A Historic Moment for CLAJ: New Editor Dr. Shauna M. Morgan & A Joint Hosting Agreement

The College Language Association Executive Committee is pleased to announce Dr. Shauna M. Morgan of the University of Kentucky as the new Editor of The CLA Journal (CLAJ). Dr. Morgan is a long-time dedicated member of CLA who previously served as an advisory editor for CLAJ. Dr. Morgan was a tenured faculty member at Howard University, where she taught for nearly a decade, and she is currently an Associate Professor of creative writing and Africana literature at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Morgan’s appointment as Editor marks a historic moment for the journal as Howard University and the University of Kentucky will host CLAJ. 

Both universities have voiced their excitement for this collaboration. Howard states, “[W]e are excited about the collaboration with the University of Kentucky, which will support our former colleague Shauna M. Morgan’s editorship there while Howard serves as the institutional home for the journal.” The University of Kentucky's Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies (CIBS) agrees and views this historic collaboration as a “partnership full of possibility for the broader goals of Black Studies.” CLA recognizes this unique moment of an HBCU and HWCU/PWI partnership, and we hope that this joint venture will reflect the power of collaboration as we move forward in transparency and mutual respect. In essence, we are excited to merge three-storied histories, and we hope that this partnership will reflect the power of legacies while creating a new one in the years ahead. Dr. Morgan has voiced her dedication to CLA and this historic collaboration, stating that “I want to express my willingness to serve and to affirm my commitment to upholding and building on the remarkable legacy of CLAJ.” 

Dr. Morgan has a distinguished record of scholarly and artistic achievement. Her critical work has been published in the Journal of Postcolonial Writing, South Atlantic Review, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, and CLAJ, to name a few. Her poetry has appeared in A Gathering Together, Interviewing the Caribbean, A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia, ProudFlesh: New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics & Consciousness, and The A-LINE: a journal of progressive thought. Dr. Morgan also has published a chapbook, Fear of Dogs & Other Animals, with Central Square Press. Her scholarship has received international attention, including her tenure as a fellow at the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies at Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz, Germany and receiving the Interviewing the Caribbean’s inaugural Catherine James Palmer Poetry Prize. 

The College Language Association Executive Committee has heard and carefully considered the feedback from our members about CLAJ issue 64.2. After much deliberation, the CLA Executive Committee decided to temporarily recall CLAJ Issue 64.2, and we are enthusiastic about Dr. Morgan’s plans for revision of issue 64.2 and her ideas for issues to come. Dr. Shauna Morgan wants the CLA membership to know that “As we continue to navigate the pandemic and the socio-political crisis that threatens Black life within and beyond the academy,” she is committed to developing “the solutions this moment demands.” 

Join us in welcoming Dr. Shauna M. Morgan as the new Editor of CLAJ and Howard University and the University of Kentucky as our joint Host Institutions!