Janneke Adema

Décoloniser les sciences sociales. Une anthologie bilingue de textes d’Orlando Fals Borda (1925-2008)

Six textes d’Orlando Fals Borda, choisis et traduits sous la direction de Liliana Diaz et Baptiste Godrie

Pour accéder au livre en version html, cliquez ici. (à venir)
Pour télécharger le PDF, cliquez ici (à venir).
Pour commander la version imprimée, écrire à info@editionscienceetbiencommun.org

Acheter un livre, c’est nous soutenir et permettre à ceux et celles qui ne peuvent l’acheter de le lire en libre accès.

***

Seis textos de Orlando Fals Borda, seleccionados y traducidos bajo la dirección de Liliana Diaz y Baptiste Godrie

Para acceder al libro en versión html, haga clic aquí. (próximamente)
Para descargar el PDF, haga clic aquí (próximamente).
Para pedir la versión impresa, escriba a info@editionscienceetbiencommun.org

Comprar un libro significa apoyarnos y permitir que aquellos que no pueden comprarlo lo lean en acceso libre.

***

Avec Paulo Freire, Orlando Fals Borda (1925-2008), est l’un des pères fondateurs des approches décoloniales latino-américaines en sciences sociales. Pourtant, alors que le premier est une figure familière du paysage des sciences sociales francophones, le second est quasiment inconnu. Cette anthologie francophone, la première à ce jour, propose cinq textes, publiés entre 1968 et 2003, en plus d’une conférence inédite prononcée en 1966. Elle vise à présenter la proposition épistémologique de Fals Borda d’une science latino-américaine émancipée des cadres théoriques européens et nord-américains, et orientée vers la production partagée des connaissances entre universitaires et mouvements sociaux pour favoriser la transformation de la société vers une plus grande justice sociale. Chaque texte est présenté dans sa version espagnole originale et dans sa traduction française, avec une brève mise en contexte permettant de situer celui-ci dans l’œuvre de l’auteur. Une introduction présente la thématique de l’anthologie et la trajectoire intellectuelle de Fals Borda.

***

Junto con Paulo Freire, Orlando Fals Borda (1925-2008) fue uno de los padresfundadores de los enfoques descoloniales latinoamericanos en las ciencias sociales. Sinembargo, mientras que el primero es una figura familiar en el panorama francés de lasciencias sociales, el segundo es casi desconocido. Esta antología francófona, la primera hasta la fecha, ofrece cinco textos publicados entre 1968 y 2003, además de una conferencia inédita realizada en 1966. Su objetivo es presentar la propuesta epistemológica de Fals Borda de una ciencia latinoamericana emancipada de los marcos teóricos europeo y norteamericano, y orientada a la producción de conocimientos compartida entre los académicos y los movimientossociales para promover la transformación de la sociedad hacia una mayor justicia social.Cada texto se presenta en su versión original en español y en su traducción al francés, conuna breve contextualización que permite ubicarlo en el trabajo del autor. Una introducción presenta el tema de la antología y la trayectoria intelectual de Fals Borda.

ISBN version imprimée / edición impresa : 978-2-924661-99-4
ISBN PDF : 978-2-924661-97-0
ISBN ePub : 978-2-925128-03-8

DOI : à venir
230 pages
Couverture réalisée par Kate McDonnell, photographie tirée de ce documentaire sur Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaZNTrfSNQ
Date de publication : septembre 2020

DOI : pronto
230 páginas
Portada dirigida por Kate McDonnell, fotografía de este documental en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfaZNTrfSNQ
Fecha de publicación: septiembre de 2020

Table des matières / Índice

Janneke Adema

La lutte contre le terrorisme au Niger. Les approches juridiques

Par Dr Zeinabou Abdou Assane

Pour accéder au livre en version html, cliquez ici.
Pour télécharger le PDF, cliquez ici (à venir).
Pour commander le livre en version imprimée au Niger ou au Québec, écrivez à info@editionscienceetbiencommun.org.

