Public Humanities is a new international open-access, cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal at the intersection of humanities scholarship and public life. The journal invites proposals for themed issues that pose urgent questions on contemporary public issues that require rigorous and relevant humanities knowledge.

 The journal invites submissions for the upcoming themed Issue Literature and Science in the Public Sphere, which will be Guest Edited by John Holmes, Jenni G Halpin, and Aura Heydenreich. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2025.  

Description  

Public issues that are seen to be primarily scientific are necessarily also embedded in and inflected by language and culture. For this reason, research at the interface of literature and science offers a crucial tool for fresh interventions into scientific, technological, medical and environmental debates and for understanding and grappling with their social ramifications. Literature and science research has the capacity to speak to readers and policy makers who are alert to the implications of scientific findings and to those who are educated in and attuned to the humanities, and to bring these two audiences together. Through approaching scientific subjects from the vantage of the humanities, it generates a distinctive expertise that bears on public policy on science as well as the public understanding of science.

This themed issue of Public Humanities builds on the work of learned societies including the British Society for Literature and Science (BSLS), the Commission on Science and Literature (CoSciLit) and the European Society for Literature, Science and the Arts (SLSAeu). Launched off the back of a joint conference of these three societies held at the University of Birmingham in April 2024, it aims to open dialogues and explore intersections between literature and science as they bear jointly on the public sphere. In so doing, it will contest the hackneyed yet persistent divide between the literary humanities and the sciences while making a robust case for the relevance of literary expertise to public issues well beyond the acknowledged realm of the arts. 

To enable effective targeted intervention in public debate across the full breadth of literature and science studies, we are exclusively soliciting short papers of 1500-2000 words in length. Papers may present original research findings; reflect on seminal events or processes; explore methodological approaches or avenues for future research; or offer personal perspectives on a given topic in the light of research expertise. The papers will be gathered together by the editors into roundtable discussions on particular themes. In addition to individual papers, we are happy to receive submissions of pre-formed roundtables comprising three to five papers on a shared topic. Please notify the editors of your topic by email ahead of submitting a paper or roundtable so that they can confirm its suitability. 

We welcome contributions from both literary and cultural scholars and scientists showing the relevance of literature and literary studies as a discipline to public concerns centred on scientific questions. Topics we are keen to explore through this issue include but are not limited to science communication, medical science, epidemiology, genetics, ecology and ecosystems, climate change and sustainability, human/non-human interactions, industrial and digital technologies, and AI. We are particularly keen to include interventions from scholars and scientists working in the Global South and to showcase diverse perspectives more generally. Submissions from early career researchers are especially encouraged. 

Submission guidelines Submissions should be written in accessible language for a wide readership across and beyond the humanities. Articles will be peer reviewed for both content and style. Articles will appear digitally and open access in the journal. 

All submissions should be made through the Public Humanities online peer review system. Author should consult the journal’s Author Instructions prior to submission.

All authors will be required to declare any funding and/or competing interests upon submission. See the journal’s Publishing Ethics guidelines for more information.

Contacts

John Holmes, j.holmes.1@bham.ac.uk

Questions regarding peer review can be sent to the Public Humanities inbox at publichumanities@cambridge.org.