On April 29, 2011, at the seventh annual student history conference, over 40 graduate and undergraduate students had the opportunity to present their research papers to peers and faculty as part of an all day conference. This was both an exciting and nerve-racking experience for students as they learned from experience about the process of public presentation of scholarship.
In addition to presenting their work in one of the thirteen thematically arranged panels, students also had the opportunity to hear from a practicing historian during the keynote speech, which has been a highlight of the conference since its inception eight years ago. For the past three conferences, anniversaries of significant historical events have shaped themes that keynote speakers have addressed. “Two years ago, John D’Emilio, from the University of Illinois at Chicago spoke about the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots,” noted DePaul History Professor Gene Beiriger: “Last year, Emilio Kouri of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Chicago, discussed the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution. And this year Asif Siddiqi of Fordham University, discussed the 50th anniversary of manned space flight with Yuri Gargarin’s mission of 1961.” As a student-focused event, keynote speakers also attend panel sessions throughout the day and — as Beiriger remarked — they also talk with our DePaul students “as one practitioner to another.”
This year for the first time, student papers for the conference were chosen using the History Department’s new electronic submissions process accessible through DePaul University Libraries’ Via Sapientiae, an electronic platform from Berkeley Electronic Press. Via Sapientiae serves as DePaul’s institutional repository, and includes faculty research, electronic journals, student theses and dissertations. For the 2011 conference, Via Sapientiae helped the History Department streamline its submission process. When the March 30 deadline arrived for students to submit their papers, the selection committee was called on to review over 50 electronic submissions, which they could view from home or office. “The introduction of Via for the submission process has been fantastic” commented DePaul History Professor Kerry Ross, who served on the selection committee. “We now have a repository of papers that helps us organize the program, compare submissions over different years, and communicate more easily with students and faculty. It also provides a platform from which we hope to develop our forthcoming electronic journal of juried student essays.”
Though the conference lasts but a day, its impact has a much further reach for both DePaul students and faculty alike. For students, it marks a significant achievement in their undergraduate or graduate careers. For faculty, the conference offers the rare opportunity to celebrate their students in an all-day event that proves to be very satisfying. Indeed, when History Department Chair Warren Schultz made his opening remarks at the conference, he told attendees: “this morning I woke up with a smile on my face for the first time in several weeks. I was smiling because today was the Seventh Annual Student History Conference.”
Are you interested in learning more about e-publishing? Are you interested in starting an online journal? For more information on Editkit, BEPress, Via Sapientiae contact Ryan Hess.