This is the blog of the American Studies Program at the University of Bucharest. We have created this as a platform for discussion with our former and current students or with those about to become our students. Please feel free to ask questions, raise issues and come up with bright new ideas about how to make our program better.
Wanna get published? Do you think it would be a good idea for us to start an online undergraduate journal of American Studies? Would you be willing to write articles and help out? What are the columns you think should ABSOLUTELY be featured?
I think that would be a really great idea. The case is that usually only grad students get published in journals, so having something specifically for undergrads would allow students to really try to work on articles because they know they will have a chance of getting published.So, are there any specifics plans about getting this journal up and running?
There are some plans, but we just need a lot of undergrads to come up and say that they want this to happen and that they are willing to get involved. Then, come late August/September, we can all get together and ask for approval, find an appropriate title etc. Until then, keep posting ideas and, if you think you are willing to be a long-term member of the journal team send us your e-mail address at office@american-studies.ro, together with your full name and particular area of expertise (film studies, literature, art etc.).
I'm sure that if this is advertised right,many students are going to be interested. I for one would really like to help out as much as possible even if I will be graduating not very long from now. who needs to approve this though and what is the actual specific first step that needs to be made in order to start this? mug_lounge
Basically, the head of the American Studies Department + possibly the Dean need to approve this. If I don't show that there is actual interest in this, it's not going to happen.
The first step is sending me an e-mail at either mihaela_precup@yahoo.com or office@american-studies.ro, telling me what particular area of American Studies you'd like to be writing about and possibly coming up with ANY OTHER ideas that you think would make this a good publication. Every top university in the States (and elsewhere) has a good undergrad publication, and I think it would be a wonderful step forward for all of us. Once I have enough e-mails from people saying they can be involved, we can set up a meeting (I'm guessing sometime in August) and draft a proposal, come up with a title and perhaps a trial version of the publication.
you'll be getting that info e-mail from me shortly. about getting requests from people saying they want this to happen. the only pickle that i can find is that, although the journal idea is a very good one, the response may be lacking because 1. it's summer and 2. people only answer to stuff if it's advertised right. i believe a way to maybe get around this is for you to send another batch of e-mails with this specific subject, that of the journal and inform people that if they really want to benefit from this wonderful opportunity, they should express their wish now, preferably. the sooner the better, i say. what do you think? mug_lounge
Hey! It would be great to have such a place where we can share our ideas in writing. Each oh us together can cover a wide range of subjects connected to American Studies, but we need to spread the news... I suppose mug_lounge is right and the summer time has its fault. Anyway, I am in, either on film studies or American music (beginnings of jazz and development), I'll send you an email confirmation, Mihaela.I'll try to keep my colleagues in touch with news.
This is great! Basically, we need a team of editors specializing/ed in different areas, and once we have it, we can meet and plan things in more detail!
Finally! There is someone who cares..."Great idea" is not enough to describe it! I will certainly get involved...I think that people would be interested in finding out more interesting things about America and American Studies...and by "interesting" I do not mean boring comments on Huckleberry Finn or Frederic Douglass that anyone can google anytime, but subjects like arts, culture...things that happen in real life and we do study at the University. More ideas in the e-mail... uLEE
Ulee, looking forward to your e-mail, then! And, mug_lounge, I'm still waiting to hear from you on your particular areas of expertise and decision to become involved in the journal!
The examples of journals you gave us seem to focus on publishing undergrads' research papers in all areas. It is not as interesting as the idea suggested before, that we split the journal into separate sections (history, music, film, politics, literature etc) and each of us writes short articles about his/her area of interest, eventually two or three times per week. To my mind, it would be more fun like that, no one will be bored when reading and will look forward for the next articles.
hold on, TWO OR THREE TIMES A WEEK? AN ARTICLE? i don't want to be mean or rude, but an academic journal publishes scholarly articles, which need to be researched. writing an article two or three times a week is what people do for magazines that don't require more than an afternoon of documenting for their submissions. all apologies for offending, but hey, you know i'm right mug_lounge
Clearly, two or three articles a week is not feasible; more likely it would be the case of having a journal every three months. Even so, the deadline would need to be at least one month prior to publication to allow proofreading and proper editing. For a start, I think you should each think of a possible area to cover.
