Call for Papers

Call for Papers — A Research-Creation Episteme? Practices, Interventions, Dissensus

Journal Special Issue (SI) edited by Agata Mergler and Joshua Synenko

Call for Proposals: 12 February 2024

Dissensus is not a confrontation between interests or opinions. It is the demonstration (manifestation) of a gap in the sensible itself.
         Jacques Rancière

Humanities scholars around the world have been asking increasingly specific questions about whether creative practices correlate to knowledge production, and about the boundaries of a creative research orientation. While metrics of categorization have shifted to meet new demands for knowledge transfer and dissemination at universities, the watersheds that once protected visual artistic practice have given way to multi-modal practices, including archival projects, creative writing, communications, documentary film, film essay, mapping and locative projects, sound art, theatre and performance, transmedial storytelling, and others.

The epistemic shift implied by reconfiguring these outputs as novel practices that either complement or displace the traditional pathways of knowledge production is still largely untested despite strong initial recognition by research granting agencies, faculty hiring committees, and other pockets of institutional power.

Our Special Issue (SI) of Imaginations invites papers and practice-based work to address the following questions:

  • What is the boundary dividing creative from non-creative practices?
  • What are approaches that artists can adopt to practice in a university context?
  • How can academic audiences for practice-based work be sustained?
  • How can academic research-creation be incentivized to meet demands for community involvement and accountability? What are the institutional guarantees?
  • What are the implications of redirecting artistic value to meet the university’s market demands (distinct from those of the culture industries)?
  • Creative workers have developed pathways through the established benchmarks of securing research funding. Are they viable?
  • What are the implications of developing work under different linguistic, national, regional, or global conceptual umbrellas (e.g. “practice-based” vs. “practice-led”)?
  • What does research-creation entail for undergraduate teaching, graduate supervision, and mentorship?
  • How can research-creation transform the evaluation rubrics for hire, reappointment, tenure, and promotion?
  • Do creative outputs advance causes of equity and access, and if so, how?
  • To what extent does research-creation, modelled as an intervention, participate in the ongoing labour to decolonize universities?
  • What does research-creation reveal for reputedly “traditional” researchers about their own practices?
  • What are such researchers concerned about when they encounter research-creative projects?
  • What does the diversification of knowledges and methods add to historical debates on the subject and whom do these serve?

While many of the necessary questions have been asked before, consensus has not been achieved and perhaps never should. The developing social contract on research-creation may result in outcomes less desirable than the existing state of affairs. We therefore aim to build a community of scholars linked by solidarity as opposed to unanimity and welcome dissension into our ranks. Instead of demanding answers we seek better questions.

Types of Submission

We invite traditional academic articles in shorter formats (3,000-6,000 words) and conventional formats (7,000-9,000 words). We also invite creative pieces, such as poetry, as well as multimodal works (video essays, visual works such as photo essays, and interactive works), and original art works.

Imaginations Journal will accommodate publications in any language, and will work with authors in order to ensure meaningful translation of their work into English.

Peer review

Our hope for this publication is that it fosters durable connections between the groups and individuals involved, and also that the launch of the publication be completed within a reasonable timeframe. To accomplish these goals, we will engage in experimental methods of academic peer review. Each submission will receive two peer reviews. The first review will be provided by another contributor to the issue. These will not be anonymous and may require further dialogue beyond a review report. The second review will be anonymously provided by an expert in the field and/or a member of the journal’s Editorial Board. Both stages of peer review will be subject to approvals by the guest editors.

Guidelines for submitting proposals

  • All works need to be submitted in any current word processor format. Please get in touch with our editors if you plan to use an unusual word processor (e.g. Mellel).
  • Citation style - MLA 9 Style.
  • Abstract of no more than 100 words in both English and French. Please let us know if you need translation support.
  • Keywords - Please submit 3-5 keywords specific to your submission.
  • Spellings - Please use Canadian spellings except for direct quotes.
  • Biography - Please include a separate sheet with a short biography and your contact information.

For more information about our submission guidelines, formatting and requirements, please have a look at our submission guidelines.

Deadlines

  • 12 February 2024: Proposals due
  • 18 March 2024: Acceptance notice
  • 6 May 2024: Submissions of completed work
  • May-September, 2024: Peer review
  • October 2024: Copy editing, translations, and author agreements
  • November 2024: Proofs to authors
  • November-December 2024: Launch

Contact

Send inquiries and proposals to: ccla.aclc@trentu.ca