Call for Papers: Religion, Ethics, and Community-Based Learning – Jul 31

Posted by Society of Christian Ethics on May 3, 2022

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Religion & Education on “Religion, Ethics, and Community-Based Learning”

With its 2022 Annual Meeting theme of “Examining the Ethics of Our Institutions: The Academy and the Church,” the Society of Christian Ethics reflected a broader scholarly trend inward, prioritizing reflexive critical analysis of the organizations in which we labor. This theme opens possibilities for new attention to an ethics of community-based experiential learning, a broad umbrella encompassing a diverse set of models and interdisciplinary discourses not often placed in conversation: various forms of service-learning, field education in theological schools, educational immersion travel, study abroad, and popular education for activism.

Though vibrant scholarly conversations exist in and beyond these models and discourses, very few draw on moral philosophy or religious ethics, often leading to thin ethical analyses beyond the efficacy of programs for student learning or community projects. At the same time, much established scholarship in community-based experiential learning is grounded in data-driven social scientific analysis that religious ethics often lacks in accounts of ethical formation and the nature of just relationships between persons and communities.

This special issue of Religion & Education aims to foster dialogue between religious ethics from a variety of faith traditions and community-based experiential learning by inviting a range of essays centered on the theme of “Religion, Ethics, and Community-Based Learning.” Contributions should center possibilities for mutual learning between religious ethics and forms of community-based experiential learning, broadly construed. We welcome both conceptual/theoretical pieces as well as those that center on concrete case studies.

For consideration, please submit an article abstract by July 31, 2022 to sara.williams@garrett.edu. Abstracts should be approximately 300 words in length. Full manuscripts of accepted articles should be between 5,000 – 7,000 words and will be due by February 15, 2023. We anticipate a publication date in the first quarter of 2024.

For additional questions, please email issue co-editors Sara Williams at sara.williams@garrett.edu or Kristyn Sessions at kristyn.sessions@villanova.edu.