Duke University Press

The Duke University Press is a nonprofit university run press that publishes about 150 new books, 60 journals, and multiple digital collections that work toward progress in the publishing industry and transformation in thought. Stemming from Duke University, the press aligns itself with the University’s goal of advancing the frontier of knowledge and contributing to the international scholarly community. Their main goal is to make sure their press supports daring, collaborative, vital, and transformative works that can better the world overall.

The Mission

The press outlines their mission goals on their website. In this description, they explain their goal to spread the ideas of progressive scholarly thinkers in emerging and established fields of knowledge. Their mission is to enrich, create, and spread scholarship that is important to readers working at the heads of the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics fields. As a nonprofit publisher, their overarching mission is to create strong global connections through adaptive and innovative publications that can progress and better the world on a small and large scale.

The History

The Founder

An image of William T. Laprade, the founder of the Duke University Press

The Duke University Press was originally founded by William T. Laprade in 1921 under the name Trinity College Press before eventually changing its name in 1926. Its most notable early publication was the American Literature journal, which is still in publication today. Four issues a year are put out under this journal which began printing in 1929, making it almost 100 years old. Each journal issue contains articles that examine the work of authors across history as well as deep research into their books. This trend of educational articles being at the forefront of the DUP was a historical stepping stone that has not changed much with time.

The DUP was originally a relatively small press from the 1930s to the late 1970s. During that time, the Press did not publish many works, especially compared to their numbers today. By the 1980s, the Press only published about a dozen books and seven journals annually. This is extremely small compared to their estimated 180 publications today. During these decades, little to no effort was made to increase the Press or the number of publications.

How DUP Progressed

In the early 1980s, however, the Press’s office was moved to the newly renovated Crowell Building, and this change was what the Press needed to expand. The DUP received new resources and new leadership with Richard Rowson. This combination was what finally allowed the Press to expand, and they began steadily adding to its journals and publishing about 60 books a year by the early 1990s.

In 1993, Steven Cohn became the Press’s director—with Stanley Fish, a Duke professor of English and law, serving as executive director from 1994-1998—and the Duke Press moved into Brightleaf Square. The Press at this point began to grow steadily in size as well as reputation.

The Press also developed a heavy international list of publications. In fact, it had the largest collection of international publications among the American University Presses. This sparked their eventual goal of partnerships and global publication opportunities.

A photo of the Duke University Press staff taken by Jonathan Black.

Where It Is Today

Maintaining an air of diversity and inclusion, they included book topics such as history, gender and sexuality, anthropology, and cultured studies. Some of their most edited journals also include the Duke Mathematical Journal, History of Political Economy, and Journal of Medieval & Early Modern Studies. This expansion in material covered as well as partnerships acquired allowed the DUP to continue expanding far beyond their original numbers until they reached the much larger publishing industry that has developed today.

Leadership and Ownership

The Heads of the Departments

Dean Smith, the current manager and Director of Duke University Press.

The Duke University Press is run by a collaborative collection of six individuals who range from published authors to renowned marketing managers. Together, the leadership board oversees the Press from the first draft to the official publication.

The Press is managed and run by Dean Smith. Smith has been Director of Duke University Press since 2019. Beyond that, he has over 30 years of publishing experience. Among this outside experience is scholarly, STM, university press, trade-base realms, and association-based realms. Smith is also a published author, poet, and freelance journalist. In 2021, he released Baltimore Sons, his second collection of poetry. This followed his debut work, American Boy, which was published in 2000. Through Temple University Press, Smith published Never Easy, Never Pretty: A Fan, A City, A Championship Season in 2013.

Throughout his extensive career, Smith has taken on a plethora of roles within the press. These roles include press director, digital platform director, journal publisher, vice president of sales and marketing, society publisher, and director of electronic publishing.

Another vital leader in this press is Allison C. Belan. Belan is the Director for Strategic Innovation and Services at Duke University Press. Belan oversees the Press’s entire technology operation. This includes project and product management and IT.

