Call for Papers: Writing, Service-Learning, Community Literacy

Posted by on May 16, 2003

Call for Papers: __Reflections: A Journal of Writing, Service-Learning, and Community Literacy__ invites submissions for a Spring 2004 special issue on “Service-Learning and Professional Writing,” guest edited by Melody Bowdon and James Dubinsky. With its experiential nature and emphasis on problem solving, service-learning has emerged as an effective pedagogical approach for many technical and professional writing instructors. This approach not only is changing our classroom experiences but also is opening spaces for theorizing about the power of language and rhetoric in the public sphere. We invite submissions that advance our understanding of service-learning as both a pedagogy and a philosophy and welcome full-length articles (up to 5000 words) that address the following topics:

* Service-learning and technical writing situated in an intellectual or ethical landscape
* Programmatic or institutional issues related to service-learning
* Collaboratiron and community building in virtual spaces
* Genre and style challenges that emerge for technical and professional writing students in the nonprofit versus for-profit sectors
* Race, gender, and class issues associated with service-learning in technical and professional writing
* Connections between service-learning approaches and interdisciplinary, graduate or distance learning
* The relationship of service-learning to other workplace-based writing pedagogies (for example, client projects)
* Empirical research on the effectiveness of service-learning as a teaching tool (for example, impact on student learning)
* Assessment research that demonstrates the effects of service-learning on communities and collaborating agencies

In addition, we welcome review essays on significant books and articles, as well as short articles (2000 words) that focus on classroom experiences. Reflections, a peer-reviewed journal of writing, service-learning and community literacy, provides a forum for teachers, researchers, students, and community partners to share research and discuss the theoretical, political, and ethical implications of community-based writing and writing pedagogy (http://www.reflectionsjournal.org). Manuscripts must follow MLA guidelines. Please send inquiries to Barbara Roswell (broswell@goucher.edu), Melody Bowdon (mbowdon@mail.ucf.edu), or Jim Dubinsky (dubinsky@vt.edu). Send electronic submissions (in MS-Word or RTF) to Melody Bowdon (mbowdon@mail.ucf.edu) by September 1, 2003.