Undegrad history journal looks to future

If those who do not learn history the first time are doomed to repeat it, then University students at least will no longer have an excuse to repeat the mistakes of the past. A new undergraduate history journal, "The Penn History Review," will provide the University community with the opportunity to learn about the past by reading student history papers. The journal, which will appear twice a year, may also publish reviews of history classes, book reviews, and social and political commentary that is history-related, said College junior Frank Barbera, the journal's editor-in-chief. "Some of the brightest students at Penn are history majors, and we have an outstanding faculty," explained Barbera, who wrote and submitted the proposal for the journal last September to History Professor Michael Katz. "Some of the courses inspire a lot of good, original work in the field of history that, until this point, have gone unseen except by graduate students or professors." College senior Kathleen Paralusz, a managing editor of the Review, said the journal will allow good student papers to be circulated. "It's so history majors can get their works published," Paralusz said. "There a lot of good history papers and history theses that are worked on and it's a shame that they just sit in some professor's office." Any paper of any length written for an undergraduate history class may be submitted for consideration by either a student or by a professor or teaching assistant, she added. "All submissions are anonymous before they enter the consideration process," Paralusz said. "They are judged solely on the basis of merit." "What we are looking for are convincing and provocative, and original arguments backed with good and original research," Barbera said. After the papers are selected, they will be edited for publication with the help of Writing Across the University (WATU). "We hope to have our editors trained by the WATU staff and have WATU guidance as we're revising the papers and getting them ready for publication," Barbera said. The journal will be partially funded by a $1,000 grant from the History Department. Former history students have also helped fund the journal. Paralusz said the journal conducted a direct mailing drive to over 4,000 former history majors at the University, and a steady stream of checks have been arriving. Paralusz added that the journal is also currently seeking funding for next year from the Student Activities Council. Thomas Sugrue, assistant professor of history, will serve as faculty advisor to the journal. "Penn undergraduates produce high quality scholarship and this gives them an opportunity for intellectual exchanges on matters in history," Sugrue said. The editorial board is accepting submissions for the journal until February 1 in the History Department. The first issue of the biannual journal will be available in mid-April.