For more than 100 years ACLS has supported the creation and circulation of knowledge that advances our understanding of humanity and human endeavors. But to remain relevant this support must adapt to the tremendous shifts—technological, cultural, and financial—within the academy over the last several decades. Amplifying Humanistic Scholarship supports initiatives that cultivate a twenty-first-century ecosystem in which humanistic publications can thrive.
The way forward isn’t always clear. Scholarship has long been produced and distributed in ways that are deeply entrenched. Even small changes to that system require collaboration and coordination across a wide network of scholars, publishers, and libraries. “The Stressed Humanities Monograph” illustrates these challenges from multiple perspectives, with a particular focus on the book publications—or monographs—that form the beating heart of humanistic scholarship.
Amplifying Humanistic Scholarship promotes equity and innovation in the sharing of knowledge. It embraces a capacious understanding of accessibility—including distribution models that remove economic barriers for readers, technical accommodations for neuro- and physical diversity, and content styles that make complex ideas more legible. And it brings ACLS community members into dialogue with publishers and librarians to encourage mutual understandings of how we can widen the audience for humanistic scholarship and bolster its impact.
Supported Initiatives
An open access pilot for book publications in the humanities
In partnership with Brown University Digital Publications; the Digital Publishing and Open Access Committees of AUPresses; and Emory University’s Digital Publishing in the Humanities.
In Athena Unbound: Why and How Scholarly Knowledge Should Be Free for All, Peter Baldwin offers an up-to-date look at the ideals and history behind open access.
On Monday, May 9, 2022, the American Council of Learned Societies presented “A Healthy Ecosystem for Humanities Scholarship: The Evolving Role of Open Access,” a virtual panel discussion.
