Call for Papers: St. John's University Humanities Review Spring 2020 Issue

St. John’s University Humanities Review

Special Issue: “Pedagogy in the 2020s: Approaches to Student Engagement, Thought Provocation, and Fostering Socially Engaged Thinkers in a New Decade”

Deadline for Abstracts: December 16th, 2019

Deadline for First-Draft Submissions: January 20th, 2020

Editor: Justin Lerner

Contact email: SJUHumanitiesReview@gmail.com

“Pedagogy in the 2020s: Approaches to Student Engagement, Thought Provocation, and Fostering Socially Engaged Thinkers in a New Decade”

The closing of the 2010s has seen a surge in the ongoing discussion of racism, marginalization, climate change, reproductive rights, how power structures define “human,” and many more conversations that function to seek the attainment of justice; these conversations are historically ongoing and were furthered by the 2016 presidential election. Therefore, the environment, human rights, and concepts of social and systematic oppression have remained major themes of pedagogy. The approach of a new decade, a new election, and ongoing governmental controversy, has created a new discussion in academia as to how one presents these themes in the contemporary classroom while effectively engaging students to listen, think, converse, and ultimately act. For this issue, we seek to open another space in this conversation for scholars across all disciplines to engage in how they approach topics including, but not limited to, effective student engagement, decanonization, decolonizing education, inclusive education, pop culture pedagogy, etc., and how these topics address aforementioned social issues including, but not limited to, racism, environmental crises, human rights, and so on. We ask for work regarding these in the contemporary classroom and how instructors foresee using pedagogical tools to foster classroom discussions that promote the recognition of the humanity of all, the necessity to take action to salvage our planet, and how to be active in affecting social change. Key to this discussion is the approach to student engagement: how do we make students energized to have these discussions? How do we get them to see the importance in listening and acting to affect change? What pedagogical tools and practices encourage active thinking, listening, and discussion in today’s classroom? We encourage speculative pedagogical articles, research-based articles, book reviews (fiction and nonfiction), interviews, and creative work that addresses the state of the classroom and how instructors can use their platforms to promote and instill the drive within students to perform active anti-racism, societal reform, and to create a socially-aware student population.

The editor is currently seeking abstracts (followed by submissions in mid-January) for an issue that will be published in the Spring of 2020; we encourage submissions from all races, ethnicities, ages, abilities, religions, and gender identities. If you are interested in contributing to the special issue, please submit an abstract of 250 words describing your essay, review, or project, along with a working title, as well as a CV by December 16th, 2019. 

If your abstract is accepted, the final deadline for submissions is January 20th, 2020.  The St. John’s University Humanities Review is a peer-reviewed publication.

Submissions must be sent as Microsoft Word documents (.doc or .docx only) attached via email (i.e. not in the body text of the email) to the editor: SJUHumanitiesReview@gmail.com.

Submissions must be double-spaced, adhering to MLA format (in-text citations, works cited page, etc.). Book reviews and interviews should be no more than 1,000 words; essays and all other submissions no more than 4,000 words. The editor is open to non-traditional submissions as well (e.g., creative fiction), so please contact us with any questions or suggestions you may have.

You will be notified promptly after the deadline if your submission is accepted.