Transdisciplinary Journal of Ecology and Humanities

The journal invites proposals for Special Issues that explore interspecies communication as a critical, empirical, ethical, and creative field of inquiry. We welcome interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches that examine how humans communicate with, interpret, represent, and respond to non-human beings—including animals, plants, fungi, microbes, landscapes, and technological hybrids—across ecological, cultural, and political contexts.

Interspecies communication raises foundational questions about knowledge, agency, responsibility, and coexistence in an era of ecological crisis. We seek Special Issues that move beyond metaphor to engage with communication as practice, relation, and ethical encounter, drawing from diverse epistemologies and methodologies.

Possible Themes and Questions Include (but are not limited to):

• Theoretical frameworks for interspecies communication (e.g., biosemiotics, multispecies ethnography, environmental ethics, Indigenous epistemologies)
• Empirical studies of human–animal, human–plant, or multispecies signaling and interaction
• Indigenous, local, and community-based knowledge systems of more-than-human communication
• Technological mediation of interspecies communication (AI, sensors, bioacoustics, remote sensing)
• Interspecies communication in conservation, restoration, agriculture, and environmental governance
• Artistic, experimental, and practice-based approaches to listening, sensing, and co-creation with non-human beings
• Ethical limits, responsibilities, and risks of interpreting or instrumentalizing non-human communication
• Place-based and field reports documenting situated interspecies encounters
• Narrative, visual, sonic, or performative explorations of more-than-human communication

Scope and Formats

Special Issues may include a mix of:

• Research articles
• Field reports and place-based initiatives
• Theoretical or methodological essays
• Experimental or arts-based contributions
• Interviews, dialogues, or curated exchanges
• Reviews or critical reflections

The journal particularly encourages proposals that bridge disciplines, foreground ethical reflexivity, and engage non-Western or marginalized knowledge traditions.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals for Special Issues should include:

1. Proposed title and theme of the Special Issue
2. Rationale and scholarly significance (500–800 words), including relevance to interspecies communication
3. Proposed guest editor(s) with short bios and institutional affiliations
4. Provisional list of contributions or topics (where available)
5. Proposed timeline for submission, review, and publication

Guest editors are expected to work closely with the journal’s editorial team and to uphold the journal’s standards regarding peer review, ethics, transparency, and inclusivity.

Submission and Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to Special Issues will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process. Guest editors will coordinate the thematic coherence of the issue, while final editorial decisions remain with the journal’s editorial board.

How to Submit a Proposal

Special Issue proposals should be submitted by email to the journal’s editorial office with the subject line:
“Special Issue Proposal: Interspecies Communication.”