12 Nov 2024 75 Years of Stepping Up

As the University of Utah Press celebrates its 75^th anniversary this year, we have looked backward and forward, contemplating how our small press continues to impact academia, publishing landscapes, and our communities in Utah and beyond.

The University of Utah Press steps up every day as our small team works to confront global challenges through our sustainability titles, exploring the concept of sustainability from a variety of perspectives. Sustainability for the Forgotten interrogates the usefulness of current sustainability approaches for the poorest of the poor, the chronic underclass, victims of natural disasters, refugees, the oppressed, and asks: How can we do better? A Watershed Moment: The American West in the Age of Limits reveals tensions between a culture of economic growth and personal freedom and the ecological, economic, and social constraints set by community values and the land itself. Sustainable Capitalism: Essential Work for the Anthropocene asks whether capitalism is compatible with sustainability, suggesting that immediate sustainability measures require working within the system we have, and offering practical regulatory measures that may make this possible.

On a local level, the Press steps up with our work on Great Salt Lake, publishing the research of local scholars whose ideas may be put into practice in daily life, such as Bonnie Baxter’s The Great Salt Lake Food Chains and Darren Parry’s Indigenous Perspective to Climate and Environment. While these and other authors in our sustainability book list and new series on Great Salt Lake and the Great Basin acknowledge the real threat to air quality, water supply, and the organisms dependent upon the lake ecosystem with the shrinking of Great Salt Lake, they also offer hope for the future by taking both small and large steps toward conservation and preservation. The Press is committed to disseminating this information to local and national readers, particularly amplifying the knowledge and perspectives of Indigenous authors as we work to preserve the natural environment and combat climate change.

In our day-to-day operations, we step up by acknowledging how the responsibilities for caregiving fall disproportionately on women, and allow extra time in our schedules to support those who need it. We educate each other about avoiding biased language and descriptions that reinforce stereotypes. We maintain an active commitment to making our books and ebooks accessible far beyond the baseline legal requirements. We push on the definitions of academic scholarship, understanding that oral accounts and research done by non-scholars in the traditional sense is valuable, essential, and accessible. We pursue the goal of publishing scholarship that is accessible and readable to audiences outside of academic fields. Our team at the University of Utah Press strives to #StepUP every day, working together to confront challenges both local and global.

The University of Utah acknowledges that this land, which is named for the Ute Tribe, is the traditional and ancestral homeland of the Shoshone, Paiute, Goshute, and Ute Tribes. We recognize and respect the enduring relationship that exists between many Indigenous peoples and their traditional homelands. We respect the sovereign relationship between tribes, states, and the federal government, and we affirm the University of Utah’s commitment to a partnership with Native Nations and Urban Indian communities through research, education, and community outreach activities.

Susan Wegener is the project editor for the University of Utah Press