Acheter un livre, c’est nous soutenir et permettre à ceux et celles qui ne peuvent l’acheter de le lire en libre accès.

Le phénomène terroriste perturbe aujourd’hui la paix et la sécurité internationale. L’espace sahélien est durablement touché par ce fléau qui déstabilise les États, notamment le Niger qui fait face depuis quelques années à d’importants défis sécuritaires liés au terrorisme. Pour combattre ce fléau, le Niger a adopté un dispositif pénal conformément aux recommandations des instances internationales en matière de répression des infractions de terrorisme. Ces règles sont respectueuses des droits humains et assurent la concordance des décisions rendues en la matière. Ce dispositif instaure également un régime pénal spécialisé et adapté en renforçant la prévention et la répression des actes terroristes et en faisant de la coopération internationale la clé de voute de cette lutte.Ce livre présente en détail ce dispositif juridique antiterroriste, issu de textes divers, qui a permis de mettre en place un cadre juridique complet et efficace de répression du terrorisme au Niger.

ISBN version imprimée : 978-2-925128-00-7
ISBN PDF : 978-2-925128-01-4

DOI : à venir

94 pages pages
Couverture réalisée par Kate McDonnell, photographie de Jean Rebiffé (CC/Flickr)
Date de publication : septembre 2020

Table des matières

Sigles et abrévations

Dunguryandiyaào (résumé du livre en zarma)

Introduction

I. Le cadre normatif de lutte contre le terrorisme : instruments de fond et de procédure

  1. 1. Les instruments juridiques de fond dans la lutte contre le terrorisme au Niger

  2. 2. Les instruments juridiques de forme dans la lutte contre le terrorisme au Niger

II. Les questions et défis liés à la lutte contre le terrorisme national et international au Niger

Open Book Publishers

On ‘Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century’

On 'Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century'

by Emma Frost.

Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century – the brainchild of an international group of ethnochoreology scholars and dance historians belonging to the International Council on Traditional Music’s Study Group on Ethnochoreology – is an impressive, far-reaching and expertly crafted resource for those with a keen interest in the history of dance. This text explores the European phenomenon of rotating couple dances, which – for much of the nineteenth century – were collectively known as round dances. Launched in 2002 in Hungary, the project skilfully focuses on the social, historical and choreological history of round dances within Europe, featuring a plethora of country-specific case studies that offer extraordinary insight into these themes.

Ambitious in its aims, the book attempts to analyse and classify round dance movement patterns (including musical parameters), explore the material of the dancing masters, and discuss the existing political, ideological and socio-cultural discourses on round dances. Innovative in its formatting, the book utilises scannable QR codes to embed visual and audio material within the fabric of the text – such as videos of dance performances – and further includes a multitude of dance-focused artwork for the reader’s immediate benefit. The unique inclusion of these materials provides some excellent perspective and strengthens the reader’s grasp on the discussions at hand.

Particularly fascinating is the sharp examination of the links between nationalism and dancing that feature in multiple chapters of the book. Throughout history, nations have embraced dances as symbols of national identity or otherwise have outright rejected them as emblems of unwanted foreign influence. When the Waltz was introduced to Slovenia at the end of the eighteenth century, it was initially considered immoral in towns and cities, representing an appealingly modern dance whose German roots associated it with the ethnic issues of the time, and the struggle for the cultural and political autonomy of the Slovenian people. Yet after the introduction of the African-influenced Tango, the Waltz was consciously refashioned as a traditional, elegant and moral dance more in line with (perceived) Slovenian values. When faced with such intriguing historical examples, the reader is encouraged to ponder on the often-overlooked position of dance in intersectional discussions of race and cross-cultural interactions.

Interesting, too, is the unsettled debate over the origin of the Polka dance, which the Czech Republic, France and Poland each claim as their own. In the 1830s, the Polka became a Czech symbol of patriotism in small rural towns as well as a demonstration of a newly developing town society with democratic principles. Never attempting to resolve this dispute, the book instead asks: What makes a dance ‘Czech’? Why would a nation seek to claim a dance? And, most importantly, how do dances become entwined with notions of nationality in the first place?

