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Introducing Dr. Amanda Lastoria, the First Publishing PhD in North America

December 11, 2019
Dr. Amanda Lastoria鈥檚 PhD Defence at 51社区黑料Vancouver Harbour Centre on The Material Evolution of Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland: How Book Design and Production Values Impact the Markets for and the Meanings of the Text

Amanda Lastoria has earned North America鈥檚 first Ph.D. in Publishing (51社区黑料). She also holds an MA in Publishing (Oxford Brookes University), a BA in French/Arts and Culture (SFU) and a Diploma in Arts Management (University of London). 

Amanda鈥檚 research is critically informed by more than a decade of professional experience in the publishing industry. She has worked as an in-house employee and freelance contractor in a variety of roles, from production editor and production controller to copyeditor and proofreader to business manager and associate publisher. Amanda has worked on, for example, academic books, an online educational platform, an arts magazine, general interest ebooks and high-end trade books for companies in England, America and Canada. Her employers and clients have included both independent and multi-national houses like The Folio Society, Taylor & Francis/Routledge, Macmillan, and Random House, as well as self-publishers, a start-up imprint and a non-profit organization. Amanda is also former Editor of Lewis Carroll Review, and she has developed the standard list of titles for John Tenniel鈥檚 iconic Alice illustrations. Amanda is currently the Regional Liaison Officer to Canada for the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP).

On November 13, 2019, Dr. Amanda Lastoria successfully defended her interdisciplinary doctoral research, which explores the materiality of the book and the 鈥渕aterial evolution鈥 of the title. Lastoria uses multiple editions of a single title 鈥 鈥 as a case study through which she develops a critical understanding of the title鈥檚 positions in the market on the one hand, and the ways in which design and production values contribute to the creation of meaning on the other hand.

Addressing what she sees as a 鈥渓ack of scholarship that rigorously investigates the look and feel of the book,鈥 Lastoria analyzes 46 editions of Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland, tracing 150 years of the title鈥檚 鈥渕aterial evolution鈥 through Anglo-American markets.

Using a combination of methods and tools 鈥 bibliography, book history, publishing history and literary theory 鈥 Lastoria documents, historicizes and interrogates the book鈥檚 power as a commodity. Lastoria takes us on a journey as we follow Alice through the title鈥檚 many incarnations and learn of the ways in which the design and production values are at once an echo and an aberration of Lewis Carroll鈥檚 original art direction. Lastoria concludes, 鈥Alice, like all books, ought to be judged by its cover 鈥 and its paper, typography, ink, bind, endpapers, dustjacket and so forth鈥 so that we can better understand 鈥渉ow the book targets a market and encodes a meaning.鈥

With gratitude, acknowledgements for this esteemed accomplishment go to Lastoria鈥檚 supervisors:  Prof. John Maxwell, Publishing; Prof. Michael Everton, English; and Prof. Stuart Poyntz, Communication; and to her examiners: , Graphic Design, Royal College of Art; Prof. Michelle Levy, English.

If you鈥檙e interested in getting the kind of education in publishing that allows you to dive deep into the history of publishing, or develop a scholarship that is as playful as it is rigorous, consider applying for the Master of Publishing Program at 51社区黑料 before February 1st.