Academic Labor: Research and Artistry (ALRA) is a peer-reviewed open access academic journal launched in 2016 by the Center for the Study of Academic Labor (CSAL) at Colorado State University and supported by The WAC Clearinghouse and Humboldt State University. The journal encourages ongoing research on matters relating to tenure and contingency in the academy, both nationally and internationally. Along with our center and web site, we offer a research home for those undertaking scholarship in areas broadly defined as tenure studies and contingency studies. To meet this objective, we invite a wide range of contributions, from the statistical to the historic/archival, from the theoretical to the applied, from the researched to the creative, and from empirical to essayist forms. Our editors and reviewers include social scientists, artists, and theorists specializing in labor issues.
We welcome scholarly articles, reports, policies, position statements, essays, organizing and advocacy toolkits, photographs, photographic essays, personal narratives, social science research, original art, artifacts of curated performance art, op-eds, reviews in print and multimedia formats, etc. We also welcome histories of academic labor efforts; for instance, if your institution or program has engaged in efforts to establish or improve practices and policies and would like to have a backup location for archiving the papers, please send them our way and we will work with you on creating a secure, digital file. If you do not see a genre mentioned that you are interested in pursuing, please contact the lead editors, Sue Doe and Sarah Austin (sue.doe@colostate.edu; sarah.austin@afacademy.af.edu).
Submissions should not exceed 10,000 words in length, including abstract, notes and citations. ALRA has no minimum required word count. Aligned with ALRA’s mission to encourage conversation among a broad range of stakeholders, we welcome shorter pieces, including briefs, on topics aligned with the journal’s mission and aims.
ALRA is interested in pieces concerning topics including but not limited to:
If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, please contact the editors:
Dr. Sue Doe: sue.doe@colostate.edu
Dr. Sarah Austin: sarah.austin@afacademy.af.edu
Academic Labor: Research and Artistry (ALRA)
Issue 7: Special Issue on Faculty Organizing
Academic Labor: Research and Artistry (ALRA) is a peer-reviewed open access academic journal launched in 2016 by the Center for the Study of Academic Labor (CSAL) at Colorado State University. ALRA is supported by a generous grant from CSU Open Press. The journal encourages ongoing research on matters relating to tenure and contingency in the academy, both nationally and internationally. Along with our center and website, we offer a research home for those undertaking scholarship in areas broadly defined as tenure studies, contingency studies, and critical university studies. To meet this objective, we invite a wide range of contributions, from the statistical to the historic/archival, from the theoretical to the applied, from the researched to the creative, and from empirical to essayist forms. Our editors and reviewers include social scientists, artists, and theorists specializing in labor issues.
We hope that you enjoyed Issue 6 outlining your experiences as academic laborers during a global pandemic. Here’s the link if you missed it: https://wac.colostate.edu/alra
Our upcoming issue 7, will be a special issue, guest edited by Dr. Martha McCaughey of Appalachian State University.
Faculty organizing is as important as it is difficult in the context of austerity, the corporatization of higher education, a growing reliance on contingent faculty labor and decline in tenure-track positions, faculty demoralization and disengagement, and outside watch groups and agencies pushing their own political agendas for higher ed curricula. Despite these challenges, faculty members have engaged in creative and proactive efforts for better wages, polices, and priorities.
We welcome proposals for articles on: faculty unionizing, non-normative direct action, fighting policed pedagogy, challenging administrative and athletic bloat, securing contingent faculty rights, defending academic freedom and faculty governance, technology and academic labor activism, specific organizations like the AAUP and Faculty Forward, and other topics that address tactics and strategies, forming coalitions, and/or assessing the impact of faculty organizing efforts.
Proposals should be 300-800 words in length and submitted here by April 30, 2022. All articles will be peer reviewed, with final accepted papers being due Sept. 1, 2022. Short pieces are welcome, and no article should exceed 10,000 words (including abstract, notes, and references). The journal uses MLA citation style. Questions should be directed to Dr. Martha McCaughey, Guest Editor, mccaugheym@appstate.edu.
TIMELINE FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE
Call for Proposed Papers: March 2-April 30, 2022
Proposals Reviewed by Guest Editor: March 2-May 9, 2022
Decision Letters to Authors: May 10, 2022
Completed Papers Due: Sept. 1, 2022
Papers Reviewed: Aug. 1-Nov. 1, 2022
Revisions Requested: Oct. 1-Dec. 1, 2022
Final Papers Due: Jan. 15, 2023
All Articles Submitted for Copyediting: Feb. 15, 2023
The Center for the Study of Academic Labor and ALRA welcome varied genres, such as scholarly articles, reports, policies, position statements, essays, organizing and advocacy toolkits, photographs, photographic essays, personal narratives, social science research, original art, artifacts of curated performance art, op-eds, reviews in print and multimedia formats, etc., so long as they associate favorably with the Center and Journal’s theme. We also welcome histories of academic labor efforts; for instance, if your institution or program has engaged in efforts to establish or improve practices and policies and would like to have a backup location for archiving the papers, please send them our way and we will work with you on creating a secure, digital file. If you do not see a genre mentioned that you are interested in pursuing, please contact the lead editors, Sue Doe and Sarah Austin (sue.doe@colostate.edu; sarah.austin@usafa.edu). ALRA has no minimum required word count. Aligned with ALRA’s mission to encourage conversation among a broad range of stakeholders, we welcome shorter pieces, including briefs, on topics aligned with the journal’s mission and aims.