Finally, Waltzing Through Europe perceptively touches on the connection between dancing, ‘folk devils’ – a thing held to be a bad influence on society – and ‘moral panic’. In his chapter ‘Dance and “Folk Devils”’, Mats Nilsson expands on British sociologist Stanley Cohen’s work, suggesting that society’s negative responses to certain round dances – which placed male and female bodies in close contact with one another – were a direct result of this panic. He draws on evidence from contemporary newspapers that described the Waltz as a ‘dance deserving persecution’ and a ‘dance of sensuality’, a dance which would cause ‘certain damnation for the Christian soul’. New dances, especially when danced by young people, tend to be perceived as a negative and even evil influence by elder members of society. The forty-year ban placed on dancing by the Norwegian Liberal Youth Movement from 1917–1957 is one such example within the book that demonstrates how social reactions create folk devils out of new dance forms, which appear to symbolise the internal collapse of a society.

Dance histories have, to a large extent, been written on the basis of material from the large, prestigious centres of Europe, written in the dominant languages. The contributions in this book present sources from a much larger selection of languages, and thus the book broadens perspectives on how round dances were received throughout other, often overlooked parts of Europe. Undoubtedly a significant and fascinating contribution to the discipline of dance history, Waltzing Through Europe can be enjoyed by those interested in the history of dance and those who are specifically captivated by round dances themselves.


'Waltzing Through Europe: Attitudes towards Couple Dances in the Long Nineteenth Century' by Egil Bakka, Theresa Jill Buckland, Helena Saarikoski and Anne von Bibra Wharton (eds) is now available to read & download for free here.

Image: People Dancing The Cotillion by Mary Evans Picture Library.

Open Book Publishers

Simplified Signs: A Sleeping Giant

Simplified Signs: A Sleeping Giant

by Janis Sposato (Bonvillian)

For over twenty years, the development and eventual publication of the Simplified Sign System was the one and only goal.  Last month, with the assistance of Open Book Publishers and the perseverance of the authors, family and friends, the Simplified Signs project crossed the publication finish line.  And it did so with aplomb – a beautifully crafted two-volume set of research and signs available worldwide, online and for free for anyone to use.

So now what?

Now it is time to use the signs, to play with them and to explore the reaches of this rich new communication tool.

The Simplified Sign System is not unlike a sleeping giant.  It is big to begin with.  There are approximately one thousand signs illustrated in the Volume 2 lexicon.  But when it is awakened, those one thousand signs can be used to signify many thousands more ideas, concepts and words.   The Sign Index and your own creativity are the only tools you need to waken the giant and unlock the full richness of the Simplified Sign System.

Here is an example.  Suppose you want to sign the word “symphony.”  If you look through Volume 2 and find the “S” signs, you will not see a unique sign listed for “symphony.”  But there is a way to sign “symphony.”   It is by making the sign for MUSIC.  The sign for MUSIC is reminiscent of a conductor directing the musical performance of an orchestra.  Taking it a step further, you can focus on a different meaning of the sign for MUSIC to connote “sing, singer, or choir” by simply opening your mouth while making the MUSIC sign.  The key is to know that MUSIC is the main concept under which related ideas are listed.  This is where the Sign Index is such a useful tool.

The Sign Index contains references to all the signs as well as to their synonyms, antonyms and related concepts.  In the case above, MUSIC is the sign or “main gloss” (think glossary) or concept and “symphony” is a related word or concept.  Both words are alphabetized in the Sign Index.  The related word “symphony” is in ordinary typeface and if you look it up, the index gives you a cross-reference to the main gloss word, MUSIC.  The main gloss is in all capital letters and boldface print, and it is followed by a page number where you will find the sign.  If you click on the page number in an electronic version of the Sign Index, a link will take you directly to the page that illustrates and explains the main gloss concept or sign as well as its synonyms, antonyms and related concepts.

