We are pleased to welcome Stephanie Kinner, our new Events & Operations Coordinator, who joined the staff on September 22. She has experience in event planning and operational support and will oversee the planning of TAA’s annual virtual and in-person conferences, starting with the next in-person conference in 2027.
She is excited to be part of TAA and support the needs of academic and textbook authors.
By Dr. Noelle Sterne
Q: I follow a spiritual practice and was advised to pray about my dissertation. Is this wrong?
— Repentant?
A: No, it’s not wrong or blasphemous, nor do you have to confess.
More students than we imagine use their spiritual practices for school. Yes, they seem contradictory. School requires your intellect; spirituality requires surrendering your intellect. School subsists on logic and realism; spirituality survives on faith.
I used to hold fiercely to these boundaries. Spirituality and school, I thought, were at opposite ends of the heavens, or at least unequivocally separate.
Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Round-Up. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
MIT Rejects Proposed Federal Compact (10/10/2025)
Texas Systems Review Course Descriptions, Syllabi, as Critics Scrutinize Them (10/9/2025)
U. of Kentucky’s Effort to Diversify Faculty Violated Civil-Rights Law, Ed. Dept. Says (10/1/25)
Nominations for TAA’s 2026 Textbook Awards is now open. Recognize your textbook today by nominating it for one our industry-respected awards:
McGuffey Longevity Award – to recognize long-standing textbooks and learning materials that have been in print for at least 15 years.
Textbook Excellence Award – to recognize excellence in current textbooks and learning materials.
Most Promising New Textbook Award – to recognize promising textbooks and learning materials in their first edition.
Educational/textbook and university press/academic authors represent almost half of the close to 500,000 works infringed in the class in Bartz v. Anthropic. While the court approved 50-50 default splits between authors and publishers of trade and university press works, the court approved a separate claims process for determining the split between educational/textbook authors and publishers.
Join TAA Executive Director Kim Pawlak and Intellectual Property Attorney and TAA Board Member Brenda Ulrich on Wednesday, October 8 from 2-3 p.m. ET for an informational meeting about what textbook and academic authors need to know about filing claims in the settlement: “What Textbook & Academic Authors Need to Know About Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic.” Register. Open to members and non-members.
Educational/textbook and university press/academic authors represent almost half of the close to 500,000 works infringed in Bartz v. Anthropic. For more on that decision and TAA’s role, click here.
TAA will be rolling out more guidance for textbook and academic authors in the days and weeks to come. First up is a webinar on October 8, from 2-3 p.m. ET, “What Textbook & Academic Authors Need to Know About Filing Claims in Bartz v. Anthropic.” It is open to members and non-members, so spread the word.
The claims period runs from now until March 23, 2026. It is not a “first come first served” situation, so take the time to do it right and ensure your best chance of a good recovery. Learn more about how to get started.
