Call for Papers – Germinate Special Issue on the theme “December”

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Call for Papers Germinate: Environmental History Review Special Issue
Theme – December: Convergences of seasonality, temporality, and locality
Deadline August 15, 2026
Publication in November, December, and January

Germinate: Environmental History Review, an open-access journal of the American Society for Environmental History (ASEH), is excited to announce its first themed special issue call.
In this themed call we would like to look at ways that the past and present of the environment intersect with the month of December. The series asks:
What is December like and how do experiences of the month shift according to the relationships between environment and place?

Due to geography, climate, and history, December is both a time associated with particular weather, particular temperatures, and particular holidays, but also simultaneously it is a time of year that is experienced very differently across the world  due to complex intersectionalities with the environment and culture. This call seeks to accumulate a variety of December-related contributions internationally in order to examine the specific nuances and distinct differences of temporal experience in places. The result will be a series that provides a textured look at the multiplicity of ways the same calendar month can be personally lived and experienced through the environment. 

We invite submissions for either the peer-reviewed section or the non-peer-reviewed section of Germinate. Many styles are accepted, including traditional academic texts, narratives, interviews, visual essays, poetry, and other mediums. There is no requirement for specific geographic locations. In fact we hope to include the Southern Hemisphere in this series. 

Subjects may include but are not limited to:

  • Specific historical or contemporary events that have taken place in the month of December
  • Holidays in December and how they intersect with environmental considerations or influence perception of the environment
  • Studies of particular places in any geographic location and how December’s human and natural activities affect ways of life Connections to weather events and their effects regularly occurring in the month of December
  • Works that address seasonal perception or phenomenological experiences in connection to the environment
  • Intersections with the end of the calendar year that affect the environment in December
  • Descriptions of rituals or beliefs that intersect with the timing of the month of December
    Animal, human, or nonhuman activity patterns that coincide with changes in December
  • Considerations of the conception of the calendar year itself and how it intersects with natural rhythms
  • Examinations of the human body and its responses to particular environments in December

Editors: Onur Inal, Ramya Swayamprakash, and Nicole Miller

Submission deadline: August 15th, 2026
Notification of non-peer reviewed paper acceptance: by August 31, 2026, but potentially sooner if submitted before the deadline
Peer-reviewed process: September – October 2026
Series publication on Germinate’s webpage: Begins at the end of November 2026 until January 2027

Submissions should be through the submissions page of approximately 2500 – 3000 words for the peer-reviewed section (inclusive of notes) and around 1500 words for the non-peer-reviewed section.
Please include “DECEMBER THEME” in the title line in order to be sorted accordingly.
More detailed guidelines can be found on our website through the submissions page:
https://g-ehr.com/submit/

For non-peer reviewed submissions, a 200 word abstract can be submitted rather than the full piece if you prefer. Send abstract submissions to: nicole.miller [at]arkeologi.uu.se
For peer-reviewed abstracts we warmly invite you to send a pitch in advance of the deadline to see if your contribution idea is a good fit. Send peer-reviewed pitches to: g-ehr [at] aseh.org

Germinate offers  $100 honoraria to all accepted authors. 

Submit to Germinate
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Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller is an artist and visual anthropologist based in Sweden working at the intersection of art, philosophy, and environmental history. She works at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Uppsala University and is an Associate Editor for the ASEH journal Germinate. She was Conference Manager for ESEH 2025 and Curator for the coinciding Climate Histories Art Interventions.

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