Call for Abstracts: Teaching the Humanities in Uncertain Times: Pedagogy, Precarity, and Public Purpose

2025-12-21
Teaching the Humanities in Uncertain Times: Pedagogy, Precarity, and Public Purpose


This edited volume examines how humanities teaching is being reimagined amid enrollment pressures, institutional restructuring, contingent labor realities, and growing demands for public relevance—across community colleges and universities. Chapters should offer authentic, field-based insights into pedagogy, program sustainability, and the public purpose of the humanities.

Suggested topics

  • Teaching the Humanities under Enrollment Pressure and Program Consolidation
    Community Colleges and the Democratic/Public Mission of the Humanities

  • Contingent Faculty Labor, Precarity, and Teaching Quality

  • Student Belonging, Engagement, and Persistence in Humanities Courses

  • Public Humanities as Classroom Practice and Community Partnership

  • Assessment, Learning Outcomes, and Accountability in Humanities Programs

  • AI, Digital Tools, and Pedagogical Adaptation in Humanities Teaching

  • Graduate Education, Mentorship, and Professional Futures Beyond the Tenure Track

  • Equity-Minded Humanities Pedagogy: First-Gen, Multilingual, and Adult Learners

  • Department Leadership and Sustainable Models for Humanities Renewal

Submission Guidelines | Online Submission Form

  • Abstract: 100–120 words

  • Chapter length: up to 4,500 words (including references)

  • Methodologies welcome: conceptual, empirical, pedagogical case studies, reflective practice

  • Contributors may include: faculty, researchers, editors, and advanced graduate students

Publication Information

STAR Scholars Press will publish this volume as part of the AI and Education / Humanities Futures book series. Open-access options and publication fee waivers or discounts may be available.

Contact & Submission

Please send abstracts via online form and inquiries to publications@starscholars.org
Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Full chapters due: August 15

Dr. Jing Luan, Provost Emeritus of San Mateo Colleges of Silicon Valley, United States — jingluan@my.smccd.edu

Dr. Roy Y. Chan, EdD Program Director, Lee University, United States — rchan@leeuniversity.edu

Dr. Adele Newson-Horst, Professor, Department of English and Language Arts, Morgan State University, USA — Adele.NewsonHorst@morgan.edu