Humanities Showcase pivots to online journal

English 290 – Sophomore Studies in English – is tasked annually with producing Heidelberg’s Humanities Symposium. Launched in 2016 as a way to showcase academic excellence by students from the English, History and Religion, the symposium is a collaborative effort to celebrate and promote student research projects.

This year’s symposium took on a different look because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the outcome was just as rewarding.

The 11 students in Dr. Barry Devine’s class, held entirely online during the fall semester, put their heads together and decided to publish the student research projects in the form of a journal. The Humanities Showcase Journal reflects many different varieties of work at different levels, according to Michelle Chen, a junior theatre and English double major.

“Under normal circumstances, we would showcase the research projects. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety of Heidelberg and staff and students, we could not host the Humanities Symposium (in person) this year,” Michelle said.

Instead, they created a special edition Humanities Showcase Journal that is accessible on Heidelberg’s website. You can check it out here.

The students in ENG 209 selected eight projects to be published in their journal, including the work of an entire class, Writing 201. Featured works include projects by Fletcher Grey, Megan Zimmerman, Shaadia Flint, Alison Blythe, Alyssa Edmond, Emma Baughman and Em Swain.

Early in the semester, the class weighed alternative options for the symposium, eventually settling on the journal idea. From that point, they outlined specific jobs and assigned them, with several students assuming multiple jobs.

Their professor was impressed with their work. After they got organized, “I was pretty much hands off,” Barry said. “We checked in once a week, and everything just came together in the end. I was really proud of their work. They really did a phenomenal job.”

Congratulations to these class members for their strong effort in producing the journal:

Emma Baughman, Isabel Chasney and Kayla Mullinex (Writing Call for Papers)
Travis Fletcher and Alyssa Kamp (Distributing Call for Papers)
Travis Fletcher and Isabel Chasney (Collection and Distribution)
Alilza Finefrock, Michelle Chen and Aubrey Ward (Evaluation of Submissions)
Chayenne Powers, Melissa Risser and Horsely (Layout and Design)
Emma Baughman and Kayla Mullinax (Organization of Journal)
Melissa Risser and Alyssa Kamp (Cover Design)
Aubrey Ward and Michelle Chen (Publication and Announcement)
Dr. Barry Devine (Director)