The editorial program of the University of Minnesota Press is recognized internationally for rigorous, groundbreaking work, often informed by social and critical theory and generally defined by interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to scholarship. The Press’s books for general readers include nonfiction titles on politics, current events, music, art, architecture, race, sexuality, and history. The Press is also committed to publishing on Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.
Since the 1980s—and the launch of the Theory and History of Literature series—Minnesota has been a leading force in opening new areas of academic inquiry and sponsoring publications in emerging areas of thought and research. The Press is among the most active publishers of scholarly translations from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Minnesota publishes a broad array of academic disciplines and encourages writing that is politically and culturally engaged and has a strong argumentive voice.
All projects taken under formal consideration undergo a rigorous four-step process of initial editorial screening, peer review, staff evaluation, and faculty committee approval.
Please see our proposal submission guidelines if looking to submit a proposal for a book project or Manifold project.
ACQUISITIONS STAFF
Jason Weidemann, Editorial Director
Jason Weidemann seeks manuscripts that make field-defining interventions in their core disciplines, contribute to interdisciplinary conversations, and communicate to readers beyond the academy, including activists, policymakers, community members, and general readers. His broad interests in Native and indigenous studies includes literary studies, the social sciences, legal studies, and education. He also acquires works in cultural and human geography, science and technology studies, anthropology, and sociology. Special interests include environmental politics, multispecies ethnography, urban studies, global flows of labor and capital, and Asian studies. Of specific interest are manuscripts that examine the social and racial dimensions of medicine and science. Proposals for translations from Japanese are welcomed, specifically science fiction and critical theory. He is also interested in manuscripts on the social aspects of video games and digital communication.
Subject areas: anthropology, Asian studies, media studies, geography, Native and Indigenous studies, sociology, science and technology
Series: Indigenous Americas, Diverse Economies and Liveable Worlds, Muslim International
Assistant to Jason Weidemann: Zenyse Miller
Pieter Martin, Senior Acquisitions Editor
Pieter Martin acquires scholarly and general interest books in art and architecture, urban studies, politics and international relations, educational studies, and history of technology. In architecture, he looks for writing and research that connect the material realm of buildings, landscapes, and cities to broader cultural and political contexts, as well as the intellectual and cultural history of architectural practice. In art, he is interested in projects on environmental topics, visual and material culture, avant-garde practice and design history. In political science and international relations, he acquires projects that are theoretically ambitious, policy-focused, or both; specific interests include the governance of cities, the politics of race and ethnicity in America, environmental studies, critical security studies, carceral studies, and innovative work in political theory. His list in education focuses on intersections of race and sexuality, school reform, and social justice. Finally, he oversees the Press’s distribution program, partnering with outside institutions on the distribution and marketing of their publications.
Subject areas: architecture and design; art history; urban studies and sociology; education; political science; legal studies and international relations; history of technology
Series: Architecture, Landscape, and American Culture; Globalization and Community; Art after Nature
Assistant to Pieter Martin: Anne Carter
Erik Anderson, Senior Acquisitions Editor
Erik Anderson acquires general interest titles focusing on books about Minnesota and the Upper Great Lakes region, Scandinavian culture, jazz and popular music, and trade paperback reprints. Minnesota’s regional list is a broad and adventurous one, featuring books in history, politics, memoirs, creative nonfiction, cookbooks, gardening, nature, science, children’s and Young Adult books, and select fiction on local themes. The Scandinavian list is rooted in history, literature in translation, children’s books, cookbooks, traditional craft, and myth and folklore. In music, he seeks inventive works across genres and eras in the form of cultural histories, criticism, and autobiography—of particular interest are books that engage twentieth century jazz or blues culture. All paperback reprint queries are welcome, particularly in film biography and autobiography, regional interest, music, and literature.
Subject areas: regional, Scandinavian, music, trade paperback reprints
Assistant to Erik Anderson: Emma Saks
Leah Pennywark, Humanities Editor
Leah Pennywark seeks innovative book projects that overturn expectations and offer new ways of thinking about culture, literature, and media. She values interdisciplinary work in emerging areas of scholarship as well as manuscripts that speak to broader audiences, particularly within the fields of disability studies, childhood studies, queer and transgender studies, and feminism. Her primary editorial interests include justice and equity, race and ethnicity studies, avant-garde and experimental cinema, digital culture and new media, gender and sexuality, and literary criticism. Special interests include multiethnic and comparative race, mass media, and labor studies. She welcomes work by scholars from a diversity of backgrounds, including marginalized and underrepresented groups, contingent faculty, and nontraditional scholars. Leah also acquires titles for our Forerunners: Ideas First series, a thought-in-process series of short, breakthrough works in all areas where Minnesota currently acquires.
Subject areas: American studies, race and ethnicity, literary and cultural studies, queer and transgender theory, disability studies, cinema and media, digital culture
Series: Electronic Mediations; Debates in the Digital Humanities; Forerunners
Assistant to Leah Pennywark: Anne Carter
Kristian Tvedten, Associate Editor
Kristian Tvedten acquires scholarly and general interest titles relating to the history and culture of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, as well as projects in regional ecology, natural science, environmental studies, and select projects of Scandinavian interest. He is broadly interested in the environment of the Upper Great Lakes region and the social and agricultural transformation of the rural Midwest. Within this editorial focus his interests include regional biodiversity, wildlife conservation, natural resource management, public health, and environmental policy. He seeks innovative and accessible work that promotes public understanding of science while engaging with environmental conversations throughout the region.
Subject areas: regional history, environmental studies, Scandinavian
Douglas Armato, Director
Douglas Armato focuses his acquisitions on Minnesota’s translation program and on projects in social, political, and critical theory. He is the in-house editor for the Posthumanities series and occasionally acquires general projects on literature, culture, art, and digital media. Concepts prevalent in his current acquisitions program are biopolitics, ecocriticism, speculative realism, animal studies, consumerism, utopianism, cosmology, nonlinear thought, materialism, technology, and the history and practice of theory. He also looks for books that follow an essayistic or speculative rather than traditional monographic structure as well as works that advance a strong argumentive reading of contemporary society.
Subject areas: philosophy and theory
Series: Posthumanities
Assistant to Douglas Armato: Zenyse Miller
Alicia Gomez, Test Division Product Development Editor
The Test Division acquires books on the MMPI instruments for mental health professionals, researchers, and students. They range from hands-on interpretive guides for using the instruments to scholarly titles documenting the psychometric development of scales and research on constructs such as masculinity/femininity. Recent developments include use of the MMPI-3 and MMPI-2-RF in a variety of settings—mental health, medical, forensic, and public safety.
Subject area: psychology