Soundtracks: Community, Culture, and Music
Jennifer M. Mellizo and Logan E. Clark, Guest Editors
Publication scheduled for Fall 2027. Sign up here for updates.
All inquiries may be sent to info@jfepublications.org.
Full articles due February 1, 2027, to our submission portal.
The Journal of Folklore and Education (JFE) is a peer-reviewed, multimedia, open-access journal. We publish significant scholarship with academic articles and classroom applications side-by-side to encourage deep thinking and practical use. JFE is intentional in being accessible to all communities and invites co-authorship to highlight partnerships between teachers, artists, and community organizations.
We invite submissions to our 2027 issue, “Soundtracks: Community, Culture, and Music.” We seek submissions that
- Connect community-embedded music to state and national education standards.
- Consider strategies for music transmission and engagement in formal and informal learning environments.
- Offer scaffolding to teach technical skills in a variety of music genres, traditions, and cultures.
- Support artists and tradition bearers in amplifying and sustaining their work.
- Illustrate outcomes of integrating music and other arts across subject areas and settings, including K–12 education, higher education, museums, and community organizations.
- Connect music to the lifeworlds of students and their communities.
- Bring music listening, engagement, and performance alive for learners of all ages.
Topics such as culturally responsive pedagogy, memory, literacy (lyrics), pedagogies that are formal and informal (e.g., notation, orality/aurality), and with attention to global, local, and regional practices will inform this issue. Submission formats may include articles and media that share best practices, lesson plans and project toolkits, case studies and classroom pilots, and materials that showcase folk and traditional artists and their art.
Our audiences include:
- K-12 teachers across all subject areas
- Educators working in higher education
- Teaching artists in diverse settings, including private lessons, school residencies, afterschool programs
- Community educators working in a range of contexts, including but not limited to libraries, youth groups, arts councils, museums, parks and recreation, solidarity gatherings, and media
- Students and community members who view music as a gateway for the exploration of complex topics
About the Guest Editors
Jennifer M. Mellizo is the Education Specialist at Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Prior to this position, she was a K–8 general music, band, and choir teacher in Laramie, WY, for 22 years. Jennifer holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, an MA in Music Education, and a BA in Music Education, all from the University of Wyoming. She was the Albany County School District #1 Teacher of the Year in 2016 and a 2021 U.S. Fulbright Scholar to Spain. Jennifer is a member of the Journal of General Music Education editorial board. She publishes research and practical articles in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and frequently presents her work at regional, national, and international conferences. She is author of Re-Imagining Curricula in Global Times: A Music Education Perspective (Springer, 2023).
Logan E. Clark is the Special Projects and Content Manager for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. She graduated with a PhD in Ethnomusicology from UCLA in 2017, focusing on marimba music in contemporary Mayan migrant communities in Los Angeles and Guatemala. She has also published articles and essays in English and Spanish on Mayan traditional dance and intangible cultural heritage. Logan has administrative and programming experience with a variety of organizations, including the World Musical Instrument Center at UCLA, Ethnomusicology Review academic journal, and the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. Logan plays and sings mariachi music and was a member of UCLA’s official mariachi Mariachi de Uclatlán, and now plays with the DC-based Grupo Fénix.
We are grateful to our 2027 Advisory Committee for their input on this special issue:
Patricia Shehan Campbell, University of Washington Professor Emerita
Juan Díes, Sones de México Ensemble
Christian Folk, Music Education Specialist, Smithsonian Institution
Maureen Loughran, Director and Curator, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Kofi Maxwell, Sankofa African Drum and Dance Ensemble
Dwandalyn Reece, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution
René Rodgers, Birthplace of Country Music Museum
Jane Vidrine, Louisiana Music Museum
Jennifer Walden, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Brandi Waller-Pace, Decolonizing the Music Room, Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival
More About Submissions: We seek submissions of articles, model projects, multimedia products, teaching applications, and student work accompanied by critical writing that connects to the larger frameworks of this theme. We particularly welcome submissions inclusive of perspectives and voices from underrepresented communities. Co-authored articles that include teachers, students, administrators, artists, or community members offer opportunities for multiple points of view on an educational program or a curriculum. We publish articles that share best practices, offer specific guides or plans for implementing folklore in education, and articulate theoretical and critical frameworks. We invite educators to share shorter pieces for “Notes from the Field.” Nonconventional formats are also welcomed, such as lesson plans, worksheets, classroom exercises, and media submissions, including short video and audio clips. When considering a submission, we highly recommend reviewing previous issues of JFE. We encourage authors to contact the editors to learn more and explore whether their concept might be a good fit.
Research-based writing that theorizes, evaluates, or assesses programs that use folklore in education tools and practice are also welcomed. These research articles may intersect with the theme, but all submissions with a research component will be considered. We expect that, regardless of the format, all projects presented in submissions will have appropriate institutional permissions for public dissemination before submission to JFE, including approval from Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and/or data licensing for the acquisition of existing data, as may be required. See the protocol for publishing a study used by ArtsEdSearch for guidance.
Format: Articles should be 1,500-4,500 words, submitted as a Word document. We use a modified Chicago style (not APA) and parenthetical citations. All URL links hyperlinked in the document should also be referenced, in order, at the end of the article in a URL list for offline readers. Images should have a dpi of at least 300. Be in touch with the editors to discuss submission and media ideas and to learn formatting, technical specifications, and citation style.
The Journal of Folklore and Education (ISSN 2573-2072) is a publication of Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education. Additional information about submissions, including our citation guide and article formats may be found at https://jfepublications.org/for-authors