Celebrity Professors
Call for Chapters

Christian K. Anderson
Editor

The professor who becomes a celebrity. The celebrity who becomes a professor. What is a celebrity professor and why is this phenomenon important to the study of higher education? 

Send inquiries and questions to Christian Anderson at [email protected]. 

Background

In 2012 Katherine Chaddock published The Multi-Talented Mr. Erskine: Shaping Mass Culture through Great Books and Fine Music, a biography of Julliard's first president who had achieved considerable fame through his musicianship and publishing of popular fiction. Before that she published an article about him, The Making of a Celebrity President, in which she argued that Erskine, professor of English at Columbia University, was one of the first "celebrity professors."

There is so much more to explore and learn about this phenomenon. Given my own work on popular culture and the history of higher education, I thought this would an engaging and interesting topic to explore.

Tentative Timeline

​The reason for a long timeline is to allow scholars from a wide range of disciplines to find this call and to develop projects.
 
March 15, 2025 - Proposals for inclusion in the book due. 

May 1, 2025 - Notification to authors of initial acceptance.

Summer 2025 - Submit book proposal to the Education and Popular Culture Series at Lexington Books.

October 15, 2025 - Final drafts are due. Chapters should be at least 4,000 words.

Fall 2025 - Papers under review.

January 2026 - Notification to authors invited for inclusion to volume (with requested revisions).

May 2026 - Submit to publisher. 

Submissions

What to submit?

I am looking for submissions from a range of disciplines and perspectives: sociology, history, economics, political science, anthropology, to name only a few of the possibilities. Ideally, the volume will have historical studies, critical analyses,  biographies, even personal journeys.

Please include in your submission:
  • Title
  • One-page description of your proposed chapter
  • Bibliography
  • CV or resume. 

Click here to submit.