U-M Press/HASTAC Publication Prize in Digital Humanities
Sponsored by the University of Michigan Institute for the Humanities

In conjunction with the University of Michigan’s hosting of the 2011 international HASTAC V conference on Digital Scholarly Communication and recent launch of the University of Michigan Press Digital Humanities Series, the press and HASTAC (the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory) are pleased to announce the U-M Press/HASTAC Publication Prize in Digital Humanities. The prize, which is funded by the U-M Institute for the Humanities, will be awarded to two innovative and important projects that display critical and rigorous engagement in the field of digital humanities.

Eligibility: The prize is open to scholars of all ranks, though preference is for first and single-author books of younger scholars. Two prizes of $5,000 each will be awarded as subvention support for publication projects, along with an advance contract for publication in the series. Recipients will be announced on the websites of U-M Press, HASTAC, and the Institute for the Humanities.

Review Process: Eligible projects will be peer reviewed with recipients determined by the HASTAC steering committee and the general editors and advisory board of the series. The general editors are Julie Thompson Klein (Wayne State University) and Tara McPherson (University of Southern California). The advisory board members are Wendy Chun (Brown University), Cathy Davidson (Duke University), Thomas Finholt (University of Michigan), Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Pomona College), Daniel Herwitz (University of Michigan), Tim Murray (Cornell University), and Sidonie Smith (University of Michigan). Tom Dwyer and Shana Kimball of U-M Press are also taking part in the review of proposals.

Applying: For consideration, authors should provide by e-mail a prospectus for a completed project. The prospectus should include the following components: a description of the goals, intended audience, and significance; a C.V.; and sample material. For innovative formats, also address feasibility and long-term sustainability of the design. The deadline for submission is Monday, March 19, 2012. Please send submissions to the editor-in-chief of U-M Press, Tom Dwyer, at thdwyer@umich.edu.

         

Guidelines for prospectus submissions
to Digital Humanities, an imprint of digitalculturebooks.

The series seeks to expand the conventional notion of scholarly publication with print and digital formats, including traditional manuscripts, innovative formats that host online resources and websites, hybrid print and online “books,” and interactive and multimodal work.

Reviewers and series editors consider the following criteria when evaluating all submissions:

• demonstrates informed awareness of pertinent literature, models, and/or practices
• defines and develops emerging issues and perspectives
• provides a significant contribution to the field
• benchmarks current thematics, problematics, theory, and/or practices
• demonstrates “best practices” from leading networks, communities of practice, innovative practitioners, and educators
• offers an analytic, creative, or critical contribution to the field
• is original, provocative, or breaks new ground
• advances interdisciplinary approaches and/or methodologies
• employs innovative formats and technology appropriate to the subject
• enhances understanding of the relationship of form to content and of design to meaning
• is feasible and sustainable.

Final publication will be contingent on positive external reviews and approval by the executive board of U-M Press. The press and MPublishing, U-M’s center for scholarly publishing, are dedicated to publishing innovative work in new media studies and digital humanities.

For additional points to consider, see http://press.umich.edu/press/submissionGuidelines.jsp.

For further information on digitalculturebooks, see http://www.digitalculture.org/.