Dear colleagues, apologies for cross posting:
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Journal of Student Affairs in Africa (JSAA),
Vol. 6 (2018):
“Space, language and identity politics in
21st century higher education”
Guest editor: Philippa Tumubweinee
As a way of introducing the theme to be tackled in a 2018 guest-edited issue of the Journal
of Student Affairs in Africa, it is worthwhile to pose a question, albeit a rhetorical one: Why
would a journal dedicated to theoretical, practice-relevant, and reflective contributions
from across the scholarly and professional field of Student Affairs entertain a special edition
on space, language and identity politics in higher education?
The short answer would be: everything. The long answer to this question, however, is
to be found in an exposition by Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities (2006). In
Anderson’s view, style has the potential of producing further assumptions about space and
time. ‘Style’ in this case would refer to JSAA which, in the Student Affairs terrain and
discourses in Africa, has provided the intellectual and technical means for representing
the kind of imagined community that is the Student Affairs fraternity on the continent –
a fraternity which comes with its largesse and baggage in the form of the scope of JSAA.
It is instructive that the ‘representation’ under reference occurs primarily through the
medium of a code i.e. language. In the imagined community created by JSAA – which
existentially approximates the Student Affairs terrain in Africa and even beyond – the
multitude of actors are nonetheless bounded by space and time. They are connected by the
same encircled, fixed landscape within which they all simultaneously exist. In following this
logic through, the commonalities of code and simultaneities of space and time exemplified
by JSAA are at the heart of the ways in which actors in the Student Affairs fraternity on
the continent, and possibly beyond, consider themselves part of a community, and therefore
strive to build an identity informed by the fraternity’s imaginary.
By design therefore, this guest-edited issue will address itself to the politics of space,
language and identity in higher education, in Africa and globally. The contributions in
the guest-edited issue will singularly and collectively grapple with the nuances attendant to
the intersections amongst space, language and identity in higher education.
Key topics to be pursued in this issue include:
• Higher education spaces and the politics of space in higher education
• Space and identity, symbols and signs in the post-colonial university
• Politics of identity: student protests, language, institutional culture
• Institutional policies and their impact on (the politics of) practice (e.g. language
policies)
• Social cohesion, diversity and citizenship
• Intersections of language, curriculum, educational access and transformation
• Curriculum, decolonisation, and epistemic injustices | freedoms
• Student experience, student identity, and student politics of diverse student groups
(e.g. LGBTIQ+ students).
JSAA is an independent, peer-reviewed, multi-disciplinary, open access academic journal
that publishes scholarly research and reflective discussions about the theory and practice of
Student Affairs in Africa. JSAA is published twice a year by the JSAA Editorial Executive
in collaboration with Stellenbosch University and African Sun Media.
The journal is indexed in international indices and available full-text open access from
ERIC, DOAJ, AJOL as well as on its own website hosted with Stellenbosch University.
Since 2017, JSAA has been accredited by the South African Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET) as a subsidy-earning journal on the SA list of scholarly
journals. Authors publish free of charge; there are no processing or page fees.
Submission Process and Important Dates
Manuscripts due: Submissions are being taken on a rolling basis with the deadline of 31st May 2018.
Envisaged publication date: June 2018
Please submit abstracts to the guest editor for guidance or contact her for further
information:
‒‒ Ms Philippa Tumubweinee, M.Prof Arch, Pretoria
email: philippa@inafricadesign.co.za
Please submit final manuscripts by email to Ms Philippa Tumubweinee.
Email: philippa@inafricadesign.co.za with cc to email: jsaa_editor@outlook.com
JSAA: Submission Preparation Checklist – please see online at http://www.jsaa.ac.za
