South Atlantic Review, Call for Proposals for Special Issue
“Change for Sustainability in English, Rhetoric, and Writing: Models for Transfer across Contexts”
Christina R. McDonald <mcdonaldcr> , Virginia Military Institute
In this special issue we seek to explore how faculty and administrators are responding to the wide array of challenges facing the continued viability of degree programs in English.[1] Across institutional types, these programs are being asked to justify their relevance, adapt to shifting student demographics, and respond to evolving expectations about the purposes of higher education. This special issue invites contributors to examine these pressures not simply as constraints, but as catalysts for meaningful curricular and programmatic innovation.
The theme of the issue centers on two interconnected concepts: transfer and sustainability. We draw on the notion of transfer—broadly understood—from scholarship in rhetoric and composition, particularly work that investigates how knowledge and practices developed in one context can be adapted and applied effectively in others. Foundational studies such as Yancey, Robertson, and Taczak’s Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Writing (2014) have demonstrated the importance of designing curricula that contribute to students’ ability to apply their rhetorical knowledge in different situations. Building on this framework, we are interested in how transfer might also operate at the level of programs and institutions: how models of curricular change, once developed, can be translated, adapted, and sustained across different institutional contexts.
Accordingly, we especially welcome proposals that move beyond describing a single instance of curricular or programmatic revision to identify the underlying principles, structures, or processes that make such change transferable. What elements of a redesigned major, course sequence, or programmatic initiative can travel? What conditions enable or constrain such transfer?
We also recognize that current curricular transformations are being shaped by a set of highly specific and intensifying pressures. These include shifts in delivery modes (such as the expansion of online and hybrid offerings) and the growing emphasis on “stackable” credentials and certificates. Such developments signal a broader reorientation of higher education toward market-driven goals.
As a result, many faculty find themselves grappling with concerns about the sustainability of both disciplinary content and pedagogical best practices. We appear to be at an inflection point: adapting to these new conditions is no longer optional, yet the terms of adaptation remain contested. What does it mean to redesign an English or rhetoric/writing major in ways that are both responsive to contemporary demands and faithful to the core values of the field?
Ultimately, this special issue aims to assemble accounts of curricular change that not only document innovation but also offer insight into how such innovation can endure, adapt, and circulate. By foregrounding both transfer and sustainability, we hope to generate a conversation that supports English and writing programs in navigating the complexities of the present moment while imagining viable futures for the discipline.
The editors welcome queries regarding proposed topics or approaches by email at mcdonaldcr and millerep
Projected Timeline:
July 1, 2026 Submission of 150-250 word proposal (MLA format) and 50-75 word bio
Please submit to both email addresses (above) and include email subject line: “Special Issue on Change for Sustainability”
August 17, 2026 Notification of selection for Special Issue
January 11, 2027 Submission of full articles (6,000-8000 words)
March 15, 2027 Revision feedback provided
April 19, 2027 Submission of revisions (based on feedback)
Winter 2027 Projected publication date