Armstrong campus professor co-edited academic journal

April 23, 2020

Georgia Southern University communication scholar and associate professor, Dr. Elizabeth Desnoyers-Colas was invited to serve as guest co-editor of Departures in Critical Qualitative Research regarding the special issue “Merit, Whiteness, and Privilege.” Desnoyers-Colas, is based on the Armstrong Campus and serves as its Communication Studies Coordinator.

Desnoyers-Colas assigned roles in the academic journal were to serve as a guest co-editor and manage a two-layered review of each of the 35 submissions to determine the final essays for publication, as stated by Dr. Devika Chawla, editor of Departures in Critical Qualitative Research.

“During this process I looked more at new scholars or those who have published once or twice,” said Desnoyers-Colas. “I was looking for their arguments and what their viewpoints were in regard to merit and diversity.” Desnoyers-Colas also mentioned that the process was really tough, and that the unselected articles from the special issue may be used in the future.

Desnoyers-Colas, in the journal introduction, addressed the issue of racism among scholars in the field of communication, stating that the National Communication Association’s Distinguished Scholars has only had one person of color who has received the award in 2015. In the special issue “Merit, Whiteness, and Privilege,” NCA Distinguished Scholars nomination practices become a focus.

For over 12 years, NCA’s Executive Committee of the NCA has been trying to increase diversity among Distinguished Scholars. “This special issue will begin to create more intentionality to have minority voices heard,” said Desnoyers-Colas. She also mentioned how proud she was to be a part of this special issue and for minorities in the communication studies field to become a matter of fact. One of the driving forces for Desnoyers-Colas work with the special issue is that she believed and “felt that I owed it to my students.”