Following the tradition of most big name public universities in Michigan, Grand Valley State University students, faculty and staff will begin work on the “Grand Valley Journal of History” this fall.

The “Grand Valley Journal of History” will be a place for students, particularly those outside of the physical science majors, to publish their work. History major Akshay Sarathi, who suggested and organized the history journal, said it will seek to provide a forum for students at GVSU to share history-related research conducted during their undergraduate career.

“We are going to take a really broad definition of what history is, so any paper that is written by any discipline during a student’s undergraduate career at Grand Valley that has a good historical base is open to publication,” Sarathi said. “I’ve been thinking for a while that a lot of social science majors, at least at the undergraduate level, don’t really have a good place to share their research and publish their work.”

Sarathi said he was motivated by the difference in publishing opportunities for science and non-science majors.

“Writing is such an important part of being a social science major or humanities major that if you can’t share that work, the writing sort of loses its flavor after a while,” he said. “The physical science majors just have so much going for them. They have conferences and they have papers they can publish in journals, and I thought that was a little unfair.”

Sarathi wrote to the chair of the history department, Gretchen Galbraith, to share his idea about establishing a journal at GVSU. His proposal was unanimously approved.

“On a national level, undergraduate publishing for history majors, or any other social science or humanities major, are limited, so this is a really big deal because it gives us an edge over a lot of colleges,” Sarathi said. “Not only that, but people don’t realize the importance of writing for the humanities and for the social sciences.”

Also beginning in the fall, GVSU will offer two HST 380 classes for students who are interested in working on the journal. The courses, three credits each, will serve as a time for students to prepare the journal for publication.

Jeremiah Cataldo, the journal’s faculty adviser, said the course will focus on setting up the structure, establishing bylaws and providing students with the necessary experience to take over leadership roles in the journal. Cataldo added that an institutional structure is in the works to ensure that the journal can continue to operate in future years.

“The journal will be a student-run journal showcasing student scholarship,” he said. “…It creates an opportunity for students to participate in creating a representation of GVSU that is not only student produced, in terms of its structure, but also promotes student-produced scholarship.”

Those interested in getting involved should contact Sarathi by email at [email protected].

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