Biography wins 2017 Best Special Issue Award

Cover of Biography volume 39, number 3
Image courtesy of the Center for Biographical Research at UH Mānoa

Please join us in congratulating the editors and contributors of Biography vol. 39, no. 3 on winning the Council of Editors of Learned Journal’s 2017 Best Special Issue Award!

The Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ), an Allied Organization of the Modern Language Association, is the major national organization representing more than 450 editors of scholarly journals in all disciplines.

Biography vol. 39, no. 3 is the journal’s special issue on “Indigenous Conversations about Biography,” and it was guest edited by Alice Te Punga Somerville, Daniel Heath Justice, and Noelani Arista.

As detailed in the editors’ Introduction, the special issue started here in Mānoa Valley:

This is a conversation about Indigenous lives, the ways we understand them, the ways we represent them, and the responsibilities that come from doing this work in a good way. And this is just a beginning. We are honored to welcome you to this special issue of Biography, and to the Indigenous scholars, artists, and visionaries who come together in community on the topic of Indigenous biography. Some of this diverse group of Indigenous thinkers came together in person in Mānoa Valley on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu, traveling from the Indigenous territories claimed by New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States to take up the challenges, questions, concerns, and possibilities of representing Indigenous lives.

The complete table of contents and contributors for this issue may be viewed online at Project MUSE.

Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly is published by University of Hawai`i Press for the Center for Biographical Research (CBR) at UH Mānoa. The journal is coedited by Cynthia G. Franklin, Craig Howes, and John David Zuern. Managing editors for vol. 39 were Stanley Schab (emeritus) and Anjoli Roy. Read about CBR’s staff here.

Each year, Biography publishes a special issue that explores a topic of emerging critical interest, often centered around a CBR seminar. This year marks the second time Biography has won the CELJ Award for Best Special Issue, as coeditor Craig Howes explains:
Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly has actually received this award once before, for our “Posthuman Lives” issue. That was the first one resulting from our invited seminar in Honolulu process. Alice, Daniel, and Noelani made a number of innovations, including commissioning the two responses to each longer contribution, which created an articulate and powerful community of voices. Their decisions have also strongly influenced how we have conducted the three seminars (!) we have held since then–in Honolulu, and in London.

Contact us to order a single copy, subscribe online, or read the full-text of this issue at Project MUSE (institutional or individual electronic subscription required).

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UHP-primarylogo-2cEstablished in 1947, the University of Hawai`i Press supports the mission of the university through the publication of books and journals of exceptional merit. The Press strives to advance knowledge through the dissemination of scholarship—new information, interpretations, methods of analysis—with a primary focus on Asian, Pacific, Hawaiian, Asian American, and global studies. It also serves the public interest by providing high-quality books, journals and resource materials of educational value on topics related to Hawai`i’s people, culture, and natural environment. Through its publications the Press seeks to stimulate public debate and educate both within and outside the classroom.

For more information on the University of  Hawai`i Press and our publications, visit www.uhpress.hawaii.edu.

Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, vol. 79 (2017)

Mural in Los Angeles
From “Painting a Place: A Spatiothematic Analysis of Murals in East Los Angeles” by Zia Salim in this issue: The side of a tire shop is adorned with a mural representing various Mesoamerican elements, including a jaguar, a volcano, a pyramid, and farmers. Painting the Importance of Life, Raul Gonzalez and Joseph Montalvo, 2000.

The 2017 Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers presents a wide range of geographic studies, plus notes from the field, media reviews, and APCG award winners. Some articles of note:


Find the full text of the issue at Project MUSE


APCG Yearbook 79 coverAbout the Journal

Founded in 1935, the APCG has a rich history of promoting geographical education and research. Its Yearbook includes abstracts of papers from its annual meetings, a selection of full-length peer-reviewed articles, and book reviews.

Subscriptions

Available for members of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers.

 

Beyond Ainu Studies: Changing Academic and Public Perspectives

Hudson-BeyondAinuStudiesIn 2008, 140 years after it had annexed Ainu lands, the Japanese government shocked observers by finally recognizing Ainu as an Indigenous people. In this moment of unparalleled political change, it was Uzawa Kanako, a young Ainu activist, who signalled the necessity of moving beyond the historical legacy of “Ainu studies.” Mired in a colonial mindset of abject academic practices, Ainu Studies was an umbrella term for an approach that claimed scientific authority vis-à-vis Ainu, who became its research objects. As a result of this legacy, a latent sense of suspicion still hangs over the purposes and intentions of non-Ainu researchers.

This major new volume seeks to re-address the role of academic scholarship in Ainu social, cultural, and political affairs. Placing Ainu firmly into current debates over Indigeneity, Beyond Ainu Studies provides a broad yet critical overview of the history and current status of Ainu research.