The PressLeading researchers who read what our reviewers write, and decide what we publish.
What the Board Does
The Advisory Board is the scholarly authority of the Press. No title is published without its recommendation. After a proposal has cleared external peer review, it goes to the Board with the full reviewer reports and the author's response; members representing a range of disciplines assess the proposed title for quality and for suitability, and recommend publication or decline it.
The Board is a body of working scholars from outside the publishing operation.
Specifically, the Board
- Recommends titles for publication, on the evidence of the reviews and the author's response.
- Declines proposals, including proposals that have had favourable reviews, where it judges them unsuitable for the Press.
- Advises on reviewer selection, and suggests names in fields where our editors' networks are thin.
- Reviews and approves new series and the appointment of series editors.
What the Board Does Not Do
- It has no role in the commercial or financial affairs of the Press.
- It is not told whether an author can pay the open-access charge, or from where.
- It does not carry out peer review itself; it assesses proposals in the light of independent review.
Composition and Terms
Members are appointed for renewable terms of four years, and are chosen for scholarly standing in their field, for editorial judgement, and to give the Board breadth across disciplines, career stages and regions, so that decisions are not taken by a single national academic culture. The Board meets quarterly.
Members
Current appointees to the inaugural Board are listed below, and further appointments will be added in the coming weeks as they are confirmed. Updated 14 September 2026.
Melisa Argañaraz GómezAssistant Professor, Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community & Urban Studies, University of ConnecticutBA (Granada); MSc Urban Sociology (Amsterdam); PhD Geography & Environmental Systems (Maryland)
Alma BegičevićProfessor, Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology, Loyola University ChicagoBA (Loyola Chicago); MA International Law & Human Rights (Chicago); PhD Social & Political Sciences (Melbourne)
Federica BocchiAssistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of CalgaryBA (Parma); MA Philosophy (Parma); PhD Philosophy (Boston)
Praveenrao BolliAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice, Virginia State UniversityMA Sociology (Prairie View A&M); MS Engineering (Prairie View A&M); PhD Justice Studies (Prairie View A&M)
Li ChenAssistant Professor, Department of Social Sciences & Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong KongBSc (Melbourne); MEnv (Melbourne); PhD Human Geography (Melbourne)
Ángel A. Escamilla GarcíaAssistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Yale UniversityBA (Universidad Veracruzana); PhD Sociology (Northwestern)
ArCasia D. James-GallawayAssistant Professor, College of Education & Human Development, Texas A&M UniversityBA (Texas at Austin); MSEd Education, Culture & Society (Pennsylvania); PhD Education Policy, Organization & Leadership (Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
Tracey JohnsonAssistant Professor, Department of History & the Institute for African American Studies, University of GeorgiaBA (William & Mary); PhD History (Rutgers)
Vasiliki KoukouliotiLecturer, School of Law, Queen Mary University of LondonLLB (Athens); LLM Law (Queen Mary); PhD Law (Queen Mary)
Lara KrauseAssistant Professor, Institute of African Studies, Leipzig UniversityBA (Leipzig); MA African Studies (Leipzig); PhD African Languages (Cape Town)
Annie LamarAssistant Professor, Department of Classics, University of California, Santa BarbaraBA (Puget Sound); BS (Puget Sound); MA Education Data Science (Stanford); PhD Classics (Stanford)
Megan MaExecutive Director, Legal Innovation through Frontier Technology Lab, Stanford Law SchoolBA (McGill); LLM (Sciences Po); PhD Law (Sciences Po)
Asos MahmoodAssistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of TennesseeMBChB (Sulaimani); MPH Health Systems (Memphis); PhD Health Systems (Memphis)
Ayodeji OsinameAssistant Professor, Department of Educational Administration, University of SaskatchewanBSc (Olabisi Onabanjo); MEd (Brandon); PhD Education (Manitoba)
Renée Ragin RandallAssistant Professor, Department of Comparative Literature, University of MichiganBA (Harvard); PhD Literature (Duke)
Erica Saldívar GarcíaClinical Assistant Professor, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education & Human Development, New York UniversityBA (Wellesley); MSEd (Pennsylvania); EdD (Pennsylvania)
Srishti Meera SardanaAssistant Professor, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeMA Clinical Psychology (Columbia); PhD Clinical Psychology (Columbia)
Sarah W. SharpeAssociate Professor, Department of Teacher Education, Leadership & Counseling, Columbus State UniversityBSEd (Georgia); MEd Early Childhood Education (Wesleyan); PhD Education (Auburn)
Andy YuAssistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Western UniversityBA (McGill); BPhil Philosophy (Oxford); DPhil Philosophy (Oxford); JD (Toronto)
Magdalena Zegarra ChiapporiBritish Academy International Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of CambridgeBA (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú); MTS (Harvard Divinity School); MA Anthropology (Michigan); PhD Anthropology (Michigan)
Serving on the Board
We are building the Board out and are interested in hearing from researchers with a record of serious editorial work (journal editing, series editing, or sustained reviewing), particularly in fields and regions where open-access book publishing is least developed. Write to queries@bassi.foundation with a CV and a paragraph on your research.
