CfC: Rising Voices in Ethnomusicology: A Student Journal. “Languages and Multilingualism” Deadline: 26.10.2026
Dear Colleagues,
This is the first call for submissions for the Fall/Winter 2026 Issue of Rising Voices in Ethnomusicology: A Student Journal. Starting from this academic year, Rising Voices will adopt a new approach and layout to our biannual student-run publication. As the incoming co-editors, we see the journal as a safe space for reflexivity, creativity, and engaging with student concerns within the field of ethnomusicology. While we will continue to prioritize the publication of works by graduate students in ethnomusicology or other related disciplines, and those by early-career scholars, we believe that Rising Voices should also highlight student interests and publicize current, useful resources for graduate students. Therefore, we are delighted to bring back “SEM Reports” as a featured column with SEM-related announcements, conference calls, and new initiatives pertaining to ethnomusicologists.
This issue is titled “Languages and Multilingualism,” a theme that has been of great significance to ethnomusicologists since the advent of our discipline. Many ethnomusicologists have to speak another language other than their native tongue(s) when conducting fieldwork. At the same time, there are just as many researchers who conduct fieldwork in their native language(s) while ultimately writing scholarship in English or other languages with wider academic appeal. Most graduate students nowadays must learn and be tested in their fluency of a second or third language as part of their programs’ graduate requirements. Additionally, foreign language tests are often mandatory for international students who study abroad, which often come with exorbitant fees. Per this issue’s theme, we welcome submissions that engage with the notion of languages and multilingualism, conceived broadly, in relation to academic admissions, student life, fieldwork, teaching, research interests, and beyond. Particularly, we hope to solicit submissions by graduate students who come from and are studying outside the Anglosphere.
We invite articles that address, but are not limited to the following topics:
Ethics, compromises, and/or strategies regarding translation and the documentation of multiple languages and dialects
Fieldwork experiences that are shaped by multilingual communities and ways of interacting
Language that is both spoken and unspoken, means of expressing and perceiving language
Discourses on language requirements and norms that reflect structures of coloniality, institutional bias, and imperialism
Experiences of learning a foreign language and taking language exams by ethnomusicology graduate students
Language barriers faced by international students in academia and everyday life
Teaching experiences from graduate teaching assistants/early career scholars focused on teaching in or about languages and cultures that are not familiar to them
Peer-reviewing and editing works by scholars whose first language is not English
If you would like to submit a piece for this issue, please forward submissions to the editors at risingvoicesjournal[at]gmail[dot]com by Monday, October 26th 2026. Submissions must follow Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition (author-date) - attention to our guidelines is crucial for acceptance. Please follow our updated submission guidelines at our website. Submit files in .docx (text), .jpg (photography and images), .mp3 or .flac (audio), and .mp4 (video) formats. Include your contact information and university affiliation in your email, and note for which category you are submitting. Please feel free to share this call widely. If you have any questions, please email the editors at risingvoicesjournal@gmail.com.
Timothy Yu and Kathryn Minyoung Cooke Editors, Rising Voices in Ethnomusicology