Black Studies and Critical Thinking

ISSN: 1947-5985

Black Studies and Critical Thinking is an interdisciplinary series which examines the intellectual traditions of and cultural contributions made by people of African descent throughout the world. Whether it is in literature, art, music, science, or academics, these contributions are vast and far-reaching. As we work to stretch the boundaries of knowledge and understanding of issues critical to the Black experience, this series offers a unique opportunity to study the social, economic, and political forces that have shaped the historic experience of Black America, and that continue to determine our future. Black Studies and Critical Thinking is positioned at the forefront of research on the Black experience, and is the source for dynamic, innovative, and creative exploration of the most vital issues facing African Americans. The series invites contributions from all disciplines but is specially suited for cultural studies, anthropology, history, sociology, literature, art, and music. Subjects of interest include (but are not limited to): Education, Sociology, History, Media/Communication, Spirituality and Indigenous Thought, Women’s Studies, Policy Studies, Advertising, African American Studies, Black Political Thought.

164 publications

Writing and Culture in the Long Nineteenth Century

The long nineteenth century, extending from the Napoleonic Wars to the First World War, was a time of enormous change and experimentation. This series aims to publish the work of scholars and critics alert to these changes in a variety of spheres, including literature, art, the sciences, philosophy, and economics. The editors have a special interest in work that addresses questions of aesthetics, poetics, and form at the intersection between the written word, the visual and decorative arts, architecture, and music. Many scholars are now working on the cultural matrix out of which these forms emerge and recent critical thinking has shown how important was the prevailing economic, political, scientific, and philosophical climate in creating the appropriate conditions for artistic production. Some volumes in the series focus on specific writers and texts, while others consider the connection between writing, art, philosophy, and science and the broader cultural horizon. All contribute significantly to the widening sphere of nineteenth-century literary studies.

12 publications

New Directions in German-American Studies

It is the purpose of this series to subject the large topic of German-America to new critical scrutiny. It does so as an international collaborative effort among scholars in disciplines ranging from modern languages to political history, from American Studies to anthropology, who present independently conceived publications as part of the larger project. Reimagined as part of multilingual America, the new examinations of the German-American tradition in this series offer not only new approaches to German-American studies, but they also force new thinking about what constitutes “German literature” and what have been the defining, though too little recognized, multilingual features of “American literature." It is the purpose of this series to subject the large topic of German-America to new critical scrutiny. It does so as an international collaborative effort among scholars in disciplines ranging from modern languages to political history, from American Studies to anthropology, who present independently conceived publications as part of the larger project. Reimagined as part of multilingual America, the new examinations of the German-American tradition in this series offer not only new approaches to German-American studies, but they also force new thinking about what constitutes “German literature” and what have been the defining, though too little recognized, multilingual features of “American literature." It is the purpose of this series to subject the large topic of German-America to new critical scrutiny. It does so as an international collaborative effort among scholars in disciplines ranging from modern languages to political history, from American Studies to anthropology, who present independently conceived publications as part of the larger project. Reimagined as part of multilingual America, the new examinations of the German-American tradition in this series offer not only new approaches to German-American studies, but they also force new thinking about what constitutes “German literature” and what have been the defining, though too little recognized, multilingual features of “American literature."

