Bennison made chair of CUP’s academic committee

Professor Amira K Bennison has been elected chair of Cambridge University Press’ (CUP) academic committee, which decides which books and journals will be carried by the imprint.

Bennison, who is Professor in the History and Culture of the Maghrib and a Fellow of Magdalene College, takes over the role from Professor Kenneth Armstrong, who stood down on 1st October 2022.

The committee plays a key role in the running of the press, with its members reviewing and formally approving proposals for all new books, journals and series.

Bennison became interested in the Middle East and North Africa while studying for a degree in history and Arabic at Cambridge. After graduating, she went to live in Cairo for a year before studying for a Master’s at Harvard University and a PhD at SOAS. She went on to the University of Manchester as a Leverhulme Research Fellow before moving to the University of Cambridge in 1997, where she is now a professor in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

She has appeared in several TV programmes about the history of the Middle East and North Africa, and is also a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s “In Our Time”. She also made a recent appearance on the BBC’s “You’re Dead to Me” podcast, which blends history and humour.

Reacting to her appointment, she said: “I’m delighted of course and I was honoured when Professor Armstrong asked me to consider it. When you get to be a professor, the question is often: ‘What next? What are you going to do at that level?’ and this seemed like a very worthwhile endeavour. It’s also fascinating to be a member of the academic publishing committee, because as a practising academic who writes and tries to find publishing outlets, it’s very interesting to see the other side of the process.

“I am really impressed with the commitment of the press to their authors and that they are sensitive to the experience of people who want to publish with them. It can definitely be bruising to get publications through various different presses and we all become quite used to it as publishing academics, but Cambridge University Press editors seem to build a really good rapport with authors.”