Most main gloss words are intended to be used broadly.   You can find them easily using the Sign Index.  We encourage you to search them out and to use them creatively.  If you do this, you will greatly expand your communication possibilities and add to the sheer pleasure of using Simplified Signs.

Simplified Signs: A Sleeping Giant
MUSIC

Also the sign for Conductor, Conduct Music, Orchestra, and Symphony. If this sign is made with the mouth open, it means Choir, Sing, and/or Singer.

This book is now available to read and download for free. Please, click here to access Vol. 1 and here for Vol.2.


Janneke Adema

Bienvenue à C.A.S.A.D.: Centre d’Accès aux Savoirs d’Afrique et de sa Diaspora

Notre Tanoh Laurent Kakou a créé un blog pour son propre projet de recherche en libre accès, C.A.S.A.D.: Centre d’Accès aux Savoirs d’Afrique et de sa Diaspora.

Quelques articles seront familiers aux lecteurs de Soutenir les savoirs communs, le travail de l’équipe; d’autres sont nouveau recherche fait par Tanoh. La vidéo Qu’est-ce que la revue Afroscopie?, un entretien avec Benoit Awazi, est éclairante pour quiconque s’intéresse à la recherche en Afrique francophone.

Merci et félicitations à notre Tanoh Laurent Kakou, candidat au doctorat en communication (et diplômé d’ÉSIS), qui a réussi son examen de synthèse cet été! Meilleurs voeux à Tanoh et sa recherche.

English

Janneke Adema

Welcome to C.A.S.A.D.: Centre d’Accès aux Savoirs d’Afrique et de sa Diaspora

Our Tanoh Laurent Kakou has created a blog for his own research project in open access, C.A.S.A.D.: Centre d’Accès aux Savoirs d’Afrique et de sa Diaspora.

Some articles will be familiar to readers of Sustaining the knowledge commons, as the work of the team; others are new research projects by Tanoh. The video Qu’est-ce que la revue Afroscopie?, an interview with Benoit Awazi, is enlightening for anyone who is interested in research in francophone Africa.

Thank you and congratulations to our Tanoh Laurent Kakou, a doctoral candidate in communication (and graduate of ÉSIS) on passing his comprehensive exam this summer! Best wishes to Tanoh and his research.

Français
Open Book Publishers

An Open Essay on the Personal and Profound Relevance of Simplified Signs

An Open Essay on the Personal and Profound Relevance of Simplified Signs

By Jessica Davis

When called upon to recount my experience working with Professor John Bonvillian on the Simplified Sign project, I am reminded of Hamlet beseeching the Players:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to
you, trippingly on the tongue: …
...Nor do not saw the air
too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;
for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say,
the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget
a temperance that may give it smoothness.

(III.II. 1-8).

With the same desperate urgency with which young Hamlet implored his audience to grasp the dire importance of attention to how we conduct an exchange of ideas, I would ask our readers to note that we must learn to mind not only our “tripping” tongues, but also our “tempestuously passionate” gestures.

John and his colleagues recognized from the beginning the unquestionable importance of “listening” to the gestures, facial expressions, and body movements of others. Bonvillian’s methodology compassionately acknowledged the needs of those he observed by individually crafting a response to such persons in their native hand. In 2012, I, a late-deafened 22-year-old woman who had recently transferred to her dream school, stumbled into his office seeking permission to learn more about the sign language research he was doing at the University of Virginia. That afternoon, John Bonvillian became the first person in my life to immediately adapt his communication with me by supporting his speech with signs and gestures, facing me when speaking, enunciating his words, and never hesitating to repeat himself should I ask for clarification. More importantly, in that same moment, he became the first clinician to explicitly define and validate my previously unacknowledged communicative needs, which forever changed how I interacted with myself and those around me.