She began her career at the Press as the Journal’s Production Supervisor. This role provided the necessary education in digital publishing and strategies. In 2011, Belan assumed the role for digital content and publishing strategy of all DUP publications, books, and journals.

The director of editing and design, Amy Ruth Buchanan, oversees all the design and production of the publications at DUP. Arriving at the Press in 1995, she spent most of her career as an award-winning book designer before becoming the design manager and art director for books and journals. She oversees the publication of journals, new books, and reprints. Buchanan works collaboratively to publish all of the Press’s content in various formats such as online or print. She maintains the high-quality standards of design, editing, and manufacture within DUP.

Rob Dilworth had also worked in the publishing industry for over thirty years. He works as the Journals Director within DUP. With this role, Dilworth oversees the Press’s journals program. This requires intense focus on acquisitions of new titles and partnership management as well as supporting the editorial vision and mission of scholarly journalists under his department. He also supports the goal of finding sustainable methods of publications.

Gisela Fosado, the Editorial Director at the Duke University Press.

Gisela Fosado is the Editorial Director at DUP. Fosado publishes books in a wide range of areas including both humanities and social sciences. She began her career at DUP in 2010 as an Editorial Associate. In 2020, she was named Editorial Director.

The final member of the Duke University Press leadership board is Cason Lynley. Lynley is the Director of Marketing, Sales, & Finance. She came to the Press in 1999 and, since then, held six positions on the Press. In her role as the Director of Marketing, Sales, & Finance, she supports the DUP mission of the search for and spread of scholarly books and journals. She is also a key component in sustaining the financial viability of the Press.

The Editorial Staff

Gisela Fosado is the head of the editing team at DUP. She is further described under the Leadership section of this website. The rest of the staff consists of five other people who all range from Art Directors to Project Managers to Journal Editors. This team is collectively in charge of editing and designing the products which will be available on the website. While this staff is smaller, they head the bulk of the production when it comes to books and journals.

Some of the staff working under Fosado includes Jessica Ryan who is described as media and communicational skilled in Manuscript Editing, Nonfiction, Fiction, Journals, Proofreading, and Production.

The staff on a whole appears to maintain a professional status on the website and on their personal sites such as linkden. Furthermore, the staff remains private from their work lives. This creates the professional and education-focused atmosphere the Press strives for, even within their work environment. However, it also makes details about the staff and their personal tastes difficult to come by.

Beyond the head staff, Duke University Press has around 120 employees at any given time. Most of these employees have some relation to Duke University itself, and go unnamed on the website. They serve as readers and editors to help the mass amount of publications that come through before handing off the promising projects to the higher-ups. Considering the 120 books published a year and the 60 journals, a staff of this size is still considerably smaller than I had expected. It goes to show the dedication and hard work put in by every person on the staff.

The Internal Structure of the Press

The Departments

The staff of DUP is relatively small, including a few teams and around 140 employees which function in six different departments. These different departments each contribute to a different aspect of the Press, whether that be the editing and designing aspects or the customer relations. The six departments are as follows:

1. The Editing, Designing, and Production: Headed by Amy Ruth Buchanan, this team specializes in the polishing, designing, and eventual production of the books, journals, and articles published within the Press. Underneath Buchanan, five other individuals work toward creating these works.
2. The Marketing, Sales, and Finance: Run by Cason Lynley, this team is dedicated to the fiscal stability and marketing of the DUP. Lynley and the eight people who work with her, are in charge of maintaining the Press’s financial standing, so they can continue to afford new publications and partnerships.
3. Licensing & Subsidiary Rights: This branch is in charge of managing the rights to the publications produced within the Press. While no names are given under this branch, three categorized emails are provided for readers or publishers who wish to get in touch about this process.
4. Library Relations: Library Relations . The Library Relations team is headed by Natasha De Bernardi, and they offer a multitude of research aid, promotional materials, access to agents and vendors, and information of the DUP’s accessibility, preservation, and discovery.
5. Journals and Publishing Partnership: This category outlines Dilworth’s job in the DUP. It represents the staff of people who are in charge of journal publications and partnerships with other publishers. Only one other person is listed to work under Dilworth.
6. Customer Relations: There is also no staff listed under this tab, only a link to contact the press directly for any questions a person might have.

