AAUP 2011: Spotlight on Baltimore

The AAUP 2011 Registrants Newsletter provides periodic updates, news, and tips to help you make the most of your attendance at AAUP 2011. You can expect notice of program changes, information about speakers, links to reports and white papers relevant to session topics, and much more.

Spotlight on Baltimore

In today's issue, we turn the spotlight on our host city of Baltimore: Charm City, the City That Reads, B'more... However you say it, Baltimore is a city with much to offer visitors. If you have free time before or after the conference, there are many sites and attractions to take in. It's a great town for food and drink for those evenings on your own. And if you need to take a short breather from the packed program of AAUP '11, a short stroll on the Harbor or a quick coffee hit in Fell's Point is just around the corner.

A Baltimore Travel Guide

A little local knowledge never hurt, and our colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University Press have generously shared their advice and recommendations for what to do, see, and eat. Download the full guide today, and look for a browsable version on the AAUP 2011 website by June 1.

Getting Around

AAUP has thrown together a Google Map, highlighting conference locations around the Inner Harbor. The conference hotel also provides a useful map of the immediate neighborhoods (PDF): http://www.marriott.com/hotelwebsites/us/b/bwiwf/bwiwf_pdf/Baltimore_map.pdf.

Crabs!

It's the Chesapeake Bay's signature food, and you just might want to try some of Baltimore's crabs while in town. The Johns Hopkins guide recommends three top picks--Bo Brooks CrabHouse and Restaurant, Captain James Crab House, and LP Steamers--so you'll know just where to go. And, don't worry, the guide provides a plethora of other dining suggestions and thumbnail reviews, if you cannot live on crab alone!

The City that Reads also Writes

Baltimore has a storied history in American letters. If the teaser here catches your fancy, visit the Baltimore Literary Heritage Project for even more.

Literary Baltimore

Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps Baltimore's most famous son, and fans of the dark master may want to make a pilgrimage to the Poe House and Museum, or perhaps the Poe Gravesite. But Baltimore's literary past and future also features the influential journalist, essayist, and editor H.L. Mencken, the humorous poet Ogden Nash, and contemporary novelist Anne Tyler, among many others.

Noir Baltimore

The detective story was invented here by Poe himself, and Baltimore's tradition of mystery and suspense has never died. Mencken promoted the career of noir master James Cain before Cain moved to Hollywood. Dashiell Hammett may have set the tales of "The Continental Op" and Sam Spade in San Francisco, but Hammett drew on his experience working for the Pinkerton Agency in downtown Baltimore's Continental Building when he turned to the pen. Today, the Tess Monaghan detective novels of Laura Lippman bring Baltimore, its denizens and their traditions, to life.

Baltimore on Screen

Prepare to turn over your Netflix queues to the Charm City!

On the Little Screen

With our excitement about David Simon's scheduled talk, it may have been hard to avoid references to The Wire, the critically acclaimed 5-season HBO drama. (Even President Obama claims to be a fan!) The characters are as gripping as the stories, and Baltimore is the leading lady (or the femme fatale.) If you prefer your serial drama with a traditional flavor, check out this loving parody which recasts the show as a Victorian masterpiece. See also: The Corner and Homicide: Life on the Street.

On the Big Screen

John Waters has been putting his quirky viewpoint and beloved hometown on screen for decades, from cult movies of the 1970s to crossover camp hits like Hairspray (whose reincarnation as a musical movie featuring John Travolta reprising Divine's role as Edna Turnblad marks either the nadir or the apex of camp).

Oscar-award winning director Barry Levinson is another native who turns his camera and his pen to the streets and lives of Baltimore, MD. The semi-autobiographical Diner (1982), perhaps the most famous Baltimore-set film, takes place in Fell's Point.

Editor's Choice: The Walters

You'll be spoiled for choice deciding what to do and see in any spare time at AAUP 2011. Off the cuff, the National Aquarium is tremendous, and the American Visionary Art Museum is, according to JHU Press staff, "one of the city's coolest places." But a personal favorite is the Walters Art Museum, a jewel of a museum in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood. Father and son William and Henry Walters amassed an incredible collection of art ranging from early Egyptian pieces to Renaissance masters and 19th-century paintings, which they bequeathed to the public of Baltimore. Admission is free, and you can take in marvelously curated galleries such as the appealing reconstruction of a 17th-century Cabinet of Wonder and the eye-opening Collector's Study.

Do you have a personal Baltimore favorite of your own to recommend? Please share it with us on the AAUP 2011 Facebook page.

Essential Reading: CHOICE UP Forum

Five AAUP press directors shared their thoughts with CHOICE magazine for the May 2011 UP Forum "The End of the Tunnel?". The contributions from MaryKatherine Callaway (LSU), Richard Brown (Georgetown), Donna Shear (Nebraska), B. Byron Price (Oklahoma), and Sheila Leary (Wisconsin) are great conversation starters for AAUP 2011. Forum editor Rebecca Ann Bartlett and CHOICE generously arranged a no-subscription-needed link to the articles, and we encourage 2011 attendees to read these. (When you're not immersed in Poe and Tyler!)

Read the 2011 UP Forum: "The End of the Tunnel?"

Sabre Ad Auction Announced
AAUP is pleased to organize the annual Ad Auction to benefit the work of the Sabre Foundation. Learn more.

Pre-Order Conference Recordings

Audio recording of June 3-4 sessions will be available for purchase. AAUP 2011 registrants can pre-order the recordings at a reduced rate of $35 (US/CAN; international orders $45 with shipping). The recordings will be available as a full set* of MP3 files, on a Mac/PC-compatible disc, which can be transferred to a personal media device.

Place your advance order today!

* Due to cancellations or technical difficulties, not all sessions are guaranteed to be included. The recordings are only available as a set; individual session files cannot be purchased.

Thank you for registering for AAUP 2011! This newsletter is an ongoing source of updates and highlights for attendees preparing for the conference. An option to unsubscribe is below.