Like thousands of students before me, I had the privilege of learning from the pulpit of a psychosocial pioneer of multimodal “tempered smoothness” who had a gift for effortlessly incorporating gestures with his trademark pentameter-esque cadence of spoken English. Unlike most of his other students, however, I experienced chronic kidney disease, moderate-severe deafness, language deprivation, social isolation, PTSD, and many of the psychosocial misgivings of being a nontraditional working “Townie” at the prestigious UVA. None of these “abnormalities” phased Dr. Bonvillian, who worked with me as he would any other student, eventually bringing me into the Simplified Sign project and honoring me with the role of a Principal Investigator.

It was at UVA, and especially in John’s classes, that I would first come to understand the implications of a lifetime spent being underestimated as a valuable and contributing member of society. I would also come to learn from both a personal and academic perspective the amazing power of signs and gestures for making social connections. I couldn’t possibly articulate the innumerable benefits that I have gained from learning Simplified Signs, but I can attest to the noticeable communicative progress in both my English-spoken and ASL-signed interactions over the last 8 years of my life. Moreover, I am living proof that sign language education does not impede spoken language usage; on the contrary, my experience has taught me the statistically significant benefits of integrating linguistic modalities.

Imagining a new sociocultural norm that fully supports linguistic diversity does not sound easy. However, teaching what I’ve learned about the intentional integration of signed and spoken language for the purposes of optimal perception and shared understanding might be a simple enough idea to see a shift in the status quo, and I embrace that idea wholeheartedly. Thanks to Open Book Publishers, Simplified Signs Volumes I & II are available for free for everyone to use worldwide. We are now all endowed with the tools to communicate meaningfully from a distance, and/or while wearing face masks, and/or through glass windows, and/or across language barriers, and/or with one’s culturally diverse or differently-abled child, sibling, friend, family member, client, colleague, teacher, weary traveler, or wounded warrior. As we move forward in our lives in the days and years that follow this publication, I beseech you in the spirit of the Bard:

Sign the speech, we pray you, as we have pronounced it to
you. And with this, our system, beget
a temperance that may give it smoothness.

Jessica Davis was a research assistant on the Simplified Sign project for a year and then served as a principal investigator for two years. Her research focused on expanding the lexicon for use with a broader population of individuals. She continues to be involved in the project and, in coordination with the authors, hopes to produce an app and educational materials for persons learning Simplified Signs. Ms. Davis counts herself among the neurodiverse populations that Dr. Bonvillian aimed to most directly serve.

This book is now available to read and download for free. Please, click here to access Vol. 1 and here for Vol.2.

Photo by Shoeib Abolhassani on Unsplash

Janneke Adema

MediArXiv launches Membership Circle

What is MediArXiv?

MediArXiv is a community-run open archive for media, film, and communication studies. MediArXiv was initiated by Open Access in Media Studies and founded in 2019. The preprint server is governed by a 16-member Steering Committee of academics and librarians from around the world. MediArXiv provides a non-profit platform for media, film, and communication scholars to upload their working papers, preprints, accepted manuscripts (post-prints), and published manuscripts. The mission of MediArXiv is to open up media, film, and communication research to a broader readership and to help build the future of scholarly communication. We receive submissions from around the world, which we moderate in 11 languages.

What is the legal status of MediArXiv?

MediArXiv is a registered non-profit corporation in the state of Pennsylvania, with 501(c)(3) status. We have partnered with the Center for Open Science, a nonprofit organization who operates the Open Science Framework upon which MediArXiv is hosted and developed. All of our operating documentation is available to the public on Github, openly licensed.

Operating MediArXiv incurs expenses. Minor expenses include registration of the domain name and shared hosting. Further, as of 2020, the Center for Open Science is requesting that their partnering preprint servers contribute towards the expenses of operating the server, including developer maintenance, DOI minting, hosting, and overhead, on a cost recovery basis. With this in mind, MediArXiv is creating a Membership Circle, formed of organizations interested in supporting open dissemination of media scholarship.

What is the request?

We are asking for $500.00 annually from each member organization. Renewals will be invoiced on an annual basis. In exchange, we will feature your organization on our website and social media channels (unless you ask us not to). Thank you for your consideration!

Ready to join?

Great! Please send an email to mediarxiv@mediarxiv.com to get started. Invoices can be paid via ACH bank transfer or credit card.

Open Book Publishers

Simplified Signs and Psycholinguistics

Simplified Signs and Psycholinguistics

by Filip T. Loncke

For me, the publication of John Bonvillian’s Simplified Sign System is significant for multiple reasons. These reasons are partially personal for me as John was a friend, and a like-minded colleague, thinker and academic.  But I believe they are also significant for science, and for its application, from which many can and certainly will benefit.

Let me start with the personal: I had met John in 1981 at a conference in Bristol, England at the second international symposium on sign language research, a gathering of scholars – mainly linguists – who had started to study the sign languages of the deaf communities (American Sign Language, British Sign Language, etc.). It was one of a series of scientific meetings that we both attended, where researchers reported on how linguistic theories could be applied to sign languages – or, more interesting, how sign language data sometimes challenged existing opinions. John and I were among a few who were not “pure” linguists, i.e. not just interested in the structure of sign language as a system. We wanted to know how signs were processed in the heads of the people who used them.  Manual signs and spoken words are both linguistic symbols – that makes them similar – but there are also differences. Manual signs are processed visually. Manual signs sometimes look like something they represent (think of the sign for EATING), and manual signs do not rely on speech articulation (one of the most complicated human actions). John and a few others thought that this opened up possibilities: here we have linguistic symbols (with all the richness that comes with it) that are in a different modality: gestural, visual, and sometimes pictorial. Can we put this finding to some good use? Yes, starting in the 1970s, several educators had explored possibilities to reach out to children (and later adults) with limited access to speech by introducing signing. John was not the only one, but he was the one who approached this challenge in the most methodical, and systematic way. So, I felt John Bonvillian had an interest that I shared. John had also a dedication to turn this interest into something that can be beneficial for many. And that was something that I could admire.

But there is much more than the personal. The discovery and the recognition that the sign languages used in deaf communities were genuine linguistic systems with a syntax, morphology, and a phonology, was a breakthrough in the 1960s and 1970s. The late Professor Tervoort of the University of Amsterdam, who would be one of my PhD mentors in 1990, still felt the need to publish an article in 1973 under the title “Could there be a human sign language” – answering the sceptics in the linguistic and psycholinguistic fields who were convinced that language had to be mediated through speech in order to be linguistic. Tervoort and many of the first sign language researchers clearly demonstrated that language does not have to go through the speech channel. John Bonvillian’s work is taking all this a step further.

The development of the Simplified Signs is, in my modest opinion, of great importance for our general understanding of the human capacity to use linguistic symbols. Sign language research had taught us that deaf communities have their own full-fledged languages, but how about others? There was no reason to believe that individuals who are deaf would have less linguistic potential – hence, the expectation that sign languages are fully linguistic should not be surprising. But what about individuals who may have a less evident access to language? Individuals who are diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum, or individuals who have an intellectual or cognitive impairment? Bonvillian’s undertaking is essentially the creation of a set of symbols that can be linguistic and that may be more accessible because of the system’s gestural, iconic (pictorial) and motor characteristics. Maybe that is all it is – it may not sound like much, but it is an indication that the human capacity to learn and to use communicative symbols has fewer limitations than thought before. The project is an attempt to open doors to communication a little wider for those who find it difficult to establish a linguistic contact with others, and to learn through symbols. To us, it is a brilliantly logical culmination of decades worth of creative work in psycholinguistics and selfless service to the community.

This book is now available to read and download for free. Please, click here to access Vol. 1 and here for Vol.2.

We will be hosting an Online Book Launch for this title on the 3rd September 2020 at 4 p.m. BST/ 11 a.m. EST. You can RSVP here.

Open Book Publishers

OBP Summer Newsletter

OBP Summer Newsletter
OBP Summer Newsletter




Welcome to our Summer newsletter!

