Humanities and Public Life

April 2, 2012

Recently, the University of Iowa Press announced a new book series: Humanities and Public Life. Within 58 minutes, we had our first inquiry. In the days after the announcement, we had enthusiastic inquiries from historians, philosophers, architects, museum curators and humanities councils. Our first formal proposal arrived in less than a week.

My co-editor, Anne Valk; the acquisitions editor at the press, Catherine Cocks; and I find ourselves using phrases like “pent-up demand” to explain the outpouring of interest. We are all the more encouraged because neither the term “public” nor “humanities” offers much clarity these days. Not everyone connects the dots among these sometimes overlapping, sometimes alienated cultures. That’s what we hope this series will do.