University of Michigan Library

Engaging a Global Audience with Open Access Scholarship

Advancing Asian Studies

collage of book covers

The Asian Studies program at the University of Michigan Press showcases rich, global scholarship, providing deep cultural, historical, and political knowledge of these regions in their international context. Focused on providing a place of intersections, with books examining the historical and the contemporary, the Asian Studies lists expands—and often challenges—our understanding in regional history and politics, cultural and literary studies, media and performance.

In August 2020, UMP launched the Michigan Asian Studies Open Access Books Collection, a collection of 100 significant books about Asia made freely and publicly available online. Jointly sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Humanities Open Book Program makes outstanding out-of-print humanities books available to a wide audience.

Open Access Publishing in Asian Studies

February 26, 2021 Event Information

Open Access Publishing in Asian Studies Event

Held on February 26, 2021, the Open Access Publishing in Asian Studies event highlighted the impact of the Michigan Asian Studies Open Access Books Collection. Click below to explore the event program and watch recordings of the sessions.

Explore the Event »

Michigan Asian Studies Open Access Books Collection

A collection of 100 significant books about Asia freely available on Fulcrum

collage of book covers

Read the Collection on Fulcrum

The titles included in the Michigan Open Access Books Collection work to advance campus collaboration and catalyze a reinvigorated Asian Studies frontlist publishing program. The collection, which includes humanities, social science, and politic science titles, thematically explores diversity of society, culture, and history in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Read these free and publicly available titles on Fulcrum.

Collaborating Across Centers

The Michigan Asian Studies Open Access Book Collection brought together four centers on U-M's campus: the Center for Japanese Studies, the Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, the Center for South Asian Studies, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Read more about the Centers below.

Learn More »
Lisa Trivedi

"The NEH Humanities Open Book Michigan Asian Studies Books Collection is an important step in making access to knowledge about Asia open access. By ensuring that these scholarly works are available free of charge to scholars and the public in Asia, the project promotes equity in access to knowledge and supports scholarly cooperation globally." —Lisa Trivedi, Professor of South Asian History at Hamilton College

Automobiles and the Future: Competition, Cooperation, and Change

Robert E. Cole

dark blue and dark gold pattern with title written in gold block

The changes to the automotive industry outlined in this volume underlie many of the dynamics that drive the global auto industry today as new entrants enter the market and new technologies challenge all auto firms.

- Robert E. Cole
Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan

USJAC

In 1981, the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies launched the U.S.-Japan Automotive Conference (USJAC). Held annually until 1989, the USJAC facilitated reasoned dialogue between U.S. and Japanese business, political, and labor leaders against a backdrop of increasingly heated competition between the two countries’ auto industries.

Automobiles and the Future: Competition, Cooperation, and Change is an enhanced title with audio recordings from the U.S.-Japan Automotive Conference in March 1983 available on Fulcrum. Listen to the Opening Statement from Paul W. McCracken below.

Four men seated at a table

Paul W. McCracken from University of Michigan (far right), discussing a report at the 1983 U.S.-Japan Automotive Conference. Photo Credit: Frank Johnson for The Washington Post.

The early 1980s were a tumultuous period when the fortunes of the U. S. auto industry were dramatically transformed via Japanese producers. Automobiles and the Future: Competition, Cooperation, and Change captures many of the critical factors responsible for these changes.

Liangyu Fu

“The release of this collection on Fulcrum will greatly boost the access to significant English-language monographs for scholars everywhere, but especially for those who reside in China. Print copies of these titles used to be mostly distributed only in North America and Europe, making it difficult for the scholarly community in China to get full access to these works. The revival of these titles through OA ensures equal access around the world.” —Liangyu Fu, Chinese Studies Librarian, Asia Library at University of Michigan

Critical Titles Included in the Collection

From the Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Center for Chinese Studies:

Double Jeopardy by Ching-Hsi Perng

Pearl from the Dragon's Mouth by Cecile C. C. Sun

Nineteenth-Century China edited by Dilip Basu and Rhoads Murphey

From the Center for Japanese Studies:

Tales of Times Now Past by Marian Ury

Wild Goose by Mori Ogai and translated by Burton Watson

Kagerō Diary translated by Sonja Arntzen

From the Centers for South and Southeast Asian Studies:

Karawitan edited by Judith Becker with assistance from Alan H. Feinstein

The Train That Had Wings: Selected Stories of M. Mukundan translated by Donald R. Davis Jr.

The Journey: Stories by K. C. Das translated by Phyllis Granoff

Bringing Art to Life

Imagination without Borders: Feminist Artist Tomiyama Taeko and Social Responsibility introduces the work of Japanese visual artist Tomiyama Taeko, whose work deals with complicated moral and emotional issues of empire and war responsibility. Editors Laura Hein and Rebecca Jennison created a companion website offering many more images and demonstrating Tomiyama’s vibrant use of color. The website can be read in English or Japanese.

Visit Companion Website »

Project Partners

The Michigan Asian Studies Open Access Books Collection grew from a partnership between scholars of Asian studies from Michigan and other schools, four Asian Studies Centers at the University of Michigan, the U-M Asia Library, and University of Michigan Press.

Asia Library at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies

Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Center for Chinese Studies

University of Michigan Center for South Asian Studies

University of Michigan Center for Southeast Asian Studies


Digital Scholarship

Engaging a Global Audience

The Fulcrum platform hosts Asian Studies content from the University of Michigan Press.

Accessibility features with both the content and the platform facilitate engagement with foreign readers and readers with disabilities, and also enable responsiveness for mobile devices.

From within the e-reader on the platform, users can easily disseminate open access work via social media and scholarly communities.

Open access content facilitates use across disciplines and allows users from across the globe to engage with University of Michigan Press scholarship.

People's Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam

Marc Opper

an illustration of two men in uniform running through snow

The experience of publishing open access on the Fulcrum platform has opened up a number of new opportunities for me. My book is finding audiences that it could not have otherwise.

- Marc Opper
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Political Science at Randolph-Macon College

This is an interdisciplinary work of contemporary importance that not only examines countries in East and Southeast Asia but also bridges the disciplines of political science, history, and area studies.

Because the book is open access, it can be easily accessed by those in higher education, government, and by anyone with an internet connection.

red photograph of person taking a picture with their mobile phone

Global Digital Cultures

Digitalization is reshaping culture and communication in the twenty-first century. Digital platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and others are deeply embedded in the daily lives of millions of people around the world, shaping how people engage with others as kin, as citizens, and as consumers. The essays in this book explore the intersections of local, national, regional, and global forces that shape contemporary digital culture(s) in regions like South Asia.

Read the Book »

University of Michigan Press Ebook Collection

Interested in reading more Asian Studies titles? There are many more titles included in the University of Michigan Press Ebook Collection (UMP EBC), a comprehensive collection of the University of Michigan Press’s scholarly ebooks for sale to libraries.

Learn More »

Explore more stories: