Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North edited by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes
A Year in Review
21%
of the authors and editors of AU Press books are international scholars
““Of the publishers I have worked with, you (Pamela) and Athabasca University Press were the best—good personal contact, excellent advice and editing, and a great-looking book.”
—Frank Elwell, author of Sociocultural Systems
Remix: A New Imprint for OERs
In 2023, AU Press launched Remix, a new imprint focused on publishing open educational resources written or adapted by Athabasca University faculty. This new imprint advances Athabasca University’s stated commitment to “the removal of barriers that restrict access to and success in university-level study and to increasing equality of educational opportunity for adult learners worldwide.” The works published under this imprint are licensed under Creative Commons licences and are freely available at aupress.ca and through OER repositories.
AU Press has always been known for its unique approach to publication and its commitment to open access. This new imprint showcases our commitment to innovative approaches to digital publishing.
Writer-in-Residence Book Series
In collaboration with the Writer-in-Residence committee, AU Press publishes a series of short books written by Athabasca University’s writer-in-residence. Our first title was The Virtues of Disillusionment by Steven Heighton, a brief essay that explores how disappointment can be better than hope. In 2023, we published Indigiqueerness: A Conversation about Storytelling by Joshua Whitehead, in dialogue with Angie Abdou, a tender, electic reflection from a celebrated Indigenous author on his life, work, and queer identity. The next book in the series will be an essay on writing about Ukraine from last year’s writer-in-residence, Myrna Kostash.
Accessible Ebooks: Extending our Commitment to Access
AU Press is one of a handful of organizations worldwide that is a certified producer of accessible publications. The Press achieved its certification through Benetech, a non-profit organization that creates software for social good and that offers the only third-party electronic publishing certification program. The certification recognizes publishers who produce ebook files that meet or exceed accessibility standards. Open access is a guiding principle at AU Press and making our books available to those with perceptual (print) disabilities is another way for us to remove barriers to knowledge and serve a wider community of readers.
34%
of our list is accessible and meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
Our Book Program
33,174
pdf downloads in 2023
OA Readership:
5 most frequently downloaded books
Awards
“Truth Behind Bars”: Reflections on the Fate of the Russian Revolution by Paul Kellogg
Winner – 2023 Society for Socialist Studies’ Errol Sharpe Book Prize
Under the Nakba Tree: Fragments of a Palestinian Family in Canada by Mowafa Said Househ
Winner – 2023 Independent Publisher Awards: Best Regional Non-Fiction
Little Wet-Paint Girl by Ouanessa Younsi, translated by Rebecca L. Thompson
Our Journal Program
77
journal articles published in 2023
Top downloaded article from IRRODL: Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses by Holly Fiock, Purdue University.
Public Engagement
AU Press Books in the News
—Gemechu Abeshu, Great Plains Research
“Metaphors of Ed Tech has highlighted the use of metaphors to the specific discipline of Educational Technology. By the end, both specialists and newcomers will feel they have achieved a better understanding of many of the current post-pandemic challenges facing Ed Tech and will be glad they persisted on their journey through the book.”
—Elspeth Nelson, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning
“Told with empathy and moral courage, Under the Nakba Tree offers a refusal of the Palestinian generation born in exile to let their history and rights disappear from political and domestic conversations. Published on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Nakba, this story offers a narrative of survival and resistance—a refutation of past and current inequality, discrimination and injustice. By opting to stand up and tell his story, Househ does not hide or swallow the humiliation but instead spits it out.”
—Donald Wright, Histoire sociale / Social History
“[Screening Nature and Nation is] an insightful analysis of several underexplored but historically significant NFB nature documentaries and science films. Based on archival research, primarily from the National Film Board Archives, media scholars will undoubtedly be interested in his discussions of key individuals in Canadian film history, such as Laura Boulton, Evelyn Cherry, Radford “Budge” Crawley, Larry Gosnell, and Dalton Muir.”
—American Review of Canadian Studies
Engaging Virtually
AU Press maintains a presence on Instagram, Facebook, and X where we announce new publications and run a variety of campaigns and features. In 2023, we had the opportunity to work with a number of bookstagrammers to promote Indigiqueerness.
- Joshua Whitehead and Angie Abdou spoke about Indgiqueerness at the Learning with Syeyutsus Speaker Series.
- Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez spoke about her co-edited book Living on the Land: Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Place at the Learning with Syeyutsus Speaker Series.
- AU Press books were exhibited virtually at the Athabasca University Research Forum
- The editors of Critical Digital Pedagogy in Higher Education hosted a virtual launch to celebrate the publication of their book.
- Megan Hall spoke about our open access mandate at the annual AUPresses meeting.
- Contributors to Bucking Conservatism hosted a virtual event through the University of Lethbridge to share details about the publishing process of this successful book.
- The editors of Class Warrior: The Selected Works of E.T. Kingsley launched their book online with the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at UOttawa.
Engaging in Real Life
- Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities (Toronto, ON)
- Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurt, Germany)
- Alberta Book Day (Edmonton, AB)
- Parkland Institute Annual Fall Conference (Edmonton, AB)
- Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada (Calgary, AB)
- NAISA (Toronto, ON)
- Alberta Book Publishing Conference and Awards (Edmonton, AB)
- Athabasca University Convocation (Edmonton, AB)
- Book launch for How to Read Like You Mean It by Kyle Conway at The Spaniel’s Tale (Ottawa, ON)
- Book launch for Not Hockey: Critical Essays on Canada’s Other Sport Literature edited by Angie Abdou and Jamie Dopp at the University Club of Victoria (Victoria, BC)
Social Impact
One Year Since Publication:
Metaphors of Ed Tech
In 2020, seemingly overnight, technology took center stage in the delivery of not just some, but all education. Metaphors of Ed Tech by Martin Weller is essential reading for anyone involved in education, but particularly for those still determining the impact and potential of the unprecedented pivot to online learning. Since its publication in 2022, Metaphors of Ed Tech has been reviewed in Open Learning, the Canadian Journal of Learning Technology, IRRODL, and CHOICE. Weller has been interviewed by Terry Greene on the Getting’ Air: The Open Pedagogy Podcast and Jeffrey Young on the EdSurge podcast and has had numerous speaking engagements related to the book.
“Weller provides an insightful analysis of competing and co-existing ‘ed tech’ metaphors and our complex relationship with them in a widely accessible manner anchored in both practice and critical scholarship. This refreshing and thought-provoking volume will be particularly valuable as we look towards the post-pandemic future,” writes Mark Brown, Director, National Institute for Digital Learning.
Following a successful launch, the book has evolved into a podcast by the author where he dives even deeper into the metaphorical world of education technology.
Pageviews on our reading platform
3,462
PDF downloads
619
printed copies sold
over 60
Ten Years Since Publication:
Sociocultural Systems
In 2013, we published Sociocultural Systems: Principles of Structure and Change by Frank W. Elwell. This book provides a critical understanding of social institutions and issues, while also furnishing a framework for possible solutions to the perennial social crises that are part and parcel of the development of human societies. Ten years later, this book continues to be one of our most downloaded books.
Sociocultural Systems is the foundational text for a MOOC through Rogers State University and has been read by thousands of students.
Pageviews on our reading platform
46,963
PDF downloads
35,439
printed copies sold