Well, I offer my apologies than. I didn't know it was going to be an academic journal, and how it has to take shape. I was not familiar with this type of journal before, so I think you overreacted. You could have said it more nicely. No offense taken anyway...
I for one am happy about the lively exchange, that's for sure! There's no need for bad blood or squabbling, though, but we all remember there was some of that going on in our defunct Forum as well (which is why I was thinking we could baptize our journal The Forum...but we don't have to:).
What it's showing us all is that we're not quite sure yet what kind of publication we had in mind when we started our conversation. I for one had in mind a "journal" and not a "magazine," hence the links I posted above. However, I still think it's possible to add some sort of a "supplement" to our journal, which would be more in the shape of a magazine, BUT only once we've established ourselves on the academic market in some way, as a serious journal.
Also, it's important that we try and invite subscriptions from undergrads from other universities (both from Romania and from abroad), and it would be the job of the editors (and this is why I asked for your specific areas of interest) and of the advisory board to come up with Calls for Papers and other such things.
On the other hand, we can think of a way to include short pieces, such as book/magazine/music reviews under a title such as, for instance, "The American Studies Underground Journal Reccommends." But we can talk more about this when we do meet. (there are only 3 of us so far...alas...can't you poke some of your more involved colleagues in the ribs and ask them to step up and say smth?) mug_lounge, are you AV? then you have indeed contacted me...
I guess I can come up with another person who's crazy about music and already writes a music column. I'll tell her the details and see if she's interested.
yes, i am AV. i've tried talking to some people about it but, to be honest, all of them have graduated and are,how should i say, less excited about the idea. it's sad that most people think about writing as a chore.i'm still trying, though.i'm still trying. mug_lounge
Sorry for the typo in the previous post. Yes, it is clear to me now, I didn't have in mind how an academic journal looks like, so it was good you gave us those links. I am still in with the music and movie part. I tried to speak with a few of my colleagues, but they don't seem to be interested. Anyway, most of them are away for the summer, so there is still hope.
thanks a lot, guys! i'm afraid our best bet is still September! i'll be sending out another shout then! (still, i must say i'm very disappointed... perhaps we could do it anyway, i mean who says we need that much more people???) what do ya think? i'll be in Bucharest this week, we could meet up if you can and like. mp
I for one don't live in Bucharest and it would be extremely hard to get there and find a place to stay during this time of the summer. But i promise to be fully avaiable starting mid-September and I am available anytime during the summer through any other means of electronic communication (webcam, chat, etc). i would really like to help out with the journal. mug_lounge
I also think it would be better to meet in September-October, I am sure that more people will be interested in this when the school year starts. For the moment everyone wants to enjoy his holiday and they aren't thinking about writing papers, so I think we don't need to rush with conclusions.
ok, mid to late September it is, then! i have you guys on my list and we'll see who else is interested then! enjoy your holiday and thanks again! should anything else come up, i'll post it here! i hope you'll be doing the same! m.p.
I guess I shouldn't have been in such a hurry... you know, graduating and stuff:) I see things are getting really interesting. Oh well, maybe I can share some thoughts & ideas nonetheless
Sure you can! And if you happen to still be an undergrad for some second university, that would be even more helpful! Even better, maybe we can introduce a column for recent graduates and thus extend the idea of sharing over the years!
Another graduate and ex-forumista here, just saw the email and will ponder on the topics. I'm definitely in since I plan on sticking around for another 2 years. I will email Mihaela in the near future (probably by the end of the week) after I dig a little deeper into the concept of 'undergrad journal'
and, marsic, even if you've graduated, we can think of something - actually, we were just talking and thinking of making it both an undergrad and a graduate journal! more wiggle room!
