Students, Campus, and Democracy

Democracy-Sustaining Learning in Higher Education

Edited by:
Maximilian T. Schuster, University of Pittsburgh School of Education

Call for Chapter Proposals

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Students, Campus, and Democracy is a new exploration of the challenges and opportunities associated with fostering democracy within higher education. Taking a student-centered lens, the book is structured into four cohesive sections, each addressing critical aspects of democratic learning and offering tangible ways that faculty and staff can scaffold such learning. The central argument of the book revolves around the urgent need for a democracy-sustaining learning framework within higher education. It argues that faculty, student affairs staff, and administrators play pivotal roles in shaping a civic-minded student body capable of navigating the challenges presented by today’s political polarization, hyper-partisan political identities, and divisive social issues. The book argues that by intentionally integrating democracy-sustaining practices into curriculum design, student affairs co-curricular experiences, institutional policies, and community engagement initiatives, higher education institutions can foster environments that not only educate but re-introduce their promise to produce democratically informed, literate, and transformative citizens.

TOPICS OF INTEREST:
Topics for the volume should explore a theme or topic connected to one of the volumes sections, described below:

• Section 1: "Cultivating Democracy within Institutions," the focus is on the dynamics within higher education, examining faculty-student relationships, transformative dialogue initiatives, community engagement, and professional competency and capacity building.

• Section 2: "Influences on Students' Civic Engagement," delves into factors that spur students' civic engagement as well as how DEI efforts, applied learning, and service-learning influence democratic student engagement.

• Section 3: “Community Engagement as Democratic Learning” considers topics related to building mutual partnerships, competencies for community engagement professionals, and community engagement connect to democratic student engagement.

• Section 4: "Democracy In Flux," explores contemporary trends and topics, specifically around the consequences of geographical difference for college and universities (e.g., rural, urban), controversial campus speakers, anti-DEI efforts, and student activism.

PROPOSAL INFORMATION:
Proposals should be made on one single-spaced page, and consist of your name and affiliation, email address, a tentative title, and an abstract (200-250 words). Please include an additional page with a brief biography (200-300 words) and relevant professional publications. Proposals should be sent as a single Word Document to Max Schuster (schustermt@pitt.edu) by March 31, 2024. Extended submission deadline by April 15, 2024.

CHAPTER SUBMISSION INFORMATION:
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified no later than April 5, 2024 about the status of their submission and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters, ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 words in Times New Roman 12, double spaced text, inclusive of title, abstract, manuscript, and references will be due June 15, 2024. Manuscripts should conform to 7th edition APA style. See Author Guidelines. Graphics and images may be included.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR PUBLICATION:
Original priority submission deadline: March 31, 2024
Notification of invite to submit chapter: April 5, 2024
Extended submission deadline: April 15, 2024
Submission of book chapter: June 15, 2024
Reviews of book chapter manuscripts sent to author(s): July 1, 2024
Receipt by editors of final draft of book chapters: August 1, 2024
Final book submitted to publisher: August 30, 2024
Anticipated publication: Early 2025

Send all inquiries to Maximilian T. Schuster at: schustermt@pitt.edu

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