Dive in to discover our:

  • ANNOUNCEMENTS
  • NEW AND FORTHCOMING BOOKS
  • CALLS FOR PROPOSALS
  • A CLOSER LOOK: BLOGS, VLOGS, EVENTS & INTERVIEWS

Also, remember our latest MARC records are now available here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Open Educational Resources list: As we get closer to the beginning of the academic year, and specially in a time when remote learning is the 'new normal', make sure to take advantage of this list of high-quality, Open Access books and textbooks we have curated for you. Everything on this list is freely accessible with no log-in, fees or subscriptions required; it's collated by us but we welcome contributions. You can email your suggestions to Laura Rodriguez at laura@openbookpublishers.com

Open Access Book Network (OABN) With colleagues at OAPEN, OPERAS and Sparc Europe, we are launching a new network to discuss and share information about developments in OA books!  

OBP has made it to the Top 100 of the NatWest SE100 Index 2020! Once again OBP has made it to the SE100 Index. This award celebrates the growth, impact and resilience of social ventures in the UK by recognising the most impressive 100 social enterprises of the year. You can find the full list containing the top 100 here.

NEW AND FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS

This summer we have seen the release of exciting and innovative new titles:

Environmental Studies:

Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing, by Sam Mickey, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim (eds.). Click here to access.

Semitic Languages and Cultures:

Studies in Rabbinic Hebrew, by Shai Heijmans (ed.). Click here to access.

Studies in Semitic Vocalisation and Reading Traditions, by Aaron Hornkohl and Geoffrey Khan (eds.). Click here to access.  

Jewish-Muslim Intellectual History Entangled: Textual Materials from the Firkovitch Collection, Saint Petersburg, by Camilla Adang, Bruno Chiesa, Omar Hamdan, Wilferd Madelung, Sabine Schmidtke and Jan Thiele (eds). Click here to access.

Languages and Linguistics:

Creative Multilingualism: A Manifesto, by Katrin Kohl, Rajinder Dudrah, Andrew Gosler, Suzanne Graham, Martin Maiden, Wen-chin Ouyang and Matthew Reynolds (eds.). Click here to access.

A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, by Jeffrey Love, Inger Larsson, Ulrika Djärv, Christine Peel, and Erik Simensen. Click here to access.

Simplified Signs: A Manual Sign-Communication System for Special Populations, Volume 1 & Volume 2, by John D. Bonvillian, Nicole Kissane Lee, Tracy T. Dooley and Filip T. Loncke. Click here to access.
Archeology and Classical Studies:

Sailing from Polis to Empire: Ships in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Hellenistic Period  by Emmanuel Nantet (ed.). Click here to access.
Economics, Politics and Sociology:

A European Public Investment Outlook, by Floriana Cerniglia and Francesco Saraceno (eds). Click here to access.

Discourses We Live By: Narratives of Educational and Social Endeavour by Hazel R. Wright and Marianne Høyen (eds). Click here to access.

Forthcoming publications: Click here to visit our forthcoming titles section and find out more about the upcoming titles on topics like vigilantism, war, theatre, lexicography, photography, literature and more!

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Studies on Mathematics Education and Society: This book series publishes high-quality monographs, edited volumes, handbooks and formally innovative books which explore the relationships between mathematics education and society. Click here to find out more about the series and the submission process.                                                  

What do we care about? A Cross-Cultural Textbook for Undergraduate Students of Philosophical Ethics: This book is a bold attempt to remedy the one-sided and narrow narrative textbooks in philosophy have by focusing exclusively on a Western narrative and provides a comprehensive and broad perspective of ethics to undergraduate students.Click hereto find out more about the submission process.


St Andrews Studies in French History and Culture: This series covers the full span of historical themes relating to France: from political history, through military/naval, diplomatic, religious, social, financial, cultural and intellectual history, art and architectural history, to literary culture. Click here for more details.

Global Communications: Global Communications series looks beyond national borders to examine current transformations in public communication, journalism and media. We are currently accepting proposals for this series. Click here if you wish to know more.

