We invite proposals for an edited collection entitled Service Learning and
Literary Studies. Our use of the term service learning captures all
curriculum-based community engagement. The proposed text will demonstrate
that service learning can accomplish multiple learning outcomes as it
enriches the study of literature in the college curriculum and meets
community needs.
In addition to an introduction, two overview essays and a bibliography of
service learning resources, the book will be arranged in two main sections:
Part I, Case Studies in Service Learning in Literary Studies, will include
chapters that will demonstrate the ways in which service learning can
enhance the literature course in a variety of contexts within upper level
and general education literature courses.
We will look for essays that involve a variety of literatures in university
literature departments:
•American, British, and World literatures in English and other languages;
•A variety of genres, and chronological periods;
•Creative writing and literary study;
•Diverse critical methods and a broad range of course outcomes and learning
goals, from enhanced aesthetic appreciation, to ethics, politics, and close
reading;
Each essay should combine theory and practice and include syllabi,
research/writing assignments, logistics of planning service learning, and
hurdles faced (and sometimes, but not always, overcome).
Part II, Case Studies in Service Learning in Literary Studies in Other
Contexts, will include essays that demonstrate the ways in which service
learning can enhance courses involving literature in diverse contexts
outside of traditional literature departments:
•Literature in professional and/or graduate schools of Medicine, Law, and
Business;
•Literary studies within interdisciplinary studies departments (for
instance, African-American studies, Women’s Studies, Ethnic Studies,
American Studies, etc.);
•Children’s literature in teacher education;
•Literature in the first-year writing/composition or the senior capstone;
•Literature in the writing major; study abroad programs; internships
involving literary studies;
•Literature and language classes in the two-year community college;
literature and capstone course;
Each essay should combine theory and practice and include syllabi, writing
assignments, logistics of planning service learning, and hurdles faced (and
sometimes, but not always, overcome).
Proposals of approximately 500 words should be submitted by August 30, 2011 to
Editors Roberta Rosenberg, rrosenb@cnu.edu or Laurie Grobman, leg8@psu.edu.
Please direct questions about content, format or scope of essay to editors
at above address. Final essays will be in the range of 15-25 manuscript pages, including
works-cited lists (and end notes, if there are any), though we are open to
shorter or possibly slightly longer projects.
About the editors:
Roberta Rosenberg is professor of English at Christopher Newport University
where she directs the Minor in Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship.
In addition to publishing books and articles in the field of Women’s
Studies, Rosenberg has written on American culture and literature in MELUS,
Pedagogy, College Literature and other journals. In 2011, Rosenberg
co-sponsored with Alice Villasenor, the first special session on service
learning and literature at the MLA National Convention in Los Angeles. She
is an Associate Editor of Va Engage Journal and has presented on service
learning at the AAC&U Conference on High Impact Faculty Roles.
Laurie Grobman is professor of English and Women’s Studies at Penn State
University, Berks. She has published three articles on service learning and literature,
including “Is There a Place for Service-Learning in Literary Studies?” in
Profession 2005. Grobman is also involved in community-based undergraduate
research and the writing of local histories, and her article in Reflections,
“‘Speaking With One Another’: Writing African American History in Berks
County, Pennsylvania,” addresses some of the challenging and complex issues
of race and ethnicity in these and related public scholarship projects.
Grobman coordinates the Laboratory for Public Scholarship and Democracy at
Penn State Berks. Her most recent edited collection is Undergraduate
Research in English Studies (NCTE, 2010), co-edited with Joyce Kinkead.