Gainesville, Fla.—The University Press of Florida has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to expand the Press’s publications in African American Studies (AAS) and Latin American and Caribbean Studies (LACS).
The grant will support the Press’s project “Exploring Diverse Stories of America through Humanities Publishing,” enabling the Press to increase its capacity for publishing new titles in these two subject areas through the retention of staff and the rehiring of positions lost during the pandemic. Through the project, the Press will also convert backlist titles in these disciplines into digital and paperback formats; create an event series to discuss topics at the intersection of AAS, LACS, and publishing in the humanities; and establish paid internships for students interested in publishing.
The project was selected for funding as part of the
NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (#SHARP) awards program, made possible by $135 million in supplemental funding allocated to
NEH by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The SHARP grants provide emergency relief to help humanities organizations adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic continue to advance their missions. Publishing in the fields of AAS and LACS are central to the
Press’s scholarly mission and to its charge to offer the citizens of
Florida high-quality, relevant publications about the state and the broader American South, a region that is rich with the contributions of diasporas from Africa, Cuba and the Caribbean, and Central and South
America.
Supported by the grant, the project’s conversion of backlist titles in these fields into alternative formats will increase the accessibility, discoverability, and distribution of this research. The planned event series will engage scholars and communities of the state’s HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions in conversations about race and diasporic heritage in the Americas. The project’s paid internships, created for students affiliated with partner units at the University of Florida, will help expand inclusivity in publishing by providing opportunities for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds to gain professional experience in the industry.
Press director Romi Gutierrez said, “AAS and LACS scholarship is traditionally marginalized and often suffers from shrinking budgets. By broadly disseminating and promoting this scholarship and helping to train a new generation of publishers in these critical areas, this project sustains more than just the Press. It benefits future scholarship in these fields.”
About the University Press of Florida
Founded in 1945, the
University Press of
Florida is the official publisher of the State
University System of
Florida. The
Press has published over 2,500 books since its inception and currently releases approximately 80 new titles each year. The
Press engages educators, students, and discerning readers by producing works of global significance, regional importance, and lasting value. To learn more, visit
http://upress.ufl.edu.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer‐reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its
grant programs is available at
www.neh.gov.
