CALL FOR PAPERS
Queering Professional and Technical Communication: Intersectional Approaches to Theory and Practice

Editor: Trent M. Kays, PhD

This edited collection examines how queer theory reshapes professional and technical communication. Since 2019's "social justice turn" in technical communication (Walton et al., 2019), scholars have increasingly interrogated how heteronormative assumptions structure workplace practices, documentation standards, and pedagogical approaches. Recent scholarship demonstrates that LGBTQ+ professionals navigate workplace communication through fluid strategies of disclosure and concealment (Cox, 2019), that technical documents can produce "failed orientations" that oppress trans people (Moeggenberg et al., 2022), and that centering marginalized users transforms design practices (Ramler, 2021).
We're interested in work that critiques existing practices and generates new approaches to theory, pedagogy, and workplace contexts. The volume organizes into three sections: Theoretical Frameworks, Professional Practice, and Pedagogical Applications. This structure builds theoretical foundations, explores workplace applications, and provides concrete teaching resources.

SECTION 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS (6,000-8,000 words)
What happens when we center queer experience in professional and technical communication theory? Building on foundational work in queer rhetoric (Ahmed, 2006; Alexander & Wallace, 2009; Butler, 2006; Rhodes & Alexander, 2022; Sedgwick, 2008) and the social justice turn in technical communication (Walton et al., 2019; Jones et al., 2025), this section develops theoretical groundwork for the collection. We seek chapters that extend established frameworks, such as working closets (Cox, 2019), queer tactical communication (Edenfield et al., 2019), and queer usability (Ramler, 2021), while forging new theoretical paths.

Topics include:

• Queer theory's challenge to professional and technical communication conventions
• Intersectional theoretical approaches drawing on cultural rhetorics (Cobos et al., 2018; Haas, 2012) and queer of color critique (Munoz, 1999)
• Methodological innovations and critiques, including queer methods for research (Banks et al., 2019)
• Historical and rhetorical analyses
• Critical frameworks for technology documentation
• Genre and convention through queer lenses
• Power, authority, and marginalized voices
• Queering universal design theory
• Feminist and queer theoretical intersections
• And related and/or interconnected topics

SECTION 2: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE (4,000-6,000 words)
This section examines workplace implementation and case studies. Recent scholarship explores how marginalized communities create tactical documentation outside institutional structures (Edenfield et al., 2019; Jordan & Edenfield, 2025), how design choices in digital systems can harm or support LGBTQ+ users (Green, 2026; Fadrigon et al., 2024), and how healthcare communication can better serve queer and trans patients (Milionis et al., 2024; Ross & Castle, 2017). We seek research that addresses material consequences of communication practices and centers LGBTQ+ experiences.

Topics include:

• Workplace documentation and policy development
• UX/UI design for LGBTQ+ users, including inclusive forms and account systems
• Healthcare communication with queer and trans patients
• Digital space design and community management
• Professional development and training
• Activism and advocacy documentation, including community-led design (Costanza-Chock, 2020)
• Accessibility implementation
• Cross-cultural practice and global dimensions of queer technical communication
• Visual design and document production
• Workplace inclusion research (Maji et al., 2024; Williams et al., 2022)
• And related and/or interconnected topics

SECTION 3: PEDAGOGICAL APPLICATIONS (2,000-3,000 words + activity materials)
This section showcases assignments, exercises, and classroom activities that queer professional and technical communication pedagogy. Queer pedagogy challenges us to recognize writing and teaching as "already queer practices" (Waite, 2017) and to develop students' critical literacies around sexuality, gender, and normativity (Alexander, 2008). Recent work applies queer theory to design thinking pedagogy (Moeggenberg & Walton, 2019), critiques how professional communication textbooks erase trans experiences (Sanchez, 2019), and proposes alternatives to traditional assessment (West-Puckett et al., 2023).

Each chapter should include:

1. The Activity/Assignment -- Complete materials ready for classroom use (assignment sheets, prompts, rubrics, handouts)
2. Contextualizing Essay -- Short narrative explaining: Theoretical and pedagogical rationale When and where to use the activity (course level, unit placement, timing) Learning outcomes Implementation guidance and facilitation tips Anticipated challenges and solutions Assessment approaches Variations and adaptations

Topics we seek:

• Course assignments that center LGBTQ+ perspectives
• Classroom activities exploring identity and documentation
• Exercises in inclusive design and accessibility (Lee, 2025)
• Writing prompts that challenge heteronormative assumptions
• Assessment approaches for queer pedagogy
• Collaborative projects with community organizations
• Service-learning initiatives
• Workshop designs for professional development
• Reflection activities on positionality and power
• Inclusive editing pedagogy (Schreiber, 2025)
• And related and/or interconnected topics

WE'RE ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN:
Work that bridges theory and practice. Intersectional approaches examining multiple dimensions of identity and power. Collaborative projects between scholars and practitioners. International perspectives. Chapters that take methodological risks. Pedagogical materials tested in classroom or professional settings.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Abstract Submission (Due August 1, 2026):

• ~500-word abstract
• 1-2 sentence summary of the potential work
• ~100-word author bio
• Brief description of your chapter's contribution intended section (Theory, Practice, or Pedagogy)

Full Chapter Submission (Due December 1, 2026, if abstract accepted):

• Word count appropriate to section (see above) APA citation style (7th edition)
• Original amd unpublished work
• For Section 3: Submit activity materials along with contextualizing essay

AI DISCLOSURE POLICY
Authors must disclose any use of AI tools in the preparation of their manuscript, including writing assistance, data analysis, or image generation. AI tools may not be listed as authors or contributors. Disclosure should be included as a note at the end of the manuscript prior to the reference list.

