A CALL FOR MANIFESTOS

Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, Pedagogy
http://kairos.technorhetoric.net

Special Issue of Manifestos (12.3, Summer 2008)
Guest Editors: Scott Lloyd DeWitt and Cheryl E. Ball

As scholars, we have ideas about our work—and how to go about that work—which are informed by research and practice. If those ideas are too cutting-edge, too in-your-face despite their having been deeply considered, then those ideas end up being discussed only around dark tables at conference hotel bars or, maybe, posted to blogs instead of published in the best journals. Why? Because these ideas often don’t take the shape of traditional scholarship—even with respect to the different traditions of scholarship in a journal like Kairos. These ideas—the ones on which we act—are exclamations of our research and practice; they are what we feel passionate about; and yet they are also locations of conflict because strong ideas acted on with passion don’t typically follow the models for how knowledge gets conveyed and acculturated within our field. This special issue seeks to change that. We call for your manifestos, forthwith!

Wrought with connotation, politically and emotionally charged, the manifesto calls us to action and demands change—in the streets, in the workplace, in our classrooms, in our minds, and in the virtual spaces we inhabit. Put the manifesto in a mediated space that typically features scholarly work, and its function expands with the affordances of digital media. The form of a manifesto seeks sizeable response and has the ability to move an argument quickly to the forefront of a conversation (and keep it there). The manifesto’s typical dense state and its sometimes confrontational approach make it easily susceptible to critique yet can quickly facilitate invention for new scholarly conversations and directions. As such, ideas move from mind to screen to readership and back in a way that enables authors to address the pressing professional, theoretical, and practical issues of the moment IN the moment—a necessary state for those who work on/with/through technology.

For the Summer 2008 issue of Kairos, we invite authors to compose manifestos using whatever media and form they deem such a text needs. We will not, as a traditional CFW would do, propose what those arguments, those ideas, those important points should be. That is for you to tell us. We are also not looking for full-length, scholarly webtexts such as those Kairos traditionally publishes. You need an example? Maybe Michael Wesch’s (2007) YouTube-distributed video, “The Machine is Us/ing Us.” Maybe not. In other words, we aren’t looking for scholarly justifications or full-blown arguments or commentaries of other pieces or lit reviews (although a suggested reading list may be appropriate…). We want the academic idea(l)s that you feel strongly about and believe that others may be overlooking or should otherwise be aware of (or take heed of in the fields of interest to Kairos readers), and we want it mediated and supported in a way that will help readers understand your passion, your point.

First-time Kairos authors are encouraged! This call for webtexts, we hope, will allow writers to imagine succinct texts that are accomplishable in a short amount of time but that also provoke long, sustained thought from the community. Collaborations that involve cross-disciplinary, inter-campus, university/community, or program/department collectives are always welcome. Queries are welcome in advance of the deadline. Don’t pass up this opportunity to say/show/enact what you want!

Submission Guidelines

• Kairos can accept most web-ready file formats (check with the guest editors if you are unsure). Please keep in mind that this excludes word-processing documents (unless, of course, you have an extremely tight argument in your manifesto about why an online journal known for publishing webtexts should publish a Word document…then bring it on!)
• We prefer URLs for review purposes. If you do not have access to open (or password-protected) webspace, please contact the guest editors in advance of the submission deadline to arrange alternate means of delivery.
• We cannot accept email attachments larger than 2 megs.
• Submissions for Kairos are not blind-reviewed due to technological and media constraints, and more over because the Kairos board is about collaboration and mentoring, not snooty gatekeeping. If you have concerns about the theme of your manifesto, please query the guest editors.
• Queries to the guest editors are welcome in advance of the deadline. (Keep in mind that queries may take up to a week to respond to.)

Submission Deadline: September 15, 2007

Email both guest editors with a short abstract/cover email and your URL. (Subject line: ‘Manifesto submission: YOURNAME’.) Authors will receive confirmation of submission, via email, within 2-3 days.

Publication Timeline:

Submissions due: Sept. 15, 2007
Acceptance notification: Nov. 1, 2007
Revised manifestos due: Dec. 15, 2007
Publication date: May 15, 2008

Guest Editors Contact:
(please copy both editors for quickest response)

Scott Lloyd DeWitt, dewitt.18 at osu dot edu
Cheryl E. Ball, cball at ilstu dot edu

Vol. 12 Iss. 1 Fall 2007