I think we should set an appointment for early September (when everyone will have come back from their exotic getaways:D)and discuss a potential format for the journal and get it up & running. And since I missed the early stages of the conversation, I'll increase the size of Mihaela's inbox with an email containing my area(s) of expertise (I only have one, actually, but it branches out:D)
Hello there! Alexandra here (recent 3 yearer - and happy colleague of the 'rare and radiant maiden', Lenore :P -hey Flu!). Sorry for not posting earlier. Anyways, great initiative! Thank you for putting it forward. I'm in for certain. :) And I'm in on literature paraphernalia :) I guess I could go into movies as well...The review part sounds great as well... Now, about our colleagues, they're far away now, enjoying their youth...BUT, when they're back, me and Lenore are gonna haunt them down and torture them until they say YES! So Mihaela count on the 3rd year for this journal...I can already think of 3 more names, apart from us, that would like to embark on the project...So don't worry, it's happening! I'm gonna e-mail you as soon as I think about it and come up with some new ideas. Take care all!
Mihaela, did you receive an email from a certain graduate namesake? :) I sent one more than a month ago and I didn't get any reply. I sent it from another address if that makes any difference. In case you didn't get it I will send it again, but if you did I don't want to pester you.
I emailed Mihaela in August, but haven't heard from her. We'll see each other today, though, since at 12 hundred hours I am scheduled to "face the music" (MA admission interview, that is). In other news... mind-boggling blog, katzneurotic (now that's a tongue twister). Thumbs up!
40 comments:
I think that would be a really great idea. The case is that usually only grad students get published in journals, so having something specifically for undergrads would allow students to really try to work on articles because they know they will have a chance of getting published.So, are there any specifics plans about getting this journal up and running?
There are some plans, but we just need a lot of undergrads to come up and say that they want this to happen and that they are willing to get involved. Then, come late August/September, we can all get together and ask for approval, find an appropriate title etc. Until then, keep posting ideas and, if you think you are willing to be a long-term member of the journal team send us your e-mail address at office@american-studies.ro, together with your full name and particular area of expertise (film studies, literature, art etc.).
I'm sure that if this is advertised right,many students are going to be interested. I for one would really like to help out as much as possible even if I will be graduating not very long from now. who needs to approve this though and what is the actual specific first step that needs to be made in order to start this?
mug_lounge
Basically, the head of the American Studies Department + possibly the Dean need to approve this. If I don't show that there is actual interest in this, it's not going to happen.
The first step is sending me an e-mail at either mihaela_precup@yahoo.com or office@american-studies.ro, telling me what particular area of American Studies you'd like to be writing about and possibly coming up with ANY OTHER ideas that you think would make this a good publication. Every top university in the States (and elsewhere) has a good undergrad publication, and I think it would be a wonderful step forward for all of us.
Once I have enough e-mails from people saying they can be involved, we can set up a meeting (I'm guessing sometime in August) and draft a proposal, come up with a title and perhaps a trial version of the publication.
you'll be getting that info e-mail from me shortly. about getting requests from people saying they want this to happen. the only pickle that i can find is that, although the journal idea is a very good one, the response may be lacking because 1. it's summer and 2. people only answer to stuff if it's advertised right. i believe a way to maybe get around this is for you to send another batch of e-mails with this specific subject, that of the journal and inform people that if they really want to benefit from this wonderful opportunity, they should express their wish now, preferably. the sooner the better, i say.
what do you think?
mug_lounge
I'm on it!:) Thanks for the suggestion!
Hello!I am looking forward to reading every single post on this long-expected blog!:)
Great, but what do you think of the whole undergrad journal idea?
We're very keen on finding out!
Hey!
It would be great to have such a place where we can share our ideas in writing. Each oh us together can cover a wide range of subjects connected to American Studies, but we need to spread the news... I suppose mug_lounge is right and the summer time has its fault.