7 publications

Eruptions: New Feminism Across the Disciplines

ISSN: 1091-8590

This is a series of red-hot women's writing after the "isms." lt focuses on new cultural assemblages that are emerging from the deformation, breakout, ebullience, and discomfort of postmodern feminism. The series brings together a post-foundational generation of women's writing that, while still respectful of the idea of situated knowledge, does not rely on neat disciplinary distinctions and stable political coalitions. This writing transcends some of the more awkward textual performances of a first generation of "ferninism-meets-postmodernism" scholarship. lt has come to terms with its own body of knowledge as shifty, inflammatory, and ungovernable, The aim of the series is to make this cutting edge thinking more readily available to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and new academics, and professional bodies and practitioners. Thus, we seek contributions from writers whose unruly scholastic projects are expressed in texts that are accessible and seductive to a wider academic readership. Proposals and/or manuscripts are invited from the domains of: "post" humanities, human movement studies, sexualities, media studies, literary criticism, information technologies, history of ideas, performing arts, gay and lesbian studies, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, pedagogics, social psychology, and the philosophy of science. We are particularly interested in publishing research and scholarship with international appeal from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This is a series of red-hot women's writing after the "isms." lt focuses on new cultural assemblages that are emerging from the deformation, breakout, ebullience, and discomfort of postmodern feminism. The series brings together a post-foundational generation of women's writing that, while still respectful of the idea of situated knowledge, does not rely on neat disciplinary distinctions and stable political coalitions. This writing transcends some of the more awkward textual performances of a first generation of "ferninism-meets-postmodernism" scholarship. lt has come to terms with its own body of knowledge as shifty, inflammatory, and ungovernable, The aim of the series is to make this cutting edge thinking more readily available to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and new academics, and professional bodies and practitioners. Thus, we seek contributions from writers whose unruly scholastic projects are expressed in texts that are accessible and seductive to a wider academic readership. Proposals and/or manuscripts are invited from the domains of: "post" humanities, human movement studies, sexualities, media studies, literary criticism, information technologies, history of ideas, performing arts, gay and lesbian studies, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, pedagogics, social psychology, and the philosophy of science. We are particularly interested in publishing research and scholarship with international appeal from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. This is a series of red-hot women's writing after the "isms." lt focuses on new cultural assemblages that are emerging from the deformation, breakout, ebullience, and discomfort of postmodern feminism. The series brings together a post-foundational generation of women's writing that, while still respectful of the idea of situated knowledge, does not rely on neat disciplinary distinctions and stable political coalitions. This writing transcends some of the more awkward textual performances of a first generation of "ferninism-meets-postmodernism" scholarship. lt has come to terms with its own body of knowledge as shifty, inflammatory, and ungovernable. The aim of the series is to make this cutting edge thinking more readily available to undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and new academics, and professional bodies and practitioners. Thus, we seek contributions from writers whose unruly scholastic projects are expressed in texts that are accessible and seductive to a wider academic readership. Proposals and/or manuscripts are invited from the domains of: "post" humanities, human movement studies, sexualities, media studies, literary criticism, information technologies, history of ideas, performing arts, gay and lesbian studies, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, pedagogics, social psychology, and the philosophy of science. We are particularly interested in publishing research and scholarship with international appeal from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

16 publications

Post-Anthropocentric Inquiry

In recent years, critical researchers, educators, and activists have become aware of the problems and limitations that have resulted by placing the ‘human’ at the center of all societal conceptualizations, concerns, and practices. Across fields, ranging from medical research laboratory practices—to the construction of the humanities—to the social sciences—to environmental studies (just to name a few), this anthropocentric focus is being called to question. The goal of this book series is to provide scholars and readers with critical opportunities to contest this anthropocentrism, (1) by creating a textual field of Post-Anthropocentric Inquiry that generates critical spaces for (re)thinking philosophies, knowledges, and ways of being/living and performing, as well as methodologies and inquiries, that decenter the human, (2) while at the same time attempting always/already to actively transform inequities and injustices performed by human privilege on nonhuman others, traditionally disqualified human others, and the natural world more broadly. This Post-Anthropocentric Inquiry can represent difference and the multiple, while at the same time exploring and welcoming notions of indistinction. Work that further develops and expands current notions of becoming (animal, earth), new feminist materialisms, critical posthuman sensibilities, hybrid existences (past and present) are example locations from which an intersectional, non-anthropocentric politics may emerge. Additionally, post-anthropocentric inquiry and activism will always include the unthought, not-yet-considered modes of living, thinking, research while critically acknowledging that alternatives can create new dualisms, new forms of human privilege, and are not always liberatory for those labeled not human or for those human beings who have traditionally been marginalized. Further, post-anthropocentric scholarship acknowledges, and attempts to (1) transform, the current post-anthropocentric predicament that facilitates neoliberal capitalism as all forms of life, matter, and relations have been/are constructed to serve market economies, and (2) examine the unprecedented human/nonhuman interaction with the increasingly intrusive and intimate technological order. Post-anthropocentric inquiry is necessary as related to these contemporary aggressive, and all-encompassing post-human conditions. Single or multiple authored manuscripts are encouraged that facilitate the development of Post-Anthropocentric Inquiry by addressing one issue, multiple issues, research purposes, methodologies, and/or forms of activism. Over a wide range of volumes that cross disciplines, the series will address broad issues, as mentioned above, and questions like the following: What is post-anthropocentric inquiry? What is made possible, enabled by post-anthropocentric approaches and research methodologies? How is post-anthropocentric research conducted without (re)privileging the human? How does the work in fields that would decenter the human, like critical animal studies, intersect with professional content and practices in fields like education or medicine? How can coalitions be formed (and actions taken) that decenter the human and increase possibilities for all forms of justice, while countering capitalist and technological orders that devalue all forms of life? Interested authors should contact Gaile S. Cannella, gaile.cannella@gmail.com

