University of Michigan Press Blog

Michael Jackson's Ability to Break Barriers

John White, author of the forthcoming book: Barack Obama's America, provides a series of views on American society.

 In 1991, Michael Jackson released the song "Black or White."  In the music video accompanying the song, male and female faces morphed into all shades of different colors.  The Reagan era had ended only a few years before, but the U.S. was still a mostly white country.  Jackson had transcended a racial barrier by becoming the first black artist to penetrate MTV.  Today, whites are fast becoming a minority and the morphing of the face of America is happening thanks to an increase interracial marriages (something that was still uncommon in 1991).  The Jackson video prophesized the coming of a new era in U.S. politics, one in which the binary concept of race (black/white) no longer really holds.  (Indeed, defining race constitutes something of a slippery slope.)

Watch the music video on YouTube.

Learn more about Barack Obama's America here.

Q&A with Greg Nelson, author of M Is for Michigan Football: Celebrating the Tradition of Michigan Football

M Is for Michigan Football explores 26 of the many traditions and highlights of the University of Michigan football program, the winningest in all of college football. The book features eye-popping photos, historical details and trivia about myriad Wolverine football traditions in alphabetical order—from beloved Coach Bo Schembechler (B), the annual border war with Ohio State (the Game) (G), Michigan’s 11 national championships (N), to zero—the number of losses suffered by the 1901 Wolverines in their undefeated, untied, and unscored-upon season (Z).

Greg Nelson, who was born in Jackson, Michigan and currently resides in Florida, is a Michigan fan and college football enthusiast who has been writing professionally for more than 25 years.

Listen to the interview with Greg Nelson from the University of Michigan Press Podcasts.

"A Holy Snooping" by Mardi Link

Mardi Link is author of the forthcoming true crime novel Isadore's Secret. Below is a posting that appeared on her blog Rusty Gun on July 2, 2009.

July 1st the New York Times featured story on naughty nuns. Well, not naughty nuns per se, but rather Rome's decidedly dim view of the behavior of nuns in the U.S. According to the article, the Vatican has initiated two investigations into the workings of American convents. Specifically, those convents whose Sisters are out and about, working with the public. Cloistered nuns who shun our modern world are, apparently, still ok.

"When I was a young girl" by Susan Messer

When I was a young girl, growing up in 1960s Detroit, someone told me, possibly a teacher, that Jews and blacks were minority groups. I remember walking home, turning this idea over in my mind, and thinking that the person who had concocted it must be terribly misinformed, because when I looked around my world, the only people I saw were blacks and Jews.
When I told this to a neighbor recently, she said, "You mean there weren't any  . . . just plain white . . . ?"
"No," I said. "Oh, maybe a few."
Grand River and Joy comes in part from that world, where together we two minority groups lived, went to school, and worked in uneasy proximity, never fully understanding each other, never fully welcomed by the surrounding majority.

Check Out Where Our Authors Have Been Recently

 For the jazz enthusiasts our two recent jazz authors have been busy discussing their new books.
FIrst, listen to author, David Savran, on Inquiry with Mark Lynch on WICN. Savran talks about his new book Highbrow/Lowdown: Theatre, Jazz and the Making of a New Middle Class and the roots of jazz theater. 

Check out other upcoming University of Michigan Press author events.

Iraq, Afghanistan, and the controversy of "The New U.S. Army"

The U.S. Army Stability Operations Field Manual, published by the University of Michigan Press, signals a stark departure from traditional military doctrine. In doing, it has led to a divided response on the U.S. Army's fundamental role in overseas operations at this critical moment in history. Click here to read more about the U.S. Army Stability Operations Field Manual.

See below for commentary from both sides of the issue and let us know what you think.

"The Many Face(book)s of Political Islam": The fine art of dissent in Iran

Mohammed Ayoob, author: The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World

"The relationship between the Shia clerics and the Iranian state changed dramatically after the Islamic revolution of 1979. Politically active clerics now became state functionaries and found themselves at the center of political and economic power...Despite the attempt by hard-liners to impose restrictions on the freedom of expression and the press, Iran is a vibrant and politically competitive society that has turned evading such restrictions into a fine art. Newspapers banned one day appear the next day under different names, with the authorities often turning a blind eye toward such transgressions."

Continue reading about the new youth movement in Iran, where popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are being used to express dissent:

UMP authors Johnson and Goldman on BookTV

This weekend, June 20th at 4:45 pm and June 21st at 4 pm, authors of A Good Quarrel Timothy Johnson and Jerry Goldman will be on BookTV discussing their new book. Find out more about the show by clicking here.

About the Program: Charles Bierbauer (CNN), Lyle Denniston (scotusblog.com), Dahlia Lithwick (Slate.com) and Tony Mauro (American Lawyer Media) are among the Supreme Court reporters who provide an inside look at the manner, behavior and questioning of Justices during some of the most newsworthy cases in recent memory.

Learn more about the book here.

Michigan Launches eCatalog Formatted for iPhones, smartphones

In addition to it's regular seasonal print and electronic catalogs, Director Phil Pochoda and the University of Michigan Press today launched the Michigan: eCATALOG, a "University Press 2.0" subject catalog design reflecting a digital transition that embraces new technologies, expanding social media networks, and immediate global searchability, accessibility, and connectivity.

If you would like to receive a seasonal subject eCATALOG, click here or on the image below to subscribe:

Martha Minow named dean of Harvard Law School

The University of Michigan Press would like to congratulate Martha Minow, the series editor of Law, Meaning, and Violence, on being named dean of Harvard Law School.
"A member of the Law School faculty since 1981, Minow is a distinguished legal scholar with interests that range from international human rights to equality and inequality, from religion and pluralism to managing mass tort litigation, from family law and education law to the privatization of military, schooling, and other governmental activities."--Harvard Law School News
Continue reading the article by clicking here: Harvard Law School.

View all of the books in the Law, Meaning, and Violence series here.

Photo credit: Harvard Law School