The academics of the Universidad de La Frontera will be able to disseminate their work in academic spaces of high importance in the world. This is another step towards internationalization.

The cultivation and dissemination of knowledge, as well as the participation of our academics in international networks, are some of the main tasks of the Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO). In a new stage of development, UFRO University Press - Ediciones UFRO wanted to be part of these tasks and to continue the improvement of its processes and the strengthening of its advisory councils. It has taken significant steps in the elaboration of an agency that works together with important international publishing houses.

This is what Dr. Carlos del Valle, the director of the UFRO Office of Libraries and Information Resources, pointed out: “The purpose of these co-edition agreements is, on the one hand, to make our publications more visible abroad and, on the other hand, to contribute to the scope of internationalization at our university. Therefore, we have been seeking for agreements with university publishing houses in Latin America and Europe and with other prestigious publishing houses in Europe that express their recognition towards our university this way. We are close to an important milestone for our university.”

AGREEMENTS

The co-edition agreements are the following:

Firstly, the Global Culture & Politics Collection will be published in co-edition with Groningen University Press in the Netherlands this year, in Spanish as well as in English.

Secondly, the Manuals of University Teaching will be published in co-edition with the Editorial Universidad de La Plata (University of La Plata) in Argentina. At the same time, there are different book proposals that are being reviewed for co-edition by the publishing houses of the Anaya Group, whose focus are these manuals and general teaching materials.

Thirdly, the collections Estudios Postcoloniales (Postcolonial Studies), of Trans-disciplinary Investigations and Historias Críticas del Presente (Contemporary Critical Stories), will publish their books this year in co-edition with Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH) (literally “House of the Sciences of Man Editions”) in France and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO).

Finally, the editorial adds alliances with two other important publishing houses, with which other publications are being evaluated. One of them is the Editorial Brill in the Netherlands, which was founded in 1683 and is one of the oldest publishing houses in the world. And the other one is Editions L'Harmattan, one of the biggest publishing houses in France.

EXTERNAL ADVISORY COUNCIL GETS STRENGTHENED

Additionally, and in accordance with the promotion of UFRO University Press, Dr. Jose Manuel Rodriguez, the coordinator of Ediciones UFRO, addressed the incorporation of new members to the External Advisory Council, who are added to a list of well-known academics of different fields of knowledge and literature, and said: “It is quite commonplace to talk about the need to create networks, but it is not easy to make them effective, since we need a direct partnership with those we want to work with.”

“We always try to invite people we have effectively accomplished different tasks with, to ensure that the partnerships we have are effective and long-lasting. That is very important for the academic community, since the purpose of this international council is to open a space that is useful for us and that benefits everybody who is interested in promoting their texts,” the coordinator pointed out.

Written by: Katherine Chavez
UFRO Office of Libraries and Information Resources