2 publications

Childhood Studies

ISSN: 2379-934X

"For many years, the field of Childhood Studies has crossed disciplinary boundaries that include, but are not limited to, anthropology, art, education, history, humanities, and sociology by addressing diverse histories, cultures, forms of representation, and conceptualizations of «childhood». The publications in the Rethinking Childhood Series have supported this work by challenging the universalization of childhood and introducing reconceptualized, critical spaces from which increased social justice and possibilities are generated for those who are younger. This newly named Childhood Studies Series in the global 21st century is created to continue this focus on social justice for those who are younger, but also to broaden and further explore conceptualizations of privilege, justice, possibility, responsibility and activism. Authors are encouraged to consider «childhood» from within a context that would decenter human privilege and acknowledge environmental justice and the more-than-human Other, while continuing to research, act upon, and transform beliefs, public policy, societal institutions, and possibilities for ways of living/being in the world for all of us. Boundary crossings are of greater importance than ever as we live unprecedented technological change, violence against living beings that are not labeled human (through experimentation, industrialization, and medicine), plundering of the earth, and gaps between the privileged and the marginalized (whether rich/poor, human/nonhuman). Along with continued concerns related to social justice, equity, poverty, and diversity, some authors in the Childhood Studies Series will choose to think about, and ask questions like: What does it mean to be a younger human being within such a world? What are the values, education, and forms of care provided within this context; and can/how should these dispositions and practices be transformed? Can childhood studies, and the diverse forms of representation and practice associated with it, conceptualize and practice a more just world broadly, while avoiding utopian determinisms and continuing to remain critical and multiple? "

13 publications

Global Intersectionality of Education, Sports, Race, and Gender

ISSN: 2578-7713

This series responds to the interesting dialogue and unique social phenomena in the global context produced by the intersections of race, sport, gender, and culture. Global Intersectionality explores these intersections and expands the literature on how each inform our thinking around certain dominant ideologies. This series examines how sporting practices in the U.S. are becoming the global norm in defining what is sport, thus our understanding of race, gender, and culture. The purpose is to inform sport enthusiasts, college students— undergraduate or graduate— educators, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders—who are social justice oriented— about the role sport has in contributing to informing cultural ideology, reproducing and reinforcing race and gender ideologies. It also seeks to foster an understanding of how this social phenomenon, that is often situated as merely entertainment or a recreational activity for leisure, has shifted into a cultural practice that can engender global socio-political relations. The topics will include critical moments in sport, as well as broader social movements in sporting context. In addition, this series will dis- cuss topics ranging from youth to professional sporting experiences with attention given to the socialization and educational processes inherent in these experiences as it relates to race, gender, and culture—one title might explore the global sporting practices of Black women, another book topic will examine the sporting practices and the academic and athletic excellence achieved at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Or, for example, another topic might be examining the athletic migration patterns of African athletes to Europe and the U.S. The uniqueness of the titles in this series is that they will employ a variety of methodologies, including, but not limited to, qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods methodological approaches, non- empirical and socio-historical approaches that incorporate primary and secondary data sources.

4 publications

Histories of Religious Pluralism

ISSN: 2632-3257

This new book series will show that a critical understanding of religious pluralism in the past is of vital significance to debates about identity, diversity, and co-existence in the present. Studies will focus on using a historical perspective to address one of three key themes in the period between 1500 and 2000 CE: intra-religious pluralism; inter-religious pluralism; or, religion, secularism, and the nation state. Within this frame of reference, constructive contrasts between a wide range of foci, approaches, and viewpoints will be keenly encouraged. The series will champion established lines of research in political, social, cultural, and gendered histories of religious pluralism – e.g. studies on liberty, persecution, and toleration – whilst also encouraging novel ways of transcending a scholarly discourse which is dominated by ideologies and methodologies derived from the social sciences – e.g. by studies on the theological and literary dimensions of conflict, cohesion, and community. The series will embrace scholarship on subjects from any part of the world. European and extra-European perspectives that complement traditional Anglo-American thinking are particularly welcome. As the ‘global turn’ continues to energize new types of enquiry, the series will also seek to advance studies of indigenous and displaced religious groups. With this scope there is a reflexive acknowledgement that the rationale for and defining concepts of the series are grounded in a ‘western’ intellectual tradition; however, this should serve as a challenge to prospective authors to pioneer new dialogues between ‘western’ and ‘non-western’ approaches and foci, or even surpass the dichotomy altogether. An emphasis will be given to promoting the best research of early career scholars from around the world, whilst also giving more established academics the opportunity to develop their multimedia policy-orientated work – e.g. podcasts, blogs, talks, press briefings, reports for thinktanks, governments, and public agencies etc. – into a book that would engage peers and students alike. In association with Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies

3 publications

Speculations

This new series explores the multiple intersections of science, fiction and the future, where speculative imaginings begin to enter the present. The series provides short introductions to single topics where science, technology and the imagination intertwine in the creation of possible futures. How is speculative fiction in dialogue with futures thinking and technological development? What challenges do we face when futuristic science and technology are happening now? Who benefits from these futures and how can they be made ethical, inclusive and sustainable? Welcome topics include big data, AI, urban renewal, machine learning, pandemics, interplanetary life, robotics, green energy, the posthuman and more. Each book in this multidisciplinary series offers a critical yet accessible approach to one topic, including coverage of key texts and ground-breaking original research.

0 publications