Bulletin No. 1, 2015

6   Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2015 Integrating Knowledge in the Age of Hyper-specialization The scene of higher education today is characterized by specialization and institutionali- zation, which has resulted in the increasing complexity of the academic landscape. New branches of knowledge have kept appearing and the gulf between different academic disciplines yawned wider than ever. But Dr. Lin believes that academic publishers have a role to play in integrating knowledge in such a trend. She says, ‘Academic editors can move beyond the barriers between different disciplines, and weave knowledge of different subjects of study into a meaningful whole by inviting potential authors to submit manuscripts and editing academic journals. So, a good university press should never be a passive receiver of the results of scholarship undertaken in its parent institution. Instead, it should be an active player in this intellectual endeavour through the interaction with its scholarly community.’ The CUP has reformed the manpower of its editorial team in the last few years. Now nearly a half of its editors are PhD holders. Dr. Lin explains, ‘Sound academic training enables an academic editor to get a panoramic view of the scholarly endeavour in the higher education sector and to detect the trend in the changing academic landscape.’ Developing Book Series In recent years the CUP has put a great deal of effort into producing its book series. Dr. Lin says, ‘Any good university press would develop book series that have profound influence. This is instrumental in building a long lasting academic legacy. We’ve devoted much effort to the development of our book series.’ They include the Modern and Contemporary Chinese History series, the 30/30 series, the Bordertown Thinker series, the Bilingual Chinese Classic series. And the newest one is the Calligrams series launched in early 2015. The Calligram s series is a partnership between the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press and the New York Review Books, which is an American publishing house with a high international reputation. This is the first time it has launched a book series with another publisher. The launch of the Calligrams series is aimed at rediscovering out-of-print titles with great value in fields of Chinese culture and literature and introducing European and American readers to classical cultures of Asia.