If it’s been awhile since you’ve read a copy of Aisthesis, you might be surprised to learn that it’s now an online journal created by students in the University of Minnesota Duluth Honors Program, as part of the Honors Advanced Writing class taught by Associate Professor Elizabethada (Liz) Wright.
Putting together an online journal within 15 weeks took teamwork, leadership, and organizational skills. “Students solicited contributions from undergraduate students in Honors Programs across the country, ultimately receiving submissions from about a dozen schools. Creating a call for papers, email scripts to encourage submissions, students worked through this initial phase as they also examined texts of various professional journals to better understand what a strong professional article should look like,” Wright said.
“The best part of my job, aside from the new-found confidence in my abilities, is the fact that I got to work with a really wonderful team on this edition. The editorial board were wonderful in helping along the way and were always focused on making Aisthesis the best it could be,” said Kallie Quinn, Editor of Aisthesis.
The seventh issue of Aisthesis features research, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and artwork. “Aisthesis is all about presenting perspectives
of undergraduates in campus-wide honors programs located around the country. These different perspectives are what make this journal a very important work. Every piece brings a unique-take or sense of the world. We have students of all backgrounds and majors included,” Quinn added.
Reaching out and reading submissions from other students enrolled in national collegiate honors programs helped UMD honors students make connections and build relationships with academic and literary communities around the US. “I hope that Aisthesis grows into a journal that other honors programs will look to as something to aspire toward, in terms of research and creativity. I also hope to see Aisthesis’ online presence grow and to receive more submissions every year,” said Quinn.