TIMELINE

• Abstract Submission: August 1, 2026
• Acceptance Notification: September 1, 2026
• Tentative Full Chapter Draft: December 15, 2026

SUBMISSION 

Submit abstract via Qualtrics at https://bit.ly/QPTCSubmissions 

PUBLISHER
While there has been interest from several presses, this collection will be submitted for publication consideration with the WAC Clearinghouse and Utah State University Press.

QUESTIONS
Contact Trent M. Kays at tkays@augusta.edu.

This edited collection will follow Anti-Racist Scholarly Reviewing Practices.

Questions about your project's fit? Reach out before submitting. We're building a collection that moves from theory to practice to classroom and refusing artificial boundaries between scholarship and teaching.

REFERENCES

• Ahmed, S. (2006). Queer phenomenology: Orientations, objects, others. Duke University Press.
• Alexander, J. (2008). Literacy, sexuality, pedagogy: Theory and practice for composition studies. Utah State University Press.
• Alexander, J., & Wallace, D. (2009). The queer turn in composition studies: Reviewing and assessing an emerging scholarship. College Composition and Communication, 61(1), W2300–W320. https://doi.org/10.58680/ccc20098324
• Banks, W. P., Cox, M. B., & Dadas, C. (Eds.). (2019). Re/orienting writing studies: Queer methods, queer projects. Utah State University Press.
• Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity (1st ed.). Routledge.
• Cobos, C., Rios, G. R., Sackey, D. J., Sano-Franchini, J., & Haas, A. M. (2018). Interfacing cultural rhetorics: A history and a call. Rhetoric Review, 37(2), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/07350198.2018.1424470
• Costanza-Chock, S. (2020). Design justice: Community-led practices to build the worlds we need. MIT Press.
• Cox, M. B. (2019). Working closets: Mapping queer professional discourses and why professional communication studies need queer rhetorics. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 33(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651918798691
• Edenfield, A. C., Colton, J. S., & Holmes, S. (2019). Always already geopolitical: Trans health care and global tactical technical communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 49(4), 433–457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281619871211
• Edenfield, A. C., Holmes, S., & Colton, J. S. (2019). Queering tactical technical communication: DIY HRT. Technical Communication Quarterly, 28(3), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2019.1607906
• Fadrigon, B., Gordon, P., Lupica, J., & Ames, M. G. (2024). A playbook to be proud of: Making the case for LGBTQ+ inclusive user account design. In Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–22. ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642784
• Green, M. (2026). Trans and queer visibility in an era of hyper surveillance: A user experience study of university systems for sharing gender pronouns. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 56(1), 35–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472816251384913
• Haas, A. M. (2012). Race, rhetoric, and technology: A case study of decolonial technical communication theory, methodology, and pedagogy. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(3), 277–310. https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651912439539
• Jones, N. N., Gonzales, L., Haas, A. M., & Williams, M. F. (Eds.). (2025). The Routledge handbook of social justice in technical and professional communication. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003455158
• Jordan, R., & Edenfield, A. C. (2025). Queer potential in professional communication: “Queer use” & terms of service. Technical Communication Quarterly, 34(4), 455–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2025.2531972
• Lee, S. E. (2025). Empowering inclusive UX design through the equitable design toolkit. In C. Stephanidis et al. (Eds.), HCI International 2025 Posters (Communications in Computer and Information Science, Vol. 2524). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-94156-6_14
• Maji, S., Yadav, N., & Gupta, P. (2024). LGBTQ+ in workplace: A systematic review and reconsideration. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 43(2), 313–360. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-02-2022-0049
• Milionis, C., Ilias, I., Venaki, E., & Koukkou, E. (2024). Communicating with transgender people within health care settings: Clinical perspectives. Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 18(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538068.2024.2400436
• Moeggenberg, Z. C., Edenfield, A. C., & Holmes, S. (2022). Trans oppression through technical rhetorics: A queer phenomenological analysis of institutional documents. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 36(4), 403–439. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519221105492
• Moeggenberg, Z. C., & Walton, R. (2019). How queer theory can inform design thinking pedagogy. In Proceedings of the 37th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication, 1–9. ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328020.3353924
• Muñoz, J. E. (1999). Disidentifications: Queers of color and the performance of politics. University of Minnesota Press.
• Ramler, M. E. (2021). Queer usability. Technical Communication Quarterly, 30(4), 345–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2020.1831614
• Rhodes, J., & Alexander, J. (Eds.). (2022). The Routledge handbook of queer rhetoric. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003144809
• Ross, K. A., & Castle, B. G. (2017). A culture-centered approach to improving healthy trans-patient-practitioner communication: Recommendations for practitioners communicating with trans individuals. Health Communication, 32(6), 730–740. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1172286
• Sanchez, F. (2019). Trans students' right to their own gender in professional communication courses: A textbook analysis of attire and voice standards in oral presentations. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 49(2), 183–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281618817349
• Schreiber, J. (2025). Inclusive and accessible technical editing in the classroom and workplace. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 39(4), 403–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519251348442
• Sedgwick, E. K. (2008). Epistemology of the closet (Updated ed.). University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520934481
• Waite, S. (2017). Teaching queer: Radical possibilities for writing and knowing. University of Pittsburgh Press.
• Walton, R., Moore, K. R., & Jones, N. N. (2019). Technical communication after the social justice turn: Building coalitions for action. Routledge.
• West-Puckett, S., Caswell, N. I., & Banks, W. P. (2023). Failing sideways: Queer possibilities for writing assessment. Utah State University Press.
• Williams, A., Thompson, N., et al. (2022). Inclusion in the workplace: A qualitative study of LGB inclusion in a UK public sector organisation. The Qualitative Report, 27(4), 1068–1087. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.4461