Occasional Paper Series

Call for Papers

  • Issue #53

    Issue #53: Speculative Youth Action: Imagining Educational Futures Through Participatory Social Dreaming

    Youth painting a mural

    In Issue 53 of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, we will focus on productive ruptures associated with Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Productive ruptures are moments that go against typical outcomes and experiences of engaging in critical youth research and practice that are vital to the overall process. YPAR is an innovative approach that centers youth as they engage in research to address urgent problems in their own communities. YPAR pedagogy explicitly creates spaces for young people to investigate the root causes of injustice. Our goal in this issue is to open a space for dreamers of impossible possible futures, for those who speculate, and for the youth who bring speculation to action.

    In this issue, we introduce Speculative YPAR, in which youth become architects of change, reshaping and redefining their futures beyond established boundaries. Speculative YPAR represents all critical youth research that treats reality as something constantly changing, where young people not only dissect existing narratives but actively co-create new narratives. It challenges linear, overly academic, product-driven YPAR accounts that serve the needs of the researcher over the youth. We want to hear how critical youth research and practices center speculation in (re)imagining educational futures that are equitable and just.

    This call comes in response to the problem of youth, teachers, and community educators experiencing the academic discipline of YPAR as unattainable to them, even though they have been living YPAR organically for years. Through this call, we seek to return YPAR to those who live it. We insist that youth must be central to knowledge creation in research, theory, and practice. In practice, young people have always been behind social change. We welcome accounts of young people, preferably written or co-written by youth, challenging injustices through collective speculative actions and participatory social dreaming.  While academic pieces are welcome, we also encourage practitioners not directly associated with a university to submit pieces demonstrating how they work with youth to facilitate speculative youth action and participatory social dreaming. If you are part of a community-based organization, a teacher, a counselor, a community leader, a researcher, a parent, a grandparent, or an older sibling helping young people transform their school, community, and/or the world, then we want to hear from you.

    We are interested in short films, audio essays, photo essays, and small-scale artistic products. We also accept essays and manuscripts (no more than 5000 words), Only unpublished pieces that are not under review by other publications are eligible for consideration. Although not required, we invite those interested to reach out to the editors to pitch ideas and receive feedback and support. For more information or if you would like to discuss your ideas, please contact guest editors Ricardo Martinez at rfm5798@psu.edu) or Ezequiel Aleman at ezequiel.aleman@utec.edu.uy.

    Deadline for Submissions: June 1, 2024

    Submission Guidelines

  • Issue #52

    Issue #52: Stories from Trans Educators: A Comic Book Special Issue

    The deadline for submissions for this call has been extended to September 1, 2023. Continue reading to find out more information about submission guidelines. We look forward to receiving your proposals, and especially encourage submissions from trans women, trans femmes, and trans people of color.

    Call for Papers 52 comic

    In his 2020 essay, “Keep Yourself Alive,” Harper B. Keenan tells readers that trans people have been educating the world since long before the word “trans” existed. In this special issue of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, we will partner comic artists with trans educators to illustrate stories of these educators’ work with children from preschool through high school in both in-school and out-of-school settings. Through this call, we are seeking trans educators and comic artists who we will team up to create 4- to 8-page comics that tell compelling stories related to trans experiences and education.

    Trans educators are invited to tell a story that matters to them. For example, how do trans educators relate to their students and their communities? What kinds of joys and challenges do trans educators navigate as workers in schools and other educational environments? What is it like to be a trans educator in the midst of growing anti-trans hostility? We imagine that these stories might discuss what it’s like to go through a teacher education program as a trans student, experiences related to navigating administrative systems at work (e.g., accessing health benefits or transitioning on the job), or topics relating to LGBTQ+ young people, among others. Stories might also address broader themes like resistance, community, liberation, pedagogy, love, the call to teach, and more. Trans educators who are artists and wish to illustrate their own stories are also welcome and should indicate this when submitting their proposal.

    We are also looking for artists who would be excited to contribute to this project to get trans educators’ stories out to a large and global audience. We invite artists of all genders, but queer and trans artists are especially encouraged. The decision to produce this issue as a comic reflects our desire to present these stories as complex layered texts that words alone cannot describe. Comics can expand the possibilities for expression and capture not only stories but thoughts, images, embodiment, place, and time. We are thinking broadly about what constitutes a comic. Images might include collages, digital drawings, photographs, and sketches/drawings/paintings produced with various media. We want artists and writers to be bold, expressive, and innovative, and we welcome a multitude of approaches and aesthetics. Words are optional and wordless stories are also welcome.

    Deadline for Submissions: September 1, 2023

    Interested trans educators should submit a brief description of the story you want to tell by September 1, 2023. The submission should be no more than 500 words and should include the following:

    • Name (Contributors may choose to publish under a pseudonym)
    • Email
    • Educational Affiliation (if any)
    • Brief bio
    • A description (no more than 500 words) of the story you would like to tell

    Interested artists should submit the following information by September 1, 2023.

    • Name
    • Email
    • Brief bio
    • Brief description of interest in participating in this project
    • A sample of your work

    Authors and artists will be informed as to whether they have been accepted for inclusion in the issue by October 1, 2023. We will select stories that represent a range of experiences. Following selection of participants, artists will be consulted in a process of teaming an artist with an author.

    If selected for participation in the issue, contributors will be invited to a Zoom-based comic script writing workshop to support translation of the story ideas into a comic script. The workshop will be held in early October 2023 with guest editors Rachel Williams, Harper B. Keenan, and Lee Iskander. While the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series does not compensate authors for their submissions, for this issue, we will purchase one graphic novel or comic text for each participant (of their choice) to use as a model or “mentor text” to inspire their own pieces for Issue #52. We will also provide a gift certificate for dinner (courtesy of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts).

    Submission Guidelines

    Initial scripted pencil drawings will be due to the editors by February 20, 2024. Artists and authors will work collaboratively to create the final comic, which will be due to the editors by May 20, 2024.

    The Bank Street Occasional Paper Series is a peer reviewed publication, meaning that several anonymous academics with relevant expertise provide comments on each submission that is being considered for inclusion in an issue. However, the peer review process may or may not be important to participants in this issue. This issue will use in-house review by the guest editors. If for professional reasons you would like your work to be peer reviewed, please indicate this in your submission.

    Please submit your proposals to guest editors Harper Keenan, Rachel Williams, or Lee Iskander at transeducators1@gmail.com. You are also welcome to email for more information or to discuss ideas.