A CLOSER LOOK: BLOGS, VLOGS, EVENTS & INTERVIEWS


New Blog Posts:

The Possibility of Signs: This is the first of a series of blog post on one of our latest titles Simplified Signs: A Manual Sign-Communication System for Special Populations. Read William B. Bonvillian's reflections on the Simplified Signs project.

‘Thieves’ marks’ and ‘tinder-wolves’: The Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law: Read Adèle Kreager's take on our new title A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law.

On 'Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora' by Grace Aneiza Ali (ed.): Read Domenic Rotundo's reflections on our forthcoming book Liminal Spaces: Migration and Women of the Guyanese Diaspora by Grace Aneiza Ali (ed.).

Photography and Protest: Deborah Willis, Chair of Photography & Imaging at Tisch New York University and co-editor of Women and Migration, shares her powerful reflections about photography, history and protest in the context of the BLM movement.

A Kids’ Book about Plague from a Bygone Century:Author Jan M. Ziolkowski considers the relationships between sickness, stories and sweetness in this discussion of children's book 'The Acrobat and the Angel' and its relationship to The Juggler of Notre Dame.

A Charred Cathedral in Paris and A Modern Masterpiece in Glass: Le Jongleur de Notre Dame: Author Jan M. Ziokowski meditates on the relationship between glass, storytelling and hope.

The key to cracking down on climate change? Cracking out the books: Claudia Griffiths discusses Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa, a groundbreaking Open Access textbook aiming to inspire a future generation of conservationists to reverse detrimental ecological damage.

Margery Spring Rice: A Life Retold: Read Wendy Mach's reflections on how Lucy Pollard’s biography brings to life one of the great personalities behind the birth control movement.

Margery Spring Rice: Pioneer of Women’s Health in the Early Twentieth Century: In this new blog Dr Lucy Pollard, author of Margery Spring Rice: Pioneer of Women’s Health in the Early Twentieth Century, reflects on her new title and her role as a biographer.

The cost of Open Access books: a publisher writes: OBP lays out our costs and revenue for the last financial year (2018 - 2019), to add some numbers to discussions about funding OA books.

Library Support for OA Books Workshop: the German perspective: this report by Agata Morka offers fascinating insights into the Open Access landscape in Germany.

OBP's draft response to the UKRI Open Access consultation: Here we share our draft response to UKRI's Open Access consultation.

Vlog Series:

In this Vlog series, Mary Evelyn Tucker takes the readers on a journey through one of our latest Open Access titles: Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing (edited by Sam Mickey, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and John Grim) by interviewing the contributors of each chapter and exploring the ideas behind the project. Watch the complete series here.
Events and Interviews:

View this interview with William B. Bonvillian (Lecturer at MIT, Senior Director at MIT Open Learning) which introduces Simplified Signs: A Manual Sign-Communication System for Special Populations, which was co-written by William's late brother, John Bonvillian. William chats with us about the Simplified Signs project, how it came about, who was involved and what it seeks to achieve. You can watch the full interview here.

Online Book Launch: Join us for the online book launch of our new OA title Simplified Signs: A Manual Sign-Communication System for Special Populations by John Bonvillian, Nicole K. Lee, Tracy T. Dooley and Filip T. Loncke.
When: Thursday 3rd September 2020 at 4 p.m. BST / 11 a.m. EST
How: Via Zoom
We encourage attendants to register to the event at https://tinyurl.com/SignsOBL and to leave their questions before the online launch here.

Get to Know Us - An Interview with Adèle Kreager: Find out more about our Editor, Adèle Kreager. Click here to know more about her career, her editorial role and the most challenging aspects of her work.

Chat with us! Chat with our team at our open drop-in sessions on Mondays at 5pm UK time. Find out more about publishing with us and the work we do!
When: Monday 7th September at 5pm (UK time).
How: click here to connect to our Zoom channel.

If there are any thoughts you would like to share with us about this newsletter or our work in general, please email laura@openbookpublishers.com or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.