BU Undergraduates Launch Student Social Science Journal: Learn More at 9/26 Information Session
Armchair Journal, is a newly-launched independent peer-reviewed social science journal offers undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to publish their work. Learn more about the journal and the submissions process on Tuesday September 26 from noon-1 at this Zoom informal session and Q&A. The session will be led by the team of student editors.
The journal seeks paper submissions on a wide range of social science topics such as social inequality, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, family, education, health policy and medical sociology, history, politics and economics, culture, and more. Instructions on the submission process can be found on their Linktree under the ‘Airtable’ tab. Questions? Please contact the editorial board at the.armchair.journal@gmail.com.
Meet the student editors and learn more about Armchair in the article below.
This article, by Mandile Mpofu (COM`24), originally appeared in CAS Community News (July 31, 2023).
When five undergraduate students connected during a sociology thesis preparation class in Spring 2023, they quickly bonded over their love of the social sciences and their desire to contribute meaningfully to the College of Arts & Sciences.
Soon after, one of the students, Elizabeth Kostina (CAS’24), a sociology and architectural studies major, approached her peers with an idea she had long wanted to bring to life: to start a sociology journal inspired by the existing academic journals in departments such as history and architecture.
“We hope to set forth a strong standard for exemplary undergraduate scholarship in the social sciences, as well as connect aspiring graduate students in the social sciences to undergraduate students,” Kostina said.
With support from the sociology department, the group created “Armchair,” a first-of-its-kind social sciences journal that aims to “promote intellectual engagement and dialogue” amongst students in sociology and related fields. The journal — named after the stock phrase “armchair philosopher” — is open for its first round of submissions until October 20, 2023, and is set to debut in November.
In addition to Kostina, who serves as Armchair’s design director, the editorial board is comprised of Lenny Adonteng (CAS’24), a sociology major, Lily Belisle (CAS’24) a sociology and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies major, An Pham (CAS’24), an economics and mathematics major; and Junchu (Candy) Wu (CAS’24) a sociology major, assisted by sociology undergraduate academic advisor Marcus Shaw.
Deborah Carr, a professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science (CISS), congratulated the “Armchair” editorial team for “launching this valuable platform for nurturing and disseminating BU undergraduates’ research.”
“I am delighted that student researchers will be advancing their independent and collaborative projects to the publication stage, and that our outstanding graduate students will hone their mentoring and editorial skills as they guide student authors through this complex process,” said Carr.
Carr said Armchair is one of the “important and cutting-edge”initiatives that social sciences students are doing at BU, along with CISS research internships, UROP, Spark!, MetroBridge, honors theses, coursework, and more.
In recent history, Boston University had not had a student sociology nor a general social sciences journal. Belisle, the journal’s event and outreach coordinator, who also works as a communications manager for CISS, said students were “missing out on the opportunity to receive thoughtful feedback on their work and take their writing to the next level.”
Now, students will have an accessible place to publish their writing on topics such as social inequality, race and ethnicity, gender, family, education, health, politics, and culture, to name a few. The journal provides a glimpse into a career in research and academia.
“Armchair will encourage and push students to challenge themselves in new ways, and this will have a positive impact on the BU community at large,” Belisle said. “My hope is that Armchair not only helps students bolster their resume or skills in an academic regard but also celebrate their accomplishments.”
Belisle and her peers want to encourage partnership between students from various academic disciplines and to “strengthen connections in the social sciences.” They said the endeavor also offers a unique opportunity for collaboration between undergraduate students who are still finding their footing and graduate students who have more field and academic experience.
“The involvement of graduate and PhD student reviewers will give undergraduate students experience in perfecting and advancing their writing and connections with intellectuals in the field,” said Wu, Armchair’s social media and marketing director.
Bringing Armchair to life was not without its challenges, though. On top of the usual time constraints associated with being a college student, the team faced difficulties in publicizing the venture, formulating a style guide, and attracting submissions. But they persevered, developing what they said is an “important” and “exciting” project.
“Our goal is to help students improve their work and get published, so I’m excited to receive submissions, in whatever shape they’ll be in,” said Kostina. “It takes great courage to share your work with anyone, but we hope that people will be willing to share their work with us.”
Students can submit their papers here.