The Thought & Action Review Panel invites submissions for “Faculty, Students, and the Common Good,” a special focus section of the 2013 issue of NEA’s peer-reviewed journal of higher education.

As our nation becomes increasingly partisan and polarized, especially between rich and poor, and as public education becomes increasingly underfunded and targeted by anti-egalitarian forces, we encourage responses that speak to the role of faculty and students in creating a more democratic, more decent society. We ask you: What is the public good, and what does it mean to fight for it? What responsibility do you feel for other people’s children?

For example, consider the following situations and investigations: how has the legacy of the land-grant universities—that great experiment in middle-class investment—lived on? How do HBCUs serve an increasingly diverse America? Are community colleges true to their name? How do academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure serve the common good? What does the common good look like in your classroom, and in your teaching? Is online education for the common good?

We’re particularly interested in articles that address how unions or other collectives impact your work and serve a role in promoting the common good, as well as submissions that speak to the changing role of adjunct, or contingent, faculty on campuses.

New scholars and voices are very welcome, as are poets and visual artists. Please understand that the panel prefers short to long, and encourages a “reader-friendly” tone. Also note that all submissions will be entered in the competition for three $2,500 “Excellence in the Academy” awards. For more guidelines on submission or awards information, visit www.nea.org/thoughtandaction.

Please note the deadline for submissions: January 31, 2013.

For more information, contact:
Mary Ellen Flannery, editor
mflannery@nea.org