 Paige E. Badame serves as Editor in Chief of “History Matters,” an online journal produced by Appalachian students. This year, Badame hopes to publish at least one submission from every continent, excluding Antarctica. Photo by Madeline Tiani | The Appalachian Right before turning into the staircase, a door stands with a sign, “History Matters.”
While perhaps serving as a reminder to the less inquisitive mind, the sign also marks the office of the four students serving as the editorial board of History Matters.
History Matters is an electronic journal published annually by the department of history at Appalachian State University. The journal is edited by undergraduates with the help of a faculty board, according to historymatters.appstate.edu.
Paige E. Badame, senior history and political science major, serves as the editor-in-chief of History Matters.
“Our mission is to publish undergraduate work like research work and book reviews,” Badame said. “I love editing academic style [writing], like footnotes, and I love reading about obscure things.”
History Matters got its start seven years ago when two undergraduates in the history department wanted to get their work published.
They created History Matters and recently published four book reviews and four research papers, out of the over 60 submitted.
“It’s a year-long process, we edit papers up to six times and then professors review them,” Badame said.
Dr. Lucinda McCray is one of the professors who reviews submissions, as well as the history department chair and the advisor to History Matters.
“It is a striking amount of work quality. These students take on professional editing jobs,” McCray said. “The academic skills required to judge and edit submissions is complicated and diverse, which makes History Matters very unique.”
The outcome of History Matters is a result of the close relationships students and faculty have at Appalachian, McCray said.
While going through the edit stages, submissions are sent to professors for review.
History Matters’s most recent journal was published online in May.
The journal includes selections from Yale University, Marquette University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Ithaca College, among others.
The journal has reached international interests, as submissions came from Australia and Canada.
History Matters wants to encourage Appalachian students to submit historical papers or papers about various subjects with historical themes, Badame said.
Journal submissions are continuing until January. Visit historymatters.appstate.edu for more information and to view the journal.
Story: MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON, Lifestyles Editor
Photo: MADELINE TIANI, Intern Photographer |
