Editor's Note

Collegiality, like a number of other central aspects of academic life, is a contested topic. While some view it as the warp and woof of the academy, others view it as one of the main vehicles of injustice within colleges and universities. If one's academic life is proceeding smoothly, the subject of collegiality is rarely mentioned. However, if one's academic life is under scrutiny, collegiality—or a lack thereof—can be at the source of the troubles. A lack of collegiality is sometimes even viewed as sufficient grounds for dismissal.

Some academics simply contest the very concept of collegiality, claiming that it implies sameness and collectivity, and spurns diversity and individuality. A collegial person's academic life involves things like collaboration with others, collective thinking and action, and regard for one's own interests in relation to the interests of others. These things, while admirable to some, are viewed by others as mitigating against autonomy, individual agency, and academic freedom. Collegiality involves group-centered behavior: a notion simply objectionable to some.

Whether for good or bad, collegiality plays a formative role in our lives as members of the academy. It effects our teaching and researching practices; it shapes the way we see ourselves as academics as well as the way we see others in the academy. The essays in this volume form a comprehensive statement on many of the social, political, economic and intellectual dimensions of collegiality in contemporary academic culture. If nothing else, they provide convincing evidence that collegiality is one of the key metaprofessional issues of our day: an issue worthy of continuing critical assessment because of its role as one the most basic features of academic identity.

Following this issue on Collegiality, three issues are in preparation. The first, entitled Discouragement (Vol. 14, Nos. 1-2 (2006)), will address a series of questions that are very much capturing the attention of many intellectuals and academics today. How do intellectuals confront the present times? How do they make themselves heard? How do they make their words matter? The papers in this issue will analyze the present situation of the intellectual, a situation that many find to be discouraging. Working versions of some of the articles in this issue were presented in a well-received two-day seminar at the 2005 American Comparative Literature Association Conference at Penn State. Submission deadline: closed.

The second issue is entitled Borders of Cinema (Vol. 15, No. 1 (2007)). Welcome are contributions that consider philosophical questions of the border in film, including border cinema, multinational productions, theoretical investigations of liminal space and challenges to "world cinema" paradigms. If we are moving past notions of nation towards a borderless global order, how is this shift both reflected in and brought about by cinema? How have contemporary filmmakers negotiated languages, geographies and cultures across borders both literal and conceptual? Submission deadline: 15 October 2006.

The third issue and final issue in preparation is entitled Anonymity (Vol. 15, No. 2 (2007)). Welcome are contributions discussing the nature and limits of anonymity. What are the social, economic, political, and intellectual dimensions of anonymity in contemporary public and/or academic culture? How does anonymity affect reading, writing and teaching practices, as well as other aspects of academic performance such as tenure and publication review? What are the philosophical dimensions of anonymity? What are the theoretical implications of new media technologies and globalization on anonymity? Submission deadline: 1 July 2007.

I would like to thank the contributors to this issue for sharing their reflections on collegiality with us, and Christian Moraru for first discussing the topic of this issue with me at the MLA a few years ago. Special thanks also to Candice Chovanec Melzow for her extraordinary assistance in the production of this issue; to David Felts for production support; to Nina Di Leo for maintaining our Web site; to Sandra Wood for administrative assistance; and to UHV, for providing financial support to our editorial office and staff. In conclusion, as always, I would like to thank the advisory board for their help in the preparation of this issue.