OA Book Series: Visions of the Middle East and North Africa
Open Research objectives/practices
Visions of the Middle East and North Africa (ISSN – 2950-2187), is a collaborative initiative between the Middle Eastern Studies programme at the University of Groningen and University of Groningen Press. Volumes published in the series highlight the diversity of the Middle East and North Africa by exploring culture and society through images and text. Individual volume themes are connected to departmental research, the series is inherently interdisciplinary incorporating fields such as sociology, history, cultural studies, and political science. This series of publications is connected to the research of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Groningen which highlight the culture, heritage, and history of the Middle East and North Africa through a mixture of images and texts.
Introduction
All volumes are published in OpenAccess, and offer students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in publishing and academic research. This format is ideal for science communication purposes as it allows the work of the department of Middle Eastern Studies to highlight its research to a wider audience beyond academia. Studies learn both about academic research and the principles of OA publishing.
Motivation
This project was developed in the spirit of research led teaching, knowledge valorisation, and employability. Each volume in the series is connected to the research of a member of the department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Groningen or a group project within the department. Each project offers students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in publishing. Students participate in the realization of the volumes in two, interconnected ways. Firstly, through classroom writing assignments whereby the strongest essays are invited to be reworked for publication. Secondly, each volume is edited and managed by a group of MA students who undertake this project as their MA tutorial. Thus, this series achieves multiple departmental goals:
- A sustainable valorisation project to promote the department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Groningen
- The opportunity for motivated students at both the BA and MA level to publish
- A sustainable solution for student tutorials that are closely connected to employability (both targeted areas of our the MES active learning plan).
Lessons learned
To date we have published one book in the series (see links below), two other books are in the final stages of production and will appear this year, and a fourth book will appear in early 2025. Overall, the process has been extremely positive for members of the department and students. However we have learned that students need considerable scaffolding in their research and writing to be able to write publishable material. Furthermore, finances are always a concern and the on going project is dependent on support from the RUG OA book funds. However the series has been overwhelmingly positively received, providing staff a platform to promote their research outside of academia, and giving students value employability skills. One student has even been hired to work for Amsterdam University Press due to his participation in the project last year.
URLs, references and further information
To learn more about our publications:
| Last modified: | 11 November 2024 1.26 p.m. |