Call for Submissions: Special Issue of Forum on Identity and Contingency: When Who We Are Shapes What We Do
Forum: Issues about Part-Time and Full-Time Contingent Faculty is a peer-reviewed journal published by NCTE and CCCC to address working conditions, professional life, activism, and perspectives of non-tenure-track faculty.
This special issue will be published in the fall of 2026. The submission deadline is January 20, 2026.
Issues of identity shape not only who we are as faculty, but also how we perform and the connections we make in the classroom. Identifying one’s place, not just as an educator but as a person, has unique implications for part-time and contingent faculty in higher learning, both in and outside the academic spaces they take up. In an article published by Inside Higher Ed, Colleen Flaherty points out that “students who identify with their instructors based on certain underrepresented visible identities can benefit from an increased sense of belonging and self-efficacy, better course outcomes and more.” Understanding how identity shapes the work done by part-time and full-time contingent faculty is the first step to addressing equitable measures of support as we engage with students in the classroom.
Part-time and full-time contingent faculty offer rich real-world perspectives, shaped by identities established inside and outside of their institutions. This special issue invites voices that identify the connections between identity and contingency.
Viable submissions for the special issue will explore considerations of personal and professional identity for part-time and full-time contingent faculty in the field of writing studies. Submission topics might include, but are not limited to, considerations of the following:
- Working-professional-as-faculty identities
- Underrepresented minorities
- Bilingual and multilingual identities
- Faculty evaluations and assessment practices
- Subculture identities
- Accessibility, difference, and inclusion
Submission Requirements
The deadline for submissions is January 20, 2026. Submissions must be original, 1,500 to 2,000 words long, and formatted in the latest edition of MLA style.
Please send your submission to the editor as an email attachment. The cover message should include the following information:
- Your name
- Your title(s)
- Your institution(s)
- Institutional address(es) and phone number(s) if applicable
Direct all submissions to the following address with “FORUM article” in your subject line:
Kimberly Bain, PhD
Editor, Forum
Kimberly_Bain
Proposals and general inquiries may also be directed to the editor. Forum welcomes you to submit essays related to the teaching, working conditions, professional life, activism, and perspectives of non-tenure-track faculty. Faculty and scholars from all academic positions are welcome to contribute. Essays should address theoretical and/or disciplinary debates. They will go through the standard peer-review and revision process.
For more information about Forum, visit https://cccc.ncte.org/cccc/forum.
Work Cited
Flaherty, Colleen. “Making Faculty Identities Visible, for Students’ Sake.” Inside Higher Ed, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/academic-life/2024/04/24/when-professors-share-identities-students-can-benefit/.
Best regards,
Kimberly A. Bain, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, English
Palm Beach Atlantic University
Borbe Hall, 131A
Editor, Forum