Anyway, I am in, either on film studies or American music (beginnings of jazz and development), I'll send you an email confirmation, Mihaela.I'll try to keep my colleagues in touch with news.
This is great! Basically, we need a team of editors specializing/ed in different areas, and once we have it, we can meet and plan things in more detail!
Thank you!
Finally! There is someone who cares..."Great idea" is not enough to describe it! I will certainly get involved...I think that people would be interested in finding out more interesting things about America and American Studies...and by "interesting" I do not mean boring comments on Huckleberry Finn or Frederic Douglass that anyone can google anytime, but subjects like arts, culture...things that happen in real life and we do study at the University. More ideas in the e-mail...
uLEE
Here are a few examples of undergraduate journals from the States, just so we have a better idea what other people are doing:
http://www.neoamericanist.org/
http://pur.honorscollege.pitt.edu/
http://www.bk.psu.edu/Academics/Degrees/30434.htm?cn21
http://www.historymatters.appstate.edu/index.html
http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/c/cbakken/allegheny%20review/alleghenyreviewpage.html
http://www.unm.edu/%7Escribend/
Ulee, looking forward to your e-mail, then! And, mug_lounge, I'm still waiting to hear from you on your particular areas of expertise and decision to become involved in the journal!
The examples of journals you gave us seem to focus on publishing undergrads' research papers in all areas. It is not as interesting as the idea suggested before, that we split the journal into separate sections (history, music, film, politics, literature etc) and each of us writes short articles about his/her area of interest, eventually two or three times per week. To my mind, it would be more fun like that, no one will be bored when reading and will look forward for the next articles.
hold on, TWO OR THREE TIMES A WEEK? AN ARTICLE? i don't want to be mean or rude, but an academic journal publishes scholarly articles, which need to be researched. writing an article two or three times a week is what people do for magazines that don't require more than an afternoon of documenting for their submissions.
all apologies for offending, but hey, you know i'm right
mug_lounge
Clearly, two or three articles a week is not feasible; more likely it would be the case of having a journal every three months. Even so, the deadline would need to be at least one month prior to publication to allow proofreading and proper editing. For a start, I think you should each think of a possible area to cover.
i already emailed "mp" with the specifics regarding my areas of choice.
mug_lounge
Well, I offer my apologies than. I didn't know it was going to be an academic journal, and how it has to take shape. I was not familiar with this type of journal before, so I think you overreacted. You could have said it more nicely. No offense taken anyway...
Lenore
I for one am happy about the lively exchange, that's for sure! There's no need for bad blood or squabbling, though, but we all remember there was some of that going on in our defunct Forum as well (which is why I was thinking we could baptize our journal The Forum...but we don't have to:).
What it's showing us all is that we're not quite sure yet what kind of publication we had in mind when we started our conversation. I for one had in mind a "journal" and not a "magazine," hence the links I posted above. However, I still think it's possible to add some sort of a "supplement" to our journal, which would be more in the shape of a magazine, BUT only once we've established ourselves on the academic market in some way, as a serious journal.
Also, it's important that we try and invite subscriptions from undergrads from other universities (both from Romania and from abroad), and it would be the job of the editors (and this is why I asked for your specific areas of interest) and of the advisory board to come up with Calls for Papers and other such things.
On the other hand, we can think of a way to include short pieces, such as book/magazine/music reviews under a title such as, for instance, "The American Studies Underground Journal Reccommends."
But we can talk more about this when we do meet. (there are only 3 of us so far...alas...can't you poke some of your more involved colleagues in the ribs and ask them to step up and say smth?)
mug_lounge, are you AV? then you have indeed contacted me...
