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BU Bridge 1998
Week of 4 December 1998 Vol.
II, No. 16
UNI students breathe
life into Brownstone Journal
by Eric McHenry
In lowercase, the prefix "uni-" means "one."
Capitalized, the letters are an acronym meaning "many." The
natural and physical sciences, the social sciences, and the
humanities all converge in The University Professors program
at Boston University, which makes it an appropriate home for
the Brownstone Journal.
Published in cooperation with UNI, the student-edited journal
is an annual collection of undergraduate scholarly work from
all corners of the University. Diversity is the impetus, says
editor-in-chief Charlotte Presler (UNI'99), and excellence the
criterion.
"Eclecticism is precisely what attracted me to the journal,"
Presler says. "It has the potential to involve undergraduate
students in a genuine intellectual community and to stimulate
intellectual discussion."
"We've sought contributions from as many departments as possible,"
adds former editor Jenna Silber (UNI'98). "The current issue
[Spring 1998] includes a paper from a physics student, as well
as a visual art gallery with reproductions of oil paintings.
Our idea has been to incorporate everything."
That's in keeping with the Brownstone's history. Created in
1983 by students who wished to "expand the monologue of classroom
learning to a dialogue between students," the journal has always
been an open venue. "Learning is shared," the founding editors
wrote in the preface to an early issue, "and to the extent that
it is shared, it is effective."
Silber cited that passage in her own preface two years ago
when she revived the journal, which had ceased publication in
1991. As a curious sophomore, she had been intrigued by back
issues she'd found in the UNI lounge.
"I wondered why they'd stopped producing it," she says. "I
thought it was a really good idea. I've always wanted to know
what people are writing about in other parts of the University.
And I think it's important for students to have experience publishing
their own work. It instills good habits: getting something ready
to show to people, having to stand behind it."
And stand behind it they must. Administrative and faculty oversight
of the journal is extremely limited. One professor generally
provides some advisory input, but issues of the Brownstone are
entirely student-written, student-edited, and student-produced.
"I can't say that I do very much for them," says UNI Associate
Professor Rosanna Warren, the only nonstudent in the journal's
masthead. "I chat with them once in a while. I give them ideas
from my own editing experience. In the past I've looked over
submissions. But the current editorial crew seems so efficient
and responsible that I just leave it to them."
Warren adds that the journal's editors do significant legwork
without the incentive of academic credit.
"It's entirely a labor of love," she says, "and it's a lot
of labor. Students handle every portion of the journal's production.
They save money. They meet with artists and work on design.
They think about publicity. They organize performances and social
events to promote it. These students have encountered most aspects
of modern publishing and editorial work."
To help ensure the journal's continuing vitality, Silber and
Presler have tried to build a roster of editors and coordinators
that represents all undergraduate classes. In the interest of
good editorial judgment, they've also
© BU BRIDGE. Original at http://www.bu.edu/bridge/archive/1998/12-04/features3.html.
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