Call for Essay: "Teaching Texts"

A defining feature of Asian American studies has been and continues to be the attention we pay to our pedagogical practices. From class formats to assignment types, we know that the choices we make in our work as teachers matters a great deal in the enthusiasm and intensity with which students engage Asian American studies. The Journal of Asian American Studies intends to foster this interest in pedagogy, specifically by circulating work that promotes the scholarship of teaching—here, by focusing on text selection and its consequences. What text(s) are you teaching in your Asian American studies or affiliated courses? What issues and/or objectives motivate your text selections? JAAS invites essays of 1500-2000 words (6-8 pages) that respond critically to these kinds of questions. Submitted essays might consider such matters as the particular kind of work a given text does in raising certain issues; the usefulness or appropriateness of a text for an undergraduate versus graduate classroom setting; the way(s) that the teaching of/reception to a given text has changed over time or across institutional and/or geographic locations; and any other related topic. We welcome collaborative essays and submissions that are not traditional essays, such as transcribed conversations or interviews (the length of such pieces would be determined on an individual case basis).

JAAS proposes to make this column a regular feature of the Reviews section of the journal, so submissions are welcome and will be considered for publication on a rolling basis.

Questions and submissions should be directed to Kandice Chuh, Reviews Editor, kchuh@umd.edu, University of Maryland, Department of English, 3101 Susquehanna Hall, College Park, MD 20742, 301-405-3811.