The Finances

The Duke University Press is a nonprofit organization, so all profits gained return to keeping the Press alive and in business. The estimated annual revenue value of the company is $38.2M. The Press’s estimated revenue value per employee is currently $267,300. The Press currently has 143 employees including their leadership board and student employees. Last year, the DUP shrank their employment by 3%.

Judging by the amount of money the Press is bringing in and the continued expansion of publications, the Press is doing well. Maybe it’s because I’m broke and don’t understand how running a business works, but $38.2M seems like a lot of money to me.

Publishing Formats

The Duke University Press produces E-books and online materials accessible through their website. Their books cost about thirty dollars on average, but to access the journals, a subscription to the website that annually costs between $290-320 depending on if you are interested in a print or online subscriptions.

This informed me about the presence of subscriptions which will be renewed annually and offer multiple publications within one payment. I was not previously aware that this could be done because I was not very aware of journals and how they worked as a publication in general. With this new information, a whole new side of online prints and publications and how they are sold is available to me. Furthermore, I learned that most college presses like this one print on demand to maintain sustainability and keep costs lower. In this day and age, many of the articles, journals, and books published by DUP are only sold in online copies or are printed on demand rather than bulk printed and immediately put in book stores.

The Publishing Process

The act of publishing itself follows a simple to understand, nine step process.

1. Submit a Book Proposal: The first step is submitting an official proposal via the link of their website. From there, it will go to the larger editing staff who will review it.
2. Peer Review: The editing staff who received the proposal will review if the publication aids in achieving the Press’s mission of educational and societal progress. Two field specialists will also review it through an anonymous written report.
3. Contract: If the reviewers decided that your publication meets the criteria, they may request a contract. Under this contract, you will revise your manuscript as requested.
4. Further Review and Revision: The process of reviewing and revising continues in a loop until the editorial staff at DUP believes that all the issues have been adequately addressed and the manuscript is ready for publishing.
5. Editorial Advisory Board Approval: The EAB which consists of DUP faculty members will then approve the manuscript, and they may provide more feedback.
6. Gathering the Final Materials: This is where the finalized format of the manuscript will be decided. The project will then be passed to the editing and design team. This is the point when your manuscript will officially be scheduled for publication.
7. Editing, Design, and Production: Once the design team is done, the book will be sent for copyediting while a designer begins work on the cover. Once it is done, you will be provided page proofs to create the index.
8. Marketing: The Marketing team will develop a plan which includes where to place your book in ads or conferences. It may also include outreaching to bookstores, libraries, social media accounts, reviews, or award submissions. All of these items will work towards building up publicity for your book. This step happens around the same time as Step 7.
9. Publication: Once the hard work is finished, this is the step where you can have a physical copy of your book on shelves, online, and in your hands.

Brand Identity

This is the Journal publication Boundary 2. It is an example of the cover art used for journals within this Press. The design is unique, but the text style, font, and layout is consistent throughout the journals.

A specific brand identity is hard to come by when approaching a press whose founding goal was partnerships with other small publishers in order to spread awareness and offer opportunities to as many budding authors as possible. The closest thing to identity I could find is the Press’s unique focus on education and progression within each publication. Whether it be journals or books, each publication has a specific field of study which they hope to progress through their writings. Scientific articles and books on previously undiscussed cultures are a frequent staple of this Press’s identity. Overall, these publications create a progressive and intellectual identity.

As for style, a coherent theme is less noticeable. When looking at the style of the publications, specifically the journals, they all do have a similar font and structure of the cover while still maintaining an air of uniqueness. Each cover had their own design which reflects the content of the individual journal, but by using similar fonts, word choice, and minimal color pallets, the journals all still look like part of a collection or a press rather than their own individual things.

