The University Scholar, the student-run undergraduate journal of the University of Dallas, will release its Spring 2024 issue on Tuesday, April 16 at its launch party in the Gorman Faculty Lounge at 6:00 p.m.
Submissions are opened early each semester through email, where art, essays and poetry can be entered online.
“After the launch event, Kate and I distribute copies of the journal around campus for people to take and read,” Emily Strom, co-editor-in-chief and senior English major, said. “We also have an online copy of our journal available on UD’s website, as well as copies from past semesters.”
The launch party will include coffee, community and high quality work from the student body.
During this last academic year, The Scholar has been led by Kate Rodda, senior philosophy major, and Strom, who hold the joint role of co-editor-in-chief.
“In this issue, we are publishing three essays, five poems, one short story, and six pieces of art done in a variety of mediums,” Strom said. “The works of art on the front and back covers are particularly beautiful […] Our main focus is high-quality work with originality of thought or expression.”
“This [journal] is really an opportunity for us to see into the minds and hearts of the student body,” Rodda said. “Even if I don’t write poetry, like writing es- says, or [couldn’t] care less about visual art, there’s still something beautiful worth engaging with because [the contributors] are persons and they offer a very unique perspective.”
Both Rodda and Strom noted the unique themes and content of this semester’s issue in particular. Seeking diversity of form among genres and within each section, the final product will have a wide range of pieces. The separate editorial sections do not seek out a theme in the first place, overlaps arise between the pieces naturally and help form a cohesive issue. The upcoming journal is no exception to this phenomenon.
“This semester, one of the things that really struck us was this movement of the question, ‘What does it mean to convert?’” Rodda said. “There was a lot of religious art [and] there were also a lot of themes about darkness, despair and the evil misery or ugliness of life.”
Rodda was especially concerned with the journal’s organization and making these various threads more cohesive. While planning out the issue, she also emphasized readability, opting for a mixture of pieces so that the reader can move smoothly between the genres.
“When you’re dealing with some of the more cerebral scholarly essays, you need to break it up and have a little bit of time to contemplate with some poetry or looking at something pretty,” Rodda said.
After publishing their final issue of The Scholar, Rodda and Strom will graduate along with a number of other editors, leaving the positions to be filled for the next academic year.