The University of Scranton Press was the

university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by schola ...

of the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

, headquartered on its campus in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

. The press published more than 200 books and other publications between 1988 and 2010. The majority of the University of Scranton Press' catalog are scholarly works dealing with religious issues, such

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

and the Jesuit tradition, as well as regional issues specifically related to

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...

. The University of Scranton Press published approximately 24 publications annually at its height.

History

The University of Scranton Press was founded in 1988 by Reverend Richard W. Rousseau, S.J., who served as the chairman of the university's Department of

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and Religious Studies at the time. In the mid-1990s, Father Richard Rousseau hired Trinka Ravaioli, a graphic designer, to design the covers for its publications. Ravaioli continued to design most of the covers for the books published by the University of Scranton Press from the mid-1990s until the press ceased publication in 2010. Approximately one-third of the press' books and other publications dealt directly with issues related to

, including its

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

, culture and

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

. Many of the books were written or submitted by local authors and writers based in the region. Titles related to Catholicism, with an emphasis on Jesuit issues, constituted most of the rest of the press' catalog. The press was housed in the University of Scranton's Smurfit Art Center, a former Universalist church purchased by the university in 1987. The University of Scranton Press is a founding member of the

Association of Jesuit University Presses The Association of Jesuit University Presses (AJUP) is an association of North American university presses which are members of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The AJUP is composed of ten charter members. Father Richard W. R ...

, but was not a current member of the

Association of American University Presses The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) is an association of mostly, but not exclusively, North American university presses. It is based in New York City. Until December 2017, it was known as the Association of American University Presses ...

as of 2010. Some of the University of Scranton Press' most recent publications included a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

Edith Stein Edith Stein (religious name Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce ; also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Saint Edith Stein; 12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a ...

and a book exploring the lives of early 20th Century European immigrant

coal miners People have worked as coal miners for centuries, but they became increasingly important during the Industrial revolution when coal was burnt on a large scale to fuel stationary and locomotive engines and heat buildings. Owing to coal's strategic ro ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Closure

The University of Scranton Press began declining the submission of new works in early 2010. In August 2010, the University of Scranton's provost and vice president for academic affairs, Harold Baillie, announced that the press would close at the end of summer 2010. Baillie cited cost-cutting measures and changing financial priorities for the decision to close the university's scholarly publisher, "Basically, it was a budgetary decision. We are a

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

-driven institution, and these are tough economic times...Our main priority is the education of our students, and that takes precedence in the distribution of our resources."

References

External links

University of Scranton Press
{{Authority control Book publishing companies based in Pennsylvania

Press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

Association of Jesuit University Presses Scranton, University of Mass media in Scranton, Pennsylvania Publishing companies established in 1988 Mass media companies disestablished in 2010