About the Journal

The Sankofa Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies is a peer-reviewed journal that supports the amplification of subaltern and marginalized voices at the University of Waterloo. The journal encourages submissions from all University of Waterloo communities (staff, faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students) from across all faculties and disciplines. Sankofa encourages us to 'look back' to 'move forward' by challenging traditional and eurocentric ideals of scholarship. We seek interdisciplinary works (original content that is rooted with-in and with-out the academe) that are rooted in praxis.

We strongly encourage faculty members to support course work that enables undergraduate written submissions.

Sankofa, as articulated by the Department of Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University, is an Akan word loosely translated to mean "go back to the past and bring forward that which is useful." The epistemological focus of the journal is framed around key principles:

  • Interdisciplinarity: this is not limited to traditional academic disciplines, but knowledge produced and acquired from outside of the academe.
  • Praxis: the journal is populated by action-oriented and change-making works produced in the academe.
  • Amplification of Subaltern Voices: we welcome submissions from individuals whose voices and work are not readily encouraged or accepted by traditional journal.
  • Student-focused: undergraduate and graduate students are actively encouraged to submit course work and/or theses or dissertation chapters.
  • Positive journal submission process: we take great care to support, and not denigrate or discourage, the academic journal submission process. Sankofa is meant to be a gateway for other publishing opportunities.

The journal was conceived by Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor to support his fourth-year course, "B[l]ack to the Future: Black Settlements in Canada for the 2020s and Beyond" in May 2021. Special thanks goes to the students, and all those that supported the idea of the course, and the creation of this journal.