Call for Papers: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Course-Based Action Research

Posted by on August 12, 2005

[posted from Higher Ed Service-Learning listserv]

Call for papers submissions: “Pedagogies of Praxis: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Course-Based Action Research”

This co-edited volume by Nila Ginger Hofman (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, DePaul University) and Howard Rosing (Associate Director, Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning, DePaul University) will focus on documenting ways in which action research within the social sciences functions as an effective tool in undergraduate learning as well as a means to build partnerships between institutions of higher learning and community-based organizations that serve the public.

Contributions to the volume should focus on how course-based action research (CBAR) and course-based participatory action research (PAR) serve the interests of three constituencies: students, faculty and their supporting institutions, and the community. Individual papers should focus on the impact of courses on these constituencies by querying, for example, whether we are teaching/designing CBAR/PAR effectively, or how we can go about making students’ work more visible.

The editors are particularly interested in papers that address how undergraduate education is directly impacted by CBAR/PAR, e.g., how these pedagogies engage students in local-level politics. Also of interest is the impact of such projects on the communities served and how CBAR/PAR impacts faculty and pedagogy. These questions are engaged by asking, for example, what type of institutional support is needed to sustain these types of endeavors? How do educators/practitioners go about reporting back to the community regarding the success and failures of CBAR/PAR? Such questions will help readers understand how, for example, CBAR projects can realistically move toward PAR and what kinds of challenges are involved in employing CBAR/PAR pedagogies in general.

Deadline for paper submission is October 1, 2005. Papers should be no more than 30 pages, double-spaced, exclusive of references. Authors should also submit a short bio, stating their institutional affiliation and field of study.

Please direct all inquiries to Nila Ginger Hofman at nhofman@depaul.edu