Headline: Journal of History accepting undergraduate submissions

By Katherine West

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One of the lesser-known treasures of Grand Valley State University is the Grand Valley Journal of History (GVJH). The GVJH is the product of the hard work of GVSU students and faculty members.

“The Grand Valley Journal of History (GVJH) is operated by an editorial team composed of undergraduates enrolled in the History 410 course,” said Scott St. Louis, GVJH editor-in-chief. “We are overseen by a faculty advisory board composed mainly of historians at GVSU, but also increasingly at other institutions as well.”

The aim of the journal is to provide all undergraduate scholars, regardless of specialization or interest, with a forum to explore different perspectives of studying the past, St.Louis said.

St. Louis described the journal’s submission process.

“Submissions to the journal undergo a blind peer review process involving student and faculty reviewers,” he said. “Our online service then provides published authors with a stable URL for their work and information on how many downloads they are receiving, along with the search queries that are directing user traffic to their articles. Students from any discipline are encouraged to submit papers that involve the use of a historical methodology.”

Jeremiah Cataldo, assistant professor in the Frederik Meijer Honors College, described the History 410 class and the approach he takes in teaching it. The History 410 class consists of 11 students this semester.

“I am the faculty adviser, and so I will conduct a course that is related to the journal and also advise journal matters outside of the course,” Cataldo said. “My job largely is to train students how to be editors, how to facilitate the function or publication of the journal, to train them in historical method, to train them in critical analysis of submitted articles.

“Those are components of the class and they are graded assignments. It is a unique course in Grand Valley in that it is not a traditional lecture and discussion course. It is something more akin to a lab for lack of a better equivalent. There are graded components and those graded components will tackle various skill sets that are necessary for publications.”

The journal was established in 2011 by the GVSU history department. This publication provides undergraduate students to publish their research in the field of history. Though history majors do participate with the history journal, undergraduate students from outside majors that are interested in the field of history are welcome to participate. GVSU student Alice H. Munday was the first student to get published in an issue this fall semester with her article called “Remembering French Collaboration and Resistance during Vichy France during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup.”

The GVJH takes pride in the fact that it prepares students for what will come in life after they receive their bachelor’s degree from GVSU, according to the website. The journal provides a safe writing environment for students while also creating for them an environment for scholarly interaction. This prepares students for their future careers and teaches them how to communicate with their fellow scholars and coworkers.

The technical details and formatting requirements is available on the GVJH website at www.scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gvjh.