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Call for Contributors: _Introduction to American Studies_  
 
Summary and Purpose of Book  
 
The purpose of the book is to promote understanding of various aspects of 
American society in a book that would fit into three book categories 
roughly corresponding to General Education, General Knowledge,and General 
Introduction. The writers will be specialists from their  
respective fields, and will have at least five years of research and 
teaching experience, an excellent publication record, experience in 
teaching introductory courses, or will have comparable qualifications. 
However, depending on the topic, we will also honor practical experience  
in some cases. In that case, persons with more than five years of 
experience or possessing similar qualifications may be candidates. In 
summary, persons familiar with cutting-edge research in their respective 
areas will use simple, jargon-free language to write an introductory  
book concerning research on America designed for the non-specialist reader. 
 
  
*************************************************  
_Introduction to American Studies_  
Edited by Yoneyuki Sugita  
Publisher: University Education Press (http://www.kyoiku.co.jp/) Number  
of Manuscript Pages: Under 550 pages (Approximately 220,000 characters in 
Japanese)  
Readership: For Non-American University Students and the  
General Public  
Publishing Format:  
A5 page size; length set at 240 pages  
First Edition 2000 copies with bound-in supplement (CD included)  
Proposed Price 2000-2500 yen  
Terms and Conditions  
Completed Manuscript (FD?{copies) must be submitted.  
Royalties: 10%  
Schedule:,br> Manuscript to be completed by end of January, 2005  
First Proofreading: End of February  
Proposed Publication: End of April  
 
  
Taking advantage of the proliferation of the Internet, one book will yield 
the same benefit as two books. Statistics, maps, graphs, photographs, 
famous speeches, and other primary sources, along with video, detailed 
commentaries, and a bibliography of important related works will all be 
published on a related website. In this way, the contents of the web page 
will supplement explanations contained in the book, which will be 
restricted to the written word. While the book will have length 
limitations, the web page will be almost limitless in its capacity. Thus, 
we plan to include a rich array of online materials, and update those 
materials as much as possible. In the past, most introductory texts on 
America-related research were written on a piecemeal basis by Japanese 
researchers; the number of researchers really able to create an 
introductory text on American research was extremely limited. (This may 
have something to do with the education provided in graduate departments in 
Japanese universities.) Most introductory texts on America have tended to 
be written by the same few authors. For our proposed book, we will invite 
participation from Americanists who are not only Americans, but who come 
from all over the world. In the process of research publication in Japan, 
researchers have until  
now generally decided the content of their contributions. As a result, the 
subsequent manuscripts have been difficult to refuse even if they were not 
necessarily considered ideal. However, we will first make clear the chapter 
structure of the book along with the nature of the  
manuscript desired by the editor, and will choose manuscripts based on 
these editorial principles. In other words, we will employ a system that 
incorporates both public solicitation of manuscripts as well as a  
committee review. Then, keeping our editorial principles in mind, we will 
carefully select only manuscripts with superior content. Beginning from the 
manuscript solicitation stage, we will make very clear to  
prospective authors our editorial policy along with what is expected in 
each chapter. Thus, rather than a grab-bag introductory text, we will 
create something with a high level of consistency.  
 
The submitted manuscripts will be written in either English or Japanese. In 
the case where an English manuscript is submitted, the English version will 
be posted on the website and the Japanese version published. Translations 
will be arranged by the editor.  
 
Chapter Structure  
Introduction  
Basic knowledge about America: holidays, distinguishing features of various 
states, the American flag, the National anthem, etc. 10 pages  
Basic knowledge about American Geography  
Basic knowledge about American Politics  
Basic knowledge about the American Economy  
Basic knowledge about Finance in America  
Basic knowledge about American Diplomacy  
Basic knowledge about American Education  
Basic knowledge about American History  
Basic knowledge about American Literature  
Basic knowledge about Religion in America  
Basic knowledge about Gender, Class, and Ethnicity in America  
Basic knowledge about American Health Care  
Basic knowledge about the History of American Political Parties  
Basic knowledge about the American Judicial System  
Basic knowledge about American Popular Culture  
Basic knowledge about American Nationalism  
Basic knowledge about the IT Revolution in America  
Basic knowledge about Japan-America Relations  
(Other possible subjects)  
American holidays, flags, national anthem, etc.  
 
If you have any other suggested topic, please let us know.  
 
Editorial Principles  
Please take as a basic premise the fact that the book?fs target readers 
will be Japanese or non-American. The book will include some information 
that might be considered common knowledge to Americans. Readers will be 
Japanese (non-Americans). Please take it into consideration that common 
sense or general knowledge for Americans may not necessarily be so for 
Japanese readers. Please provide an overview of the topic given rather than 
focusing on a small sub-topic. As a rule of thumb, please think of yourself 
as writing something part encyclopedia entry, and part introduction to 
cutting edge research. Like an encyclopedia entry, please cover in an 
encompassing way all important  
points concerning your topic. Introduce recent research trends concerning 
the topic, and further develop the discussion from your own angle. 
  
Please discuss in detail different interpretations about a given point or 
different views concerning problems of historiography. (The explanatory 
notes will be posted on the web page and will not be subject to the same 
length restrictions applied to the main document.)  
In principle, the main document will contain only text. However, 
explanatory notes, images, graphs, statistical materials, web page 
materials, historiographical notes, and related bibliography are all 
welcomed, and will not be subject to length restrictions.  
 
Please provide related links, giving the URL and two or three lines of 
explanation. For each chapter, a Selected 50 Links is necessary. 
  
Please think of your mandate as introducing the most advanced research in 
the simplest possible language. 
Please avoid jargon. Writers will first create a summary of their 
manuscript and discuss it with the editor. Further detailed instructions 
concerning editorial policy as it concerns each chapter will be given. 
Please write your  
manuscript after receiving approval from the editor.  
After candidate authors submit their manuscripts, the manuscripts will all 
be peer-reviewed several times. After reading the peer review report, the 
publisher and editor will confer to make the final selection of authors. 
  
Conditions for Author Candidacy  
The writers will be specialists from their respective fields, and will have 
at least five years of research and teaching experience, an excellent 
publication record, experience in teaching introductory courses, or will 
have comparable qualifications.  
 
Depending on the topic, in some instances we will also honor practical 
experience. In that case, persons with more than five years of experience 
or possessing similar qualifications may be candidates.  
 
 
Yone Sugita  
Associate Professor of American History  
Osaka University of Foreign Studies  
Minoh-city, Osaka Japan 562-8558  
phone/fax: +81 72-730-5416  
Email: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]  
Visit the website at http://creation.minidns.net/sugita/  
 
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