IAP BOOK SERIES

Research in Life Writing and Education

The field of life writing is innovative and ever evolving. The purpose of this book series is to create a robust space for scholars to examine the intersections of life writing, education, and research in varied forms. Volumes in the series will reflect a wide range of methodologies, interdisciplinary approaches, topics, and theories in exploring life writing in education—from classic teacher biographies to innovative narrative, oral history, and arts-based approaches that continue to unfold in the field. We encourage scholars to consider both informal and formal educational spaces; life writing exemplars as teaching tools; innovative life writing methodologies in educational work; and varied lives with lessons to teach, whether student activists, educational leaders, or unknown and rarely celebrated instructors.

Call for Volumes in the Series

The series editors invite volumes focused on topics related to life writing, education, and research. Potential volumes could be single-authored, co-authored, or edited collections of multiple chapters following a common theme in life writing and education writ large. All volumes should include attention to methodological theorizing, innovations or processing. Topics might include:

1) Notable leaders’ or educators’ biographies in a particular space (e.g., high schools, prisons, homeschooling, foster care systems, after school programs, social media contexts), intellectual or educational tradition (e.g. peace studies, spiritual traditions, poststructuralism, Montessorian education), or movement (e.g. progressive era, environmental movement, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo Movement).

2) Methodological innovations in carrying out, reflecting on, and representing life writing research and education;

3) Theoretical innovations in approaching life writing research and education;

4) Research into transformations in lives and education;

5) Intersectional analyses of educational lives in their sociocultural contexts (race, class, gender, nation, dis/ability, sexualities, age, generation);

6) Research into teaching with biography and other forms of life writing;

7) Research into students and school workers’ roles in and contributions to an educational effort of note, whether a historic high school, community program, or outreach effort.

We advise that authors first submit an outline and proposal for consideration in the book series. We welcome a description of the volume mission and focus, possible chapter/section contents, methodological contribution, and how the volume aligns with the series focus on life writing and education. Please also include a description of how the book extends the field of scholarship it enters and the potential audiences for the text.

The proposal and manuscript should include author/editor contact information, institutional affiliation, professional title, and a brief biographical note about the authors/editors. Please follow the formatting requirements for the 7th edition of the APA Manual (the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association) for the materials. Submit in word documents only to the series editors, as listed below.

Lucy E. Bailey, Ph.D.
Oklahoma State University
Social Foundations & Qualitative Inquiry
Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies
Lucy.bailey@okstate.edu

KaaVonia Hinton, Ph.D.
Old Dominion University
Department of Teaching and Learning
Khintonj@odu.edu

Endorsements
"Autobiography, biography and autoethnography: life writing envelops them all. This series brings to bear the head work, field work, and text work across the theory and methodology that makes life writing in education come alive" Patti Lather, The Ohio State University

"Many people tell stories, but not all are storytellers. Many academics write biographies, but not all are biographers. Now, for the first time, the biography strand of the Research in Life Writing and Education Book Series provides a publishing venue for educational biographers, versed in biographical theory, whose research has been guided and tempered by the perennial issues of biographical inquiry." Craig Kridel, University of South Carolina

"Life writing, with its deep, far-reaching roots, resonates profoundly in our present moment. This important new series connects it broadly with education while critically exploring new modalities, perspectives, and interpretations. It is a gift to those of us seeking to make sense of lives in education" Jackie Blount, Professor, The Ohio State University

BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

Levantine Vignettes

An Educator’s Account of Border Crossing in the Middle East

2024

Daniel Osborn, Boston University

A Memoir of an Educational Biographer

Gerald Gutek’s Reflections on the Historical and Continuing Value of a Unique Craft

2024

Gerald L. Gutek, Loyola University Chicago

Racial Dimensions of Life Writing in Education

2022

Lucy E. Bailey, Oklahoma State University; KaaVonia Hinton, Old Dominion University