Public Humanities invites submissions for the upcoming themed issue AI and Cultural Identity, which will be guest edited by Rena Alasgarova and Jeyhun Rzayev. 

The deadline for submissions is 1 November 2025.  

Description 

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping education, language, and identity. Whilst often positioned as a neutral tool by platforms and technologists , AI is a deeply cultural force embedded with values, assumptions, and patterns of power that influence how we teach, communicate, and imagine the self. AI systems, such as large language models and personalized learning platforms, are increasingly mediating our engagement with knowledge, language, and community.

This themed issue emphasizes how these systems are not culturally agnostic: they reflect linguistic and epistemic hierarchies that may marginalize non-dominant languages, pedagogies, and worldviews. As AI expands into classrooms, archives, and creative practice, questions arise about who is centered, who is excluded, and how new imaginaries of the self are being shaped. For instance, large language models systematically associate African American English with negative stereotypes, assign lower-prestige jobs to AAE speakers, and recommend harsher sentencing in hypothetical legal scenarios

This themed issue of Public Humanities explores the cultural politics of AI from a humanities perspective, with particular attention to teaching and learning, multilingualism, educational equity, cultural heritage, and public discourse. We are especially interested in contributions that foreground the human in the loop, centring lived experience, relational ethics, and critical engagement, and that take situated, reflexive, and interdisciplinary approaches to technology and education.

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to:

• Methodologies for teaching or researching with AI across languages and cultures

• Curriculum design and educational policy in the age of AI

• AI and critical digital/media literacies in educational contexts

• Teacher training and professional development for AI-integrated learning

• Educational access, equity, and surveillance in AI-driven environments

• Informal and community-based learning with or about AI

• AI and multilingual education

• Cultural identity and algorithmic bias

• Pedagogical uses and critiques of AI in the classroom

• Indigenous, decolonial, and non-Western perspectives on AI

• Interdisciplinary approaches to AI education in the humanities and beyond

We encourage submissions from early career researchers, artists, educators, and public scholars working across disciplines. Contributions may take the form of traditional research articles, case studies, creative essays, or hybrid formats. All work will be peer-reviewed for quality, clarity, and public engagement.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be written in accessible language for a wide readership across and beyond the humanities.

Articles will be peer reviewed for both content and style. Articles will appear digitally and open access in the journal.

All submissions should be made through the Public Humanities online peer review system. Authors should consult the journal’s Author Instructions prior to submission.

All authors will be required to declare any funding and/or competing interests upon submission. See the journal’s Publishing Ethics guidelines for more information.

Guest Editors

Rena Alasgarova: rena.alasgarova@bakuoxfordschool.net

Jeyhun Rzayev: jrzayev@ada.edu.az

Questions regarding peer review can be sent to the Public Humanities inbox at publichumanities@cambridge.org