New journal launches

Students in the social sciences have launched a first-of-its-kind-at-Richmond journal of undergraduate research focused on domestic and international politics.

Araneum: Richmond Journal of American & Global Affairs is expected to publish its first issue this spring under the guidance of faculty advisers. It is managed by a four-student editorial board that works with more than 20 peer reviewers to publish undergraduate scholarly work. All submitted work “must have been completed during undergraduate study either in coursework or a research fellowship,” according to the journal’s submission guidelines.

“We have two main focus areas for the journal,” Jackson Sandler-Bussey, ’25, editor-in-chief, said. “Our first is obviously contributing new and exciting research and discussion to the greater discourse. Almost equally as important is giving students the ability to get published — to take what they’ve written in their courses, modify it, and bring it up to the next level.”

The journal is in the first year of a three-year plan. Sandler-Bussey foresees the possibility that in the coming years the journal will expand its submission pool nationally, as have some of the models from which it draws inspiration such as Southern California International Review and Yale Review of International Studies.

“Students at University of Richmond have a lot to give to the academic community,” he said. “This gives them another opportunity to do just that.”

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