As our regular readers know, I was recently appointed by the S-USIH executive board to serve as the chair of the Publications Committee. My colleague Tim Lacy is taking a temporary break from official S-USIH duties, and I am honored to serve out the remainder of his term.
There are a few items of news and business I would like to bring to the attention of our membership.
As stated in the S-USIH bylaws, the PubComm chair can appoint up to two additional members to assist in the work of the committee. Thankfully, my colleague Ben Alpers has graciously agreed to continue his work on the Publications Committee. As part of his PubComm duties, Ben is the editor of this blog.
I am also pleased to announce that Mary Ellen Lennon will be joining Ben and myself as a member of the Publications Committee. Mary Ellen is an assistant professor of history at Marian University (Indianapolis); you can read her faculty profile here. She will begin her stint with the committee after October 1.
I have also asked Mary Ellen to take over for me as our book review editor, and I’m glad to say that she has agreed to do so. I’m pretty good at spinning plates, but doing triple duty on the Publications Committee is one plate too many. So I’d rather hand one off than drop one. However, I don’t plan on laying everything on Mary Ellen’s shoulders. We have a few book review roundtables coming up — on Ray Haberski’s God and War, on Kerwin Lee Klein’s From History to Theory, and on Erik McDuffie’s Sojourning for Freedom. I will work with Mary Ellen on presenting the Haberski and Klein roundtables; our colleague Lauren Kientz Anderson has arranged the McDuffie roundtable, and she will be assisting Mary Ellen with that presentation.
In the meantime, publishers who wish to submit a book for review should contact Mary Ellen at this email address.
Business
As a regular feature in our S-USIH newsletter — an edition of which will be published to coincide with this year’s conference — we plan to include a column highlighting professional news from our members.
If you have some news you would like to share with the S-USIH membership — a recent publication, a new academic position, an upcoming lecture, a professional appointment to an editorial or governing board, and the like — please let us know.
Send your news items to me, L.D. Burnett. To be included in this fall’s newsletter, news items from S-USIH members in good standing (join online here, or download this form and mail it in) should be received BEFORE October 5.
Besides member news, we would be glad to consider guest contributions from our members. We are particularly interested in publishing reflections on the state of the discipline. If you would like to submit a brief essay (1000 – 1250 words), please send that to me before October 5.
Additionally, this blog often features essays by guest contributors. If you would like to write for the blog as a guest contributor, you can contact any of our regular bloggers with a proposal. All of our bloggers have the opportunity to sponsor guest posts at their discretion.
Finally, we would be delighted to add some bloggers to our roster. If you are interested in becoming a weekly contributor to the S-USIH blog, please contact Ben Alpers, our blog editor.
Thank you to our blog readership and to the Society membership for your engagement in our discussions and your support of our work. If you have any suggestions or questions about the work of the Publications Committee, please email me, and I will be glad to discuss the matter with you.
L.D. Burnett
Publications Committee Chair
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LD: Thanks for stepping up to serve as PubComm Chair. It’s an important role and the committee is in good hands.
I agree with Andrew that the PubCom is in good hands with you as chair and Ben on board—and now Mary Ellen! Congrats on Mary Ellen’s appointment.
On the member news for the upcoming newsletter (and future editions), do you have a timeframe in mind? Should the news apply to, or draw from, a specific period? – TL
Thanks Tim, and Andrew. On member news, I’d say to send along anything that has happened since the last conference, or that is scheduled to happen within the next year. And, generally, just use your judgment, and I’ll do the same. 🙂