11/04/2024
I am excited to announce the Call for Proposals for an edited volume called How do we build that? An Interdisciplinary Toolbox for Humanities Practices, Projects and Programs.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
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How do we build that?
An Interdisciplinary Toolbox for Humanities
Practices, Projects and Programs
Edited by
Palmar Álvarez-Blanco, Benjamin Fraser, Christine Henseler and Stephanie A. Mueller
This volume will map out the most vibrant, engaging and interdisciplinary courses, programs, methodologies and partnerships in, with and through Iberian, Latin American, LatinX studies, and its allied fields. 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 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.
Co-authorship with non-academic 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/Black studies, activism/social justice, architecture/urban studies, medicine/health fields, art/design, ethics, business/entrepreneurship, environmental/sustainability, engineering, game design/technology, travel/hospitality, disability studies, q***r studies/LGBTQ+, and more.
Possible questions authors can respond to include but are not limited to:
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? (This could refer to departaments, offices on and off campus, businesses, and community and governmental organizations.)
What have been the challenges, or obstacles to change? What compromises, or support were / still are needed?
What forms of communication and advocacy were created, with whom, and why?
What efforts / plans / proposals can be implemented no matter the funding at your given institution?
What are some concrete and sustainable efforts implemented by faculty, staff members, administrators, students, clubs, etc.?
What is the role of technology?
In what ways are your efforts entering into dialogue with the humanities more broadly?
Examples of disciplinary and interdisciplinary works (by “works” we mean a research project, class and curricular design, examples of community partnerships, etc.) All voices are welcome.
How can we encourage discussion about creative solutions and hopeful ideas as well as a focus on training the next generation to work inside and outside of academia, and across disciplines in totally new or reframed ways?
We are living in a time of urgency where the next generations need to answer new and persistent questions and grapple with systemic crises that demand new learning environments. Are we equipping students to juggle with the persistent questions of our time? How are we redesigning our classes? Promoting research projects where students can also address these questions? Are we producing research in applied and situated knowledge? In what forms? How do we validate diverse forms of knowledge, skills and engagements? Who are our audiences in the changing student demographics in higher education? And are we thinking about these questions in isolation or as part of an interdisciplinary dialogue? Do we consider knowledge as a common good or not, and how do we translate our beliefs into our curricular practices?
As humanists we consider these to be some of the urgent questions of our times, and we are asking ourselves how they translate into our jobs, disciplines and professional identities. Can we move from paralysis and isolation to being proactive, collective and in dialogue with faculty from other disciplines, people within our institutions and beyond? Can we participate in a common and collective future? Our answer is yes.
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 1250 - 8000 words.
The final product will be published as a book with a respected press (pending) with all essays also available open access.
To be considered for the issue, please submit a 300-word abstract and 100-word author bio to Christine Henseler ([email protected]) by August 1st, 2024. If requested, full essays will be due by March 1st, 2025 and will undergo peer review.
