We are pleased to share that UBC’s Social Justice Undergraduate Academic Journal, Ignite, will be revived for its 11th volume in Spring 2026!
First established in 2009, Ignite has served as a centre for critical, intersectional, and student-led scholarship. After a five-year hiatus, we are thrilled to renew this publication as a space that bridges academic inquiry with social justice praxis. We believe that academia should not replace action but instead, enrich and inform it.
Participating in Ignite offers undergraduates a platform to publish high-calibre research that bridges critical inquiry and community engagement. It is an achievement that not only supplements their academic journey but also strengthens their professional and activist trajectories beyond graduation. The Call for Papers will be released later, but interested students can learn more or stay connected through the flyer and forum.
About This Year’s Volume
Co-editors for the Spring 2026 issue of Ignite Nyia Sutherland and Sky Canham-Fishleigh are working with faculty mentors Dr. Kim Snowden and Dr. Alifa Bandali. The team shared the following frame for the upcoming volume:
Our present moment exposes the colonial legacies and often violent structures embedded within university institutions, calling on us to rethink and transform our approaches to education. This year’s volume seeks to centre emergent strategy: an approach that evolves organically in response to changing circumstances, emphasizes adaptability, and draws on collective learning. By highlighting emergent strategies within academia, we aim to explore ways to align research, pedagogy, and activism—creating scholarship that not only analyzes the world but actively participates in reshaping it.
Contributors are invited to envision innovative practices that bridge critical inquiry and meaningful social action, responding to the urgent challenges of our time while remaining flexible, collaborative, and forward-looking.
Call for Papers – Deadline January 9, 2026
The theme for Ignite Volume XI (Spring 2026) is:
World Building and Beyond: A Toolkit for Bridging the Divide Between Academia and Action
Stay tuned for more information about this exciting re-launch.