A similar, but less noticeable, trend with the books that are held under this press. They all have their own unique style and colors, but the fonts and formats are all similar. This subtly connects them while still allowing the publications to live on their own as well.

The Audiences

The publisher’s audience is college aged students, professors, scholars, and those seeking a more diverse and progressive base of knowledge. While that is not directly stated, it is evident through the types of books and articles the DUP chooses to publish. The topics of their publications are more often than not published to create a greater understanding of the world. Whether it be historical, informational, or cultural, the Press has a distinct focus on humanity as a whole and how society can be better through the progression and expansion of knowledge in a rounded variety of fields. This attention to knowledge and careful consideration when publishing demonstrates their dedication to education which would attract scholars and those searching to widen their knowledge in general.

Furthermore, their audience of college aged students and professors is clear through their basis within a well known and respected college. Duke University is known for offering an incredible and selective education for the best of students. Therefore, publications from a renowned university would pull a large audience of the students who go there or who know of that school as well as the professors who work there or worked there in the past. For these reasons, the Press would do especially well in attracting college aged students and professions, especially compared to other Presses which have less of a connection with the collegic world.

The Press's Catalog

They publish a large plethora of genres and topics, but most of them relate to an academic sphere. When browsing the books specifically, the most common themes are those pertaining to a minority point of view, such as black lives and the trials they face even in western countries like the United States, or scientific and historical studies which are more fact based. These two genres make sense with the DUP’s mission of spreading intellectual ideas and promoting educated people regardless of their background because they work most successfully to accomplish these goals. The historical and scientific books are more straightforward and fact or research based which showcases the work done by Duke as well as other institutions. By promoting these works, the Press is promoting the spread of new ideals in the educational and intellectual spheres. When it comes to the books detailing minority opinions and experiences, these often accomplish a different aspect of the Press’s goal while still maintaining a basis of factual integrity. These, however, feel more personal to the authors and are published to support the spread of humanity and knowledge even into the parts of politics and society privileged people would often rather ignore.

The journals published within this Press take on a similar tone and pattern. The most common journals are also a collection of histories or researched scientific discoveries. These include peer reviewed articles and periodicals. Furthermore, journals detailing feminism and black culture are also common.

The Duke University Press also includes a large variety of societies that people can join. By paying to join a society, a reader will receive a certain number of free issues from the publication which goes with that society. For example, the American Society for Ethnohistory offers four free issues upon joining the society. The society is based upon the unique ideals specified in an issue or in the community guidelines. Following my prior example, the American Society for Ethnohistory represents multiple disciplines, namely cultural anthropology, history, American Indian studies, archaeology, ecology, linguistics, and related fields. Their goal is to create a more diverse and inclusive picture of Native American groups.

Three specific publications I think represent the DUP as a whole are: “Necropolitics,” by Achille Mbembe, “A Decade of Negative Thinking,” by Mira Schor, and the American Literature journal, by a vast collection of authors.

“Necropolitics,” by Achille Mbembe is a major publication for the Duke University Press.

“Necropolitics,” by Achille Mbembe

“Necropolitics,” by Achille Mbembe represents the mission of the Duke University Press because challenges and changes the conventional terms of debate within the modern world. This aligns completely with the DUP's mission to push and progress how we think about modern societal and cultural issues. Furthermore, the book presents Mbembe as a leading Humanistic voice in the study of democracy, equality, and war through the modern lens. The description of the book describes Mbembe as "a leader in the new wave of francophone critical theory, theorizes the genealogy of the contemporary world, a world plagued by ever-increasing inequality, militarization, enmity, and terror as well as by a resurgence of racist, fascist, and nationalist forces determined to exclude and kill." This description overall amplifies the message and mission of the DUP. The book itself is also one of the most well known as it continues to gain readers' interests since its publishing in 2019.

Painter and feminist art theorist Mira Schor published "A Decade of Negative Thinking," in 2010. It was a vital publication toward the spread of feminist and artistic ideals on this Press.

