How Do We Build That? An Interdisciplinary Toolbox for Humanities Practices, Projects, and Programs
Due Date: 08-01-2024
We seek exploratory and pragmatic examples of how individuals, groups, and organizations are moving our fields (language, linguistics, and cultural production) forward within the broader humanities landscape. Our goal is to gather and share realistic insights into the step-by-step process of building sustainable change.
The objective is to develop an open-access toolbox and a cartography of practices that will offer clear roadmaps for faculty members and administrators to reinvigorate language and area studies programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our hope is to start a vibrant conversation and build a community of practitioners engaged with this sense of urgency.
Coauthorship with nonacademic partners is highly encouraged, including voices that speak from outside but with and through Iberian, Latin American, and Latinx studies and in connection with a range of adjacent disciplines such as Indigenous studies and Black studies, activism and social justice, architecture and urban studies, medicine and health fields, art and design, ethics, business and entrepreneurship, environmental and sustainability, engineering, game design and technology, travel and hospitality, disability studies, queer studies and LGBTQ+ studies, and more.
Possible questions authors can respond to include:
- What curricular designs have led to solid and flexible ways to move forward without having to tear everything down every couple of years with changing priorities?
- Lessons learned: What works? What hasn’t worked? What should we continue to implement and why and how?
- What processes or institutional structures and partnerships allow for change or are getting in the way?
- What have been the challenges or obstacles to change? What compromises or support were or still are needed?
- What forms of communication and advocacy were created, with whom, and why?
- What efforts, plans, or proposals can be implemented no matter the funding at your given institution?
- What are some concrete and sustainable efforts implemented by faculty members, staff members, administrators, students, clubs, etc.?
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be written in English in accessible language for a wide readership across and beyond the humanities. Ideally all submissions will include concrete steps toward implementation of the new program, project, or curriculum. Sample course or program materials are welcome. Contributions can take different forms and will be peer reviewed for content, clarity, and practicality. Submission lengths are flexible, around 1,250–8,000 words.
The final product will be published as a book with a respected press (pending), with all essays also available as open access.
To be considered for the issue, please submit a 300-word abstract and 100-word author bio to Christine Henseler by 1 August 2024. If requested, full essays will be due by 1 March 2025 and will undergo peer review.