[Reading-hall-of-fame] From Denny Taylor

[Brian Cambourne]

RHF Colleagues,
Apropos the discussion about publishers behaving badly.
Denny Taylor has had difficulty posting to our listserve and asked me to post this message about her publishing company and its mission.
 Brian Cambourne.

Garn Press, like many small presses, is always on the edge of a precipice. We are not profitable -- I sold my house and car to start the publishing company. What's important is that we have gained a voice in a much larger arena. We publish books by public school teachers as well as by renowned scholars, and many of the books we've published have received prestigious awards.

At Garn we are mission driven. We support teachers and scientists who are writers of conscience in two divisions: 1. People and the Planet; & 2. People and Social Policy. We also have a third division: 3.  Imagination and the Human Spirit, through which we support novelists and poets.

On the Garn website we curate news on the most critical issues of our day. We feature major bloggers in the sciences and in education who have given us permission to republish on the GP website any the pieces that they post on their own blogs.

Added to this we curate videos in each of the divisions -- especially as they relate to Garn authors and the science and educational blogger whose writings we curate.

I could write a substantial amount about academic publishers and university libraries, but perhaps in another email.

The relevant point here is that the publishing industry is going through or actually has gone through a 500 year transformation (history will tell). It's a step-change that will undoubtedly be followed by further jolts that we cannot even imagine at this time. (You might find Allan Dafoe's talk on “Governance of Artificial Intelligence" of useful read.)

There are many casualties and some awful stories -- both with regard to publishers and authors -- but the transformations taking place have also created many opportunities for scholars and for scientists to reach the public in ways that did not exist just a few years ago.

At Garn we have taken advantage of the opportunity and I consider it absolutely critical that members of the academy enter the public arena as quickly as possible. Knowledge is being lost, voices are not being heard. Regrettably, except for a few scholars, such as George Lakoff (who Garn has published in United We Stand), the academy has largely been silent on the grave events taking place both in the US and globally.


Parenthetically, I am also keeping my own transdisciplinary research going. My portal is always language and literacy, but my focus is on anthropogenic change and the impact of catastrophic events and armed conflict on families and children.

I fear for the next generation and the ones that follow. Most of the young people I know understand the existential risks that they have inherited from their parents and grandparents. It's the reason I  am totally committed to supporting the teachers and scientists who have stepped up -- its what we do at Garn.

I hope this is of use and provides another perspective on academic publishing. You can visit the Garn Press website and get a much better idea of the work we are doing here:


http://garnpress.com/2018/conversation-jitu-brown-power-history-wechoose/<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgarnpress.com%2F2018%2Fconversation-jitu-brown-power-history-wechoose%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cdenny.taylor%40hofstra.edu%7C35268f4dbde44390f14508d56f53fbfd%7C16e1af4c107541b9806313c4c5b85d6c%7C0%7C0%7C636537328867671710&sdata=oQM%2B5451W0rbt%2B4IkOWzlIDlApa1OoqlGYgjxZ3S9M4%3D&reserved=0>
Assoc. Prof. ( Dr) Brian Cambourne
Principal Fellow
School of Education
Faculty of Socal Sciences
Building 67, Level 3.  Visiting Fellows Room
University of Wollongong NSW 2522
 Mobile 0408684368
socialsciences.uow.edu.au/education<http://socialsciences.uow.edu.au/education>

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