2008 Woodie Awards
Verge to Debut
Scott Sell
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: Features
Verge, the brainchild of several members of Goucher's faculty, has made significant headway since its inception last spring.
Verge, an online journal showcasing undergraduate nonfiction, was founded with the idea of providing a platform for personal and academic expression and a means to address the formative ideas that occur between the two.
The journal is roughly based on FirstFill, a similar publication produced from the late 80's and early 90's; the minds behind Verge would like to revive a community-based, interdisciplinary magazine of student essays. The hope is that the journal will serve as a virtual meeting place to follow and discuss the various directions Goucher students are taking in their studies.
One of the minds that has been an especially integral part of the journal's development is Ailish Hopper Meisner, lecturer in the English and Peace Studies departments. She has been responsible for web editing, as well as general management with colleague Arnold Sanders, associate professor of English, over the past several months, and is thrilled that this project is finally taking off.
"Obviously, this is something that's very exciting for the members of the writing faculty," Meisner said. "But it's also incredible for the students and faculty of other departments, like the sciences, to have this opportunity to contribute something to the Goucher community that many people would normally not get a chance to explore."
Faculty-nominated, and faculty and peer-advised, the journal will collect the best of both academic, research-based writing and more creative nonfiction work.
The goal will be to treat each project as a springboard for discussion that everyone can be involved in, regardless of experience in the respective course of studies.
For that reason, each issue will be based upon a theme around which all of the selected works are centered.
"We're committed to running a theme through each issue," Meisner said. "It's important for it to act as a conversation piece between all these very different areas of study, to make them click together in peoples' minds."
Indeed, the recent essays could not be more diverse. Among the fifty pieces of work that were submitted last semester, the staff read essays from thirteen of Goucher's academic departments. Works touching on quantum physics, political theory, mathematics and literary analyses will all be included within Verge.
Using the web as a preliminary jumping-off point, Verge is hoping to have a print version available for each semester in the future. For now, however, its issues will be contained on the internet.
More material and submission information will be coming when the final revised version of the journal is published and announced later this month.
The staff of Verge invites the Goucher community to begin the discourse at their launch party on October 27 at the library.
Verge, an online journal showcasing undergraduate nonfiction, was founded with the idea of providing a platform for personal and academic expression and a means to address the formative ideas that occur between the two.
The journal is roughly based on FirstFill, a similar publication produced from the late 80's and early 90's; the minds behind Verge would like to revive a community-based, interdisciplinary magazine of student essays. The hope is that the journal will serve as a virtual meeting place to follow and discuss the various directions Goucher students are taking in their studies.
One of the minds that has been an especially integral part of the journal's development is Ailish Hopper Meisner, lecturer in the English and Peace Studies departments. She has been responsible for web editing, as well as general management with colleague Arnold Sanders, associate professor of English, over the past several months, and is thrilled that this project is finally taking off.
"Obviously, this is something that's very exciting for the members of the writing faculty," Meisner said. "But it's also incredible for the students and faculty of other departments, like the sciences, to have this opportunity to contribute something to the Goucher community that many people would normally not get a chance to explore."
Faculty-nominated, and faculty and peer-advised, the journal will collect the best of both academic, research-based writing and more creative nonfiction work.
The goal will be to treat each project as a springboard for discussion that everyone can be involved in, regardless of experience in the respective course of studies.
For that reason, each issue will be based upon a theme around which all of the selected works are centered.
"We're committed to running a theme through each issue," Meisner said. "It's important for it to act as a conversation piece between all these very different areas of study, to make them click together in peoples' minds."
Indeed, the recent essays could not be more diverse. Among the fifty pieces of work that were submitted last semester, the staff read essays from thirteen of Goucher's academic departments. Works touching on quantum physics, political theory, mathematics and literary analyses will all be included within Verge.
Using the web as a preliminary jumping-off point, Verge is hoping to have a print version available for each semester in the future. For now, however, its issues will be contained on the internet.
More material and submission information will be coming when the final revised version of the journal is published and announced later this month.
The staff of Verge invites the Goucher community to begin the discourse at their launch party on October 27 at the library.