“A Decade of Negative Thinking,” by Mira Schor

Painter and feminist art theorist Mira Schor published "A Decade of Negative Thinking," in 2010. The book involves a mix of writing and art with 336 pages, 53 of which are illustrations. This mix of art and writing to tell a story is one that appears common and popular within the DUP. Many artists like Schor who would not have usually had the opportunity to publish such a unique creation find the means to do so under the DUP. This book is representative of the Press because of its personal perspective of feminist art and the unique structure in which that perspective is portrayed. The content of the book propels the Press's mission of spreading unheard voices, and the inclusion of illustrations is vital to the Press's strive for individuality and creativity within their work. Furthermore, "A Decade of Negative Thinking," is another popular book on the site which garnered a lot of positive attention towards the Press.

This is the 97th Volume of the American Literature Journal, one of the first publications from the Duke University Press back in 1921. That makes this journal almost 100 years old.

The American Literature Journal

The American Literature Journal was one of the original publications of this Press, and it is still being updated quarterly to this day. For that reason alone, it deserves recognition as one of the DUP's most noteworthy and important journals. The Press was founded on the basis of spreading knowledge first, and this journal is a prime example of that. The journal is an ever-expanding peer reviewed and researched collection of American Literature, more specifically the inspirations behind literature and deep dives into the most famous and influential authors of that time. Considering how this publication has been regularly updating for almost a century now, the information within it is not only an exploration of the history of American Literature and authors, but also an exploration of the history of the Press itself.

Notable Titles and Authors

Some notable authors who have published under the DUP are Achille Mbembe, a Cameroonian author who is known for his publications of colonization and a new wave of French Critical Theory. Some of his publications under this Press are “Necropolitics,” “Critique of Black Reason,” and “Brutalism.” All of these carry similar themes of oppression and racism which offers a new perspective and light to an ongoing issue.

Another author of note is Donna Haraway. Haraway has published “Staying With Trouble,” a book touching upon feminist sciences and gender and how it plays a role in our interactions with the world. The book explores “self-making” and how our relationship to the world changes our relationship to ourselves. It heavily touches upon the “Chthulucene,” or the Anthropocene of humanity.

Furthermore, there is also a long list of publications which have won awards in the past years. Among those that most recently won awards for 2025 are Excited Delirium: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease by Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesus, which received first place Victor Turner Prize, presented by the Society for Humanistic Anthropology.

Upcoming Publications

The most recent news surrounding the DUP is the future release of a scholarly journal, Anthropocene History. This will be the first scholarly journal dedicated to explore the history of human activity on Earth. Created by editors Sverker Sörlin and Susanna Lidström of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, in collaboration with the DUP Editorial Office, this product will entangle human history and the Earth in a unique way to showcase the era of planetary change we have currently entered. This publication will be fully funded for its first decade which ensures free access for all readers and no fees for authors who wish to publish under it. The article details the plans for the new journal publication which is set to be published in October of 2026.

The news article goes on to describe the unique features of this new journal including a deep dive into human cultures and societies as well as a focus on the current shift in how humans interact with the world. Published within this journal will be peer reviewed articles, perspectives, and critical reviews that highlight how our current worldly interactions can be informed by our past and thus better our future.

Overall Thoughts and Future Predictions

Overall, I would say that the Duke University Press is achieving their mission to spread education in progressive ways through the medium of print and online publishing. Their vast catalog and extensive staff allows the Press to manage in a timely, consistent, and functional manner. Their status within a well known college combined with their marketing team and vast catalog beyond just the college campus also awards them a large audience. Their mix of print and digital media is a great way to maintain sustainability—another one of their goals—while still being able to reach a wide variety of people. This all in combination allows the Press to make enough money to continue to run and even expand in the years to come.

This Press has a unique brand of scholarly and cultural progression. It impacts the industry by paving the way for academic voices from all corners of the world to be heard and explored. They dedicate themselves to education and the spread of knowledge in a wide variety of ways. In this venture, they have been extremely successful.

Judging by the news article of their upcoming publication and the wide range of publications they already have, the DUP is in great shape. I predict they will only continue to expand in the coming years.