Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development Spring 2024 Symposium:
The Fight Against Anti-Wokeism in the Classroom: The Legal System’s Role in Maintaining the Status Quo
The Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development (JCRED) is pleased to announce a call for papers from which panelists will be selected for our Spring 2024 symposium.
About the Symposium
Our education system is the beating heart of society’s progress, and legislation like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” and “Stop W.O.K.E.” laws severely hampers the societal progress many have fought so hard to achieve. Numerous states have followed Florida’s lead and have passed, or are trying to pass, similar legislation preventing the discussion of historical, racial, and LGBTQ subject matter in schools. Thus, now is an ideal time to explore this issue and its possible solutions.
Call for Papers
This year’s JCRED symposium will bring scholars, advocates, and policymakers together to discuss the development of laws that dictate the way schools teach American history and that perpetuate systemic injustice to minority groups within the public education system. We invite you to submit unpublished, scholarly papers on this topic and possible solutions. Topics and themes to consider include, but are not limited to:
- Analyses of the laws within the education system contributing to injustice suffered by minority groups
- The effect/analyses of legislation preventing discussion and acknowledgement of the LGBTQ community in educational settings (such as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and similar legislation)
- The effect/analyses of legislation preventing discussion and acknowledgement of America’s history of slavery and/or other aspects of racial inequality (such as the “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” and similar legislation)
- Arguments against banning the discussion, training, and/or orientation that the U.S. is inherently racist, as well as any discussions about conscious and unconscious bias, privilege, discrimination, and oppression.
- First Amendment concerns, such as stifling freedom of speech within classrooms and school settings
- Analyses of local, state, and federal control of classroom content and curriculum and the influence of political action groups
- Analyses of “parental rights” and the role of public education in society
- First Amendment concerns related to book banning across public school districts and campus libraries
Submission Guidelines
We will select symposium panelists from the submissions accepted for publication in JCRED’s Spring 2024 symposium issue. If we publish your paper in the journal, you will receive a modest honorarium. Please email your paper abstract of up to two (2) pages, brief bio, curriculum vitae/resume, and contact information as a single Word attachment to jcredstjohns@gmail.com by August 4, 2023. If we accept your paper for publication, we will need the full draft (10-75 pages) by Friday, October 6, 2023.
We look forward to receiving your submission!
