For some time we have been wishing to internationalize the reach of the journal Practical Theology – especially for our prospective authors. One of the barriers we identified was the requirement for English language writing. Thus following conversation among the Editorial team and consultation with our Trustees, we have worked with Dr. Alison Le Cornu (an expert in teaching academic English as a foreign language) to develop a “Buddy System” that will support prospective authors who are writing in English as a second, third, or fourth language. We are now at the stage where we need to test this approach through a pilot cohort of 8-10 trained buddies who can work with prospective authors. The attached documents provide an overview of the buddy role (including the broad “person specification” of the kind of skills you’ll be bringing) and the intended relationship between prospective authors and their buddies.
Would you consider joining this pilot cohort? Or do you know of someone in your network who might be well suited to this role? If so, please contact the Associate Editor, Dustin Benac at dustin_benac@baylor.edu, by Friday September 9th.
When combined with our forthcoming issue on Majority World Epistemologies in Practical Theology, we are hopeful these parallel initiatives will enrich the range of contributions to Practical Theology and extend our collective work toward a significant horizon for ongoing research and practice.