Call for Papers

In March 2008, Reflections will publish a special issue focused on the impact of the Katrina and Rita hurricanes locally and nationwide. As part of the effort to capture the complexity of these events, we have developed a short writing prompt to encourage the widest range of responses – scholarly papers, personal experiences, classroom stories, and political insights. There is no set format or length required for these responses. The goal is to capture in the broadest terms possible how our field is responding to this national crisis.

We hope you will take a moment to respond.

Rising Waters—A Reprise?

When the levees broke more than two years ago and the city of New Orleans was overwhelmed by the tidal surge, the lives of many in that great American city were changed forever. New Orleans became a symbol for a national disaster.

The mention of “a reprise” here in the title is not a reference to a repeat performance, but instead invokes the more archaic use of the word—“to take back” or “to recover by force.” By now millions of dollars and millions of hours have been spent and millions of hours of Herculean effort has been expended to “take back” New Orleans and the surrounding region from the destruction wrought by the floodwaters. But what will it take to fully recover, for its residents to take back their lives?

Those of us removed by distance were affected by Katrina, too, in that the displaced residents of New Orleans and the surrounding region were relocated to cities across the United States, creating the largest diaspora in American history. And there was another way that each of us felt the impact of Katrina: we witnessed a catastrophic failure of our government to respond to our fellow citizens in need. We were reminded that the political issues which confronted New Orleans prior to the flood—poorly funded public schools, urban crime, inadequate government responses—were legion in cities throughout the country.

Over the next month, we would welcome stories of how you responded to the devastation created by this national disaster (housing a family, inviting a student into your classroom, creating a new community partnership) as well as how the hurricanes and there aftermath changed your sense of yourself as a teacher, an activist, and a citizen.

Deadline for submission: December 20th, 2008
Please email responses to:
Steve Parks
Editor, Reflections
sjparks@syr.edu