Our member presses worldwide aim to advance human knowledge by publishing a broad spectrum of scholarship—encompassing arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences—with a majority of them specializing in the humanities. Recognizing this deep commitment within our community to the very disciplines that drive the development of critical thinking, the understanding of value, and the pursuit of justice and democracy, the Association of University Presses (AUPresses) promotes and advocates for the humanities in a variety of ways and settings.
- The Association sponsored the 2024 National Humanities Conference in Providence, RI, hosted by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the National Humanities Alliance (NHA). Alison Levy (Brown University Digital Publications) organized and moderated a session, “The Rising Tide of Digital Scholarly Publishing: Transforming Creativity, Access & Public Engagement,” at this conference.
- The Association also sponsored Humanities Advocacy Day 2025 during which state delegations visited Capitol Hill to meet in person with Members of Congress and their staffs. President elect Dennis Lloyd (Wisconsin) and immediate past president Jane Bunker (Cornell) attended as advocates.
- Peter Berkery continued to serve on the NHA Board of Directors.
- Several speakers in the AUPresses Stopwatch session at the 2024 Charleston Library Conference considered humanities topics, including Bunker on “University Presses and Humanities Advocacy” and Wendy Queen (Johns Hopkins) on “The Future of Humanities Journals” (video available).
- Humanities advocacy—in particular, defending the work of the National Endowment for the Humanities and US history scholars, educators, and public historians—figured prominently in the Association’s public statements this year (see “Voicing our Values”).
- The Association continued to represent and communicate the perspectives of humanities publishers in international discussions and collaborations within the scholarly communications ecosystem, informing the development of national policies on open access and generative AI as well as the formation of the Rosenblum Award for Scholarly Publishing Impact.