I guess I can come up with another person who's crazy about music and already writes a music column. I'll tell her the details and see if she's interested.
yes, i am AV. i've tried talking to some people about it but, to be honest, all of them have graduated and are,how should i say, less excited about the idea. it's sad that most people think about writing as a chore.i'm still trying, though.i'm still trying.
mug_lounge
Sorry for the typo in the previous post. Yes, it is clear to me now, I didn't have in mind how an academic journal looks like, so it was good you gave us those links. I am still in with the music and movie part. I tried to speak with a few of my colleagues, but they don't seem to be interested. Anyway, most of them are away for the summer, so there is still hope.
thanks a lot, guys! i'm afraid our best bet is still September! i'll be sending out another shout then! (still, i must say i'm very disappointed... perhaps we could do it anyway, i mean who says we need that much more people???)
what do ya think? i'll be in Bucharest this week, we could meet up if you can and like.
mp
I for one don't live in Bucharest and it would be extremely hard to get there and find a place to stay during this time of the summer. But i promise to be fully avaiable starting mid-September and I am available anytime during the summer through any other means of electronic communication (webcam, chat, etc). i would really like to help out with the journal.
mug_lounge
I also think it would be better to meet in September-October, I am sure that more people will be interested in this when the school year starts. For the moment everyone wants to enjoy his holiday and they aren't thinking about writing papers, so I think we don't need to rush with conclusions.
Lenore
ok, mid to late September it is, then! i have you guys on my list and we'll see who else is interested then!
enjoy your holiday and thanks again!
should anything else come up, i'll post it here! i hope you'll be doing the same!
m.p.
I guess I shouldn't have been in such a hurry... you know, graduating and stuff:) I see things are getting really interesting. Oh well, maybe I can share some thoughts & ideas nonetheless
Sure you can! And if you happen to still be an undergrad for some second university, that would be even more helpful!
Even better, maybe we can introduce a column for recent graduates and thus extend the idea of sharing over the years!
Another graduate and ex-forumista here, just saw the email and will ponder on the topics. I'm definitely in since I plan on sticking around for another 2 years. I will email Mihaela in the near future (probably by the end of the week) after I dig a little deeper into the concept of 'undergrad journal'
Have a chilly day!
can't wait! do e-mail me!
m.
and, marsic, even if you've graduated, we can think of something - actually, we were just talking and thinking of making it both an undergrad and a graduate journal! more wiggle room!
I think we should set an appointment for early September (when everyone will have come back from their exotic getaways:D)and discuss a potential format for the journal and get it up & running. And since I missed the early stages of the conversation, I'll increase the size of Mihaela's inbox with an email containing my area(s) of expertise (I only have one, actually, but it branches out:D)
Hello there! Alexandra here (recent 3 yearer - and happy colleague of the 'rare and radiant maiden', Lenore :P -hey Flu!). Sorry for not posting earlier. Anyways, great initiative! Thank you for putting it forward. I'm in for certain. :) And I'm in on literature paraphernalia :) I guess I could go into movies as well...The review part sounds great as well...
Now, about our colleagues, they're far away now, enjoying their youth...BUT, when they're back, me and Lenore are gonna haunt them down and torture them until they say YES! So Mihaela count on the 3rd year for this journal...I can already think of 3 more names, apart from us, that would like to embark on the project...So don't worry, it's happening! I'm gonna e-mail you as soon as I think about it and come up with some new ideas. Take care all!
that's great! so exciting! do e-mail me (the more i think about it, the more early October sounds like a feasible starting-point...)
mp
Mihaela, did you receive an email from a certain graduate namesake? :) I sent one more than a month ago and I didn't get any reply. I sent it from another address if that makes any difference. In case you didn't get it I will send it again, but if you did I don't want to pester you.
I emailed Mihaela in August, but haven't heard from her. We'll see each other today, though, since at 12 hundred hours I am scheduled to "face the music" (MA admission interview, that is). In other news... mind-boggling blog, katzneurotic (now that's a tongue twister). Thumbs up!
very much thank you and good luck! :)
Marsic, sorry I never answered, but it was duly noted! See ya in early October!:)
MP
+
Sooo... any update on where and when we should engage in a conversation about the journal?
great news! we got approval for the journal and i'll be e-mailing everyone about meeting sometime next week to set things up!!!
mp
Post a Comment