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<TITLE>Academic Labor in Communication Studies -- Call for Papers, Commentary and Multimedia (deadline: 1 June 2011)</TITLE>
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International Journal of Communication Feature Special Section on Academic Labor <BR>
and Administration in Communication Studies<BR>
<BR>
Edited by Jonathan Sterne<BR>
<BR>
Academic labor today is characterized by a series of disconcerting trends: an <BR>
increasingly casualized professoriate; universities that increasingly depend on <BR>
chronically undercompensated part-time and graduate student labor to support <BR>
their course offerings; a top-down managerial style and erosion of faculty <BR>
governance; increasing economic exploitation of staff and undergraduates; rising <BR>
student debt; governments that attack public education; shrinking endowments <BR>
(for the schools that had them) and heighted expectations for sponsored <BR>
research; wooden research assessment exercises; and the acute uncertainty of the <BR>
academic job market for recent PhD graduates. Against these, there is a <BR>
growing academic labor movement, with its own intellectual organs like Workplace <BR>
and Edufactory and a wide range of activist manifestations, from labor unions to <BR>
non-commercial alternative universities. Academic journals have also fielded <BR>
debate in this area, from Social Text’s foray into the Yale Strike to Topia’s <BR>
announced special issue on the anniversary of Bill Readings’ The University in <BR>
Ruins.<BR>
<BR>
This special forum of the International Journal of Communication aims to make <BR>
two contributions to the ongoing discussion of academic labor.<BR>
<BR>
1. To encourage university administrators – current and former – who <BR>
are sympathetic to the academic labor movement and the new student activism to <BR>
reflect on their experiences in administration and thereby provide useful <BR>
knowledge for activists, organizers, and others. Much of the existing <BR>
literature on academic labor treats university administrations as a fairly <BR>
monolithic “management,” yet university administrations are riddled with <BR>
conflict, contradiction and constraint. In most instances, administrators <BR>
used to be faculty members, and in many they will be again, once their <BR>
administrative terms are over. A better understanding of the politics and <BR>
conflicts of administration may be useful in the struggle for better conditions <BR>
within universities as places to work and study.<BR>
<BR>
2. To encourage people in Communication Studies – at all levels in <BR>
the field – to reflect directly on the state of academic labor in our field. <BR>
Much of the academic labor literature has come from fields with considerably <BR>
worse job markets than Communication Studies, like English and History. Yet <BR>
Communication Studies does not conform to so well to models of those other <BR>
fields, either academically or institutionally. More importantly, it is <BR>
possible that within professional organizations and within departments we can <BR>
begin to address some of these issues. But first, we need to confront them.<BR>
<BR>
Submissions should be 500-4000 words in length and may come in any form of <BR>
critical commentary piece, ranging from academic analysis of some aspect of the <BR>
current crisis; to personal/political reflection; to recommendations for <BR>
activism, policy, or best practices; or any other style of critical commentary. <BR>
We are particularly interested in pieces that not only identify problems but <BR>
offer potential solutions or new perspectives.<BR>
<BR>
Multimedia submissions are also welcome.<BR>
<BR>
Although the section will be edited and reviewed, it will not be subject to <BR>
blind peer review.<BR>
<BR>
For the purposes of this forum, “Communication Studies” will be interpreted <BR>
broadly to include all related fields and subfields, theoretical and applied.<BR>
<BR>
We welcome commentary from any and all parts of the world, though submissions <BR>
should be made in English. Submissions by current or former administrators in <BR>
fields outside Communication Studies are most welcome.<BR>
<BR>
Send queries, proposals or essays to <BR>
<a href="al@sterneworks.org<mailto:al">al@sterneworks.org<mailto:al</a>@sterneworks.org> .<BR>
<BR>
Deadline for submissions: 1 June 2011<BR>
<BR>
Decisions, and comments on accepted submissions will be returned by 1 July 2011<BR>
<BR>
Expected date of publication will be September 2011.<BR>
<BR>
All submissions must follow IJOC style. Author guidelines for the IJOC are <BR>
available at: <BR>
<a href="http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines">http://ijoc.org/ojs/index.php/ijoc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines</a><BR>
<BR>
This CFP is also available here: <a href="http://sterneworks.org/academiclaborijoccfp.pdf">http://sterneworks.org/academiclaborijoccfp.pdf</a><BR>
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