TAA member Jean Derricotte-Murphy, D.Min., Ph.D, is under contract with Cascade Books to publish her first book, A View From the Balcony: Opera Through Womanist Eyes, in early 2024. Excerpted from the book’s abstract: “..this work offers the reader a historical glance at the philosophical and religious underpinnings of systemic racism by presenting a new healing hermeneutic, a Balcony Hermeneutic, from which to view, critique, assess, correct, and reverse the devastating effects Anthropological Poverty has inflicted upon the world.” She will also be presenting the paper “Beloved, Margaret Garner, and the Desperate Flight to Freedom” at the November 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Antonio Texas. Congratulations Jean!
Busy TAA People: TAA Member Margarita Huerta’s Work Reaches the 1,000 Mark for Citations
TAA member Margarita Huerta, PhD, writer and Founder of Real Academics, reached the 1,000 mark for citations on her Google Scholar profile on August 25, 2023.
Her top three most cited articles (out of 20 articles tracked by Google) include:
- “Graduate students as academic writers: writing anxiety, self-efficacy and emotional intelligence” (2017), M Huerta, P Goodson, M Beigi, D Chlup, Higher Education Research & Development, 36 (4), 716-729. (205 citations)
- “The effect of an instructional intervention on middle school English learners’ science and English reading achievement” (2012), R Lara‐Alecio, F Tong, BJ Irby, C Guerrero, M Huerta, Y Fan, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49 (8), 987-1011. (184 citations)
- “Connecting literacy and science to increase achievement for English language learners” (2010), M Huerta, J Jackson, Early Childhood Education Journal, 38, 205-211. (62 citations)
Don’t Kill Your Chance with a Publisher By Making This Mistake
Gregory J. Privitera, PhD, Professor of Psychology at St. Bonaventure University and author of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (3e), Essential Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (2e), and Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences (3e), said that in his experience, one big way to kill/challenge a chance with a publisher is to come to them with a fully written book: “At least in the textbook publishing space, editors want room for the development of a project. So, they prefer a few sample chapters and a proposal, over a fully written book–with some exceptions, such as if that book was published already, but the author is ‘shopping’ for a new publisher to print the book.”
TAA member’s textbook celebrates huge milestone – 40 years in print
TAA member James Kalat’s textbook, Biological Psychology, recently celebrated its 40th year in print with the publication of the 14th edition. The 9th edition of Biological Psychology received a TAA McGuffey Longevity Award in 2007. Congratulations James!
Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Textbooks
The need to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) extends to the materials we use to teach students. For authors, it can be tempting to relegate DEI discussions to feature boxes or individual chapters in a textbook—“add-on” features that may unintentionally convey exceptionalism. DEI should be as much a part of a manuscript as proper sentence structure and organization; it should exist within and throughout the narrative and encompass how the reader experiences the text, including visuals and accessibility. It is our responsibility to accurately reflect our diverse world.
2023 TAA Council Elections – Cast Your Vote
Six candidates are running for four open positions on the TAA Council, the association’s governing board. Terms begin July 1, 2023.
Members received an email with a link to the ballot on February 21. To be eligible to vote, individuals must be members in good standing. If you are a TAA member and cannot vote electronically, contact Kim Pawlak at Kim.Pawlak@TAAonline.net or (507) 459-1363 to request a paper ballot. The deadline for voting is Friday, March 17.
“I would like to continue my support of TAA with service as the next Vice President/President-Elect, as this organization continues to invite new and ongoing members of the textbook and academic authors community to join with us for this mutually beneficial and rewarding purpose.” – Dione Taylor, Running for Vice President/President-Elect