The Mid-America American Studies Association (MAASA), a regional organization of the national American Studies Association, invites institutions within the Mid-America region (Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) to submit a formal bid for the management and publication of the quarterly transnational, interdisciplinary journal American Studies (AMSJ) effective July 1, 2025, through at least June 30, 2030 (five years). Historically, the MAASA-sponsored journal has been open to bids every ten years; however, we recognize the financial challenges educational institutions face and the hesitation to allocate resources for ten years; nevertheless, a proposal for more than five years can make for a competitive bid. We welcome cross-institutional collaborations.
The bid should include the following information:
- Vision statement for the journal (e.g., How do you see the journal contributing to the field of American Studies in the next 5–10 years? What do you envision as the journal’s brand identity? What plans do you have to engage readers with journal content beyond the print publication, including but not limited to a blog, social media, scholarly conversation series (virtual and/or in-person)?)
- Institutional strengths (i.e., What makes your institution(s) well poised to manage and publish the journal? What editorial experience does the proposed staff offer?)
- Staffing:
- Release time, summer salary, and/or other support the institution(s) will provide faculty editor(s)
- Name(s) and curriculum vitae of proposed faculty editorial staff o Proposed graduate and/or undergraduate student support for the journal, including tuition waivers, stipends, and/or summer support included with the position the institution will provide
(Note: MAASA prefers student employment/contracts to be administered directly via the host institution. If your proposal requires MAASA to fund student labor directly, please budget according to your institution’s compensation plan for student workers to include scheduled or anticipated pay and tuition increases.)
- Expectations for length of service (i.e., term duration/limits)
- Facilities:
- Office space, furniture, computing, software, and other operations support the institution will provide
- Storage space for print materials (Note: AMSJ currently has a third-party agreement to manage the storage and distribution of journal issues through Sheridan Press. The opportunity to (dis)continue an agreement of this nature can be considered at the discretion of the editor(s) and/or host institution(s) and with approval of its financial impact by the MAASA Executive Board.)
- Proposed printing services o Support for online presence
- Budget (Note: MAASA supports a considerable portion of the journal’s operating budget, but we expect the host institution(s) to provide substantive financial support.): o Estimated printing cost of one volume (400 copies)
- Estimated annual operating budget, including anticipated stipend and salary increases and mechanisms to fund them
- Estimated annual revenue from subscriptions, royalties, and book sales
(projected income should not exceed expected MAASA contribution) o Proposed financial contributions from the institution(s) (e.g., subventions, grants, subsidies, course releases, etc.)
- Opportunities for extramural funding
- Other information about additional support, facilities, equipment, etc. that the institution(s) can offer
Bids are due January 15, 2024, and should be emailed as one PDF document to MAASA.
President Brian Hallstoos at bhallstoos@dbq.edu and MAASA AMSJ Bid Coordinator Tom Sarmiento at tsarmiento@ksu.edu. The MAASA Executive Board will make a decision in spring 2024.
To learn more about the journal, visit https://journals.ku.edu/amsj/.