter: @FNachbaur) is the Director of Fordham University Press.

Next stop: Texas A&M University Press.

We are excited to have Fordham University Press Director, Fredric Nachbaur, blogging for us as part of the University Press Week blog tour! The tour continues today at Texas A&M University Press. A complete blog tour schedule is also available … Full Story →

Fordham University Press Launches New Website

Posted on October 17th, 2012
by FUPress

For Immediate Release

New York – Fordham University Press is delighted to announce the launch of its totally redesigned website. The new site provides users with a comprehensive and dynamic platform, functioning as an extended community and FUP store. Now visitors can not only easily find and buy books of interest but also be kept informed about resources, tips, news, awards and events. Along with a vastly expanded search functionality, FUP has added features like interactive catalogs and recommendations plus easy accessibility to other publishing initiatives and eBook Partners.

With intuitive navigation and far deeper social connectivity than its predecessor, the new website is a true resource for the greater FUP community including authors, professors, booksellers, librarians and contributors & academic collaborators.

“The vastly improved website better represents Fordham University Press as a destination for publishing innovative, interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. The new face of the press more accurately depicts who we are today. The fun design, the improved search functionality, and the integration with social media make it a fulfilling and beneficial experience for all of our constituents.”
—Fredric Nachbaur, Director

“One of our core goals was to create a site that serves our community; we wanted to be relevant and useful. We collaborated with Reitdesign and Guavabyte to design and develop our vision. Together they brought a smart, clean, and functional strategy that exceeded our expectations and have expanded our platform of offerings.”
—Kate O’Brien-Nicholson, Marketing Director

Press Mission + History:
Fordham University Press, which celebrated its centennial in 2007 and currently publishes sixty to seventy scholarly books annually, primarily in the humanities and

social sciences, has an outstanding reputation for producing award-winning studies in the fields of anthropology, classics, communications, the fine arts, history, literary studies, philosophy, political theory, religion, sociology, and theology, with a particular emphasis on creatively interdisciplinary work. Each year it publishes two books of poetry through the Poets Out Loud prize. Fordham University Press also has a long history of publishing books focusing on the New York region and in 2010 established the Empire State Editions imprint to better brand and market these popular regional books.

The Press, a member of the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) since 1938, was established in 1907 not only to represent and uphold the values and traditions of the University itself but also to further those values and traditions through the dissemination of scholarly research and ideas. The Press has achieved this mission by publishing 2,500 books and maintaining 1,000 active titles, including both print and electronic version.

To see the new website, please visit www.fordhampress.com.

Follow Us:

Our blog: FordhamImPRESSions.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/FordhamUP

Twitter: @FordhamPress

For additional information and general enquiries, please contact Kate O’Brien-Nicholson (@KateoNich) at bkaobrien@fordham.edu or 718/817-4782.

For Immediate Release New York – Fordham University Press is delighted to announce the launch of its totally redesigned website. The new site provides users with a comprehensive and dynamic platform, functioning as an extended community and FUP store. Now … Full Story →

Leadership is an Evolving Skill

Posted on July 26th, 2012
by FUPress

By Fredric Nachbaur

Fredric Nachbaur, Director, FUP

During the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) annual meeting that took place this past June in Chicago there were so many good sessions that I was hard pressed to choose the ones that would be most beneficial, especially if they were overlapping . One such session I attended was called “So You Want to Be a Director? Leadership Strategies for New and Aspiring Directors from the Director’s Tool Kit.” At first, I thought that I didn’t really need to go to this panel but after further reflection I decided that I could learn a thing or two. . . Good move! It was actually very useful and made me think about the offsite meeting I was planning for the staff of Fordham University Press.

Here are a few snippets from Cynthia Barnes, Associate Professor in the Master of Science in Organization Leadership (MSOL) Program, School of Management of Regis University, who kicked off the panel session:

• Micromanaging equals insecurity
• Managers should oversee climate control and obstacle removal – make staff want to come to work and make a contribution
• Acknowledge and recognize employees
• Managers should be comfortable in their own skin

Cynthia’s Five Tips for Managers:
1. Know the right questions to ask and whom to ask – a manager doesn’t have all the answers
2. It’s not about prestige and power – give people power
3. It’s not about control but empowerment – lead people to control themselves
4. Trust others as they are – gifted and talented human beings; find out what floats their boat and reinforce them for that
5. Match tasks with talents – be a door opener

I think those are good tips and a good message to share with my staff. I want them to be doing a job that they like and matches their talents. We should absolutely never say “I do it this way because that the way it’s always been done.” No! If something doesn’t work or needs updating, we should all feel empowered to suggest change. We are fortunate to have an administration that supports our mission and university press publishing. Let’s continue to make them as well as ourselves proud.

Here are brief summaries of the presentations by the directors of three university presses of different sizes:

Alison Mudditt/University of California Press
• People support what they help create
• Make some decisions on your own
• Don’t create an us versus them environment regarding administration
• Can’t run entire press – don’t have the time
• Create environment for success
• Hire and mentor right people
• Senior management team – bring in development program
• Manage external constituencies: Admin, faculty, media, advisory board
• Build Productive relationships with administration
• Realize that you are sending a message – every move and word scrutinized
• Be excited and energized by change; preparedness to make difficult decisions
• Set out expectations and create collaboration
• Hired an organizational consultant – press therapist; 50% paid by administration

Jane Hoehner, Wayne State Press
• Learning as you go
• Be yourself but adapt to your audience
• Talk to departments, students, rotary club
• Communicate
• Risk taker
• Transparencies with staff but keep some stuff back. Create a balance

Charles Watkinson, Purdue University Press
Solve problems together
1. All have the big picture
2. Take advantage of university and align with its mission
3. Manage up

Even though each of the above presses is different in size and publishing program, their challenges are the same. They each need to create an atmosphere that encourages productivity and pride and publish high quality scholarship that mirrors the mission of its parent university while contending with an ever-changing landscape. I’m glad to know that I’m not alone and that I have colleagues that I can turn to for sound advice. Academic publishing has its ups and downs but I’m proud to be part of it and looking forward to leading Fordham University Press into the next stage.

Fredric Nachbaur (Twitter: @FNachbaur) is the Director of Fordham University Press.

By Fredric Nachbaur During the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) annual meeting that took place this past June in Chicago there were so many good sessions that I was hard pressed to choose the ones that would be most … Full Story →