Journal connects students across globe
Neil Sobin has great expectations for the future of international dialogue. When Sobin and several College students launched the University of Chicago’s first student-run international studies journal last quarter, the online publication Sojourn became a springboard for innovative approaches to global dialogue.
“Ideally I’d like to see live meetings on the website between people studying in the Beijing program and in the Paris Center. All this is technologically possible,” said Sobin, Sojourn’s assistant editor-in-chief and a second-year international studies major. “There are so many ways an online publication can develop.”
Published exclusively online, Sojourn’s approach to political analysis and independent reporting reaches beyond the scope of most print publications. The journal features papers, opinion pieces, and news analysis from College students and members of the University of Chicago’s international studies community.
“We strive to be a meeting place of ideas, information, and resources created by and for University of Chicago community members,” said Sojourn’s editor-in-chief Claire McNear, a second-year studying political science in the College.
Sojourn is the brainchild of James Hevia, Professor in International History, who has directed the College’s international studies program since 2004. When Hevia solicited student input for an international studies publication at the beginning of the academic year, he envisioned the journal as an intellectual hub for students with broad interests in international studies.
“The international studies program is highly interdisciplinary, and that means that our students can take courses in over a dozen different departments,” Hevia said. “The idea of the journal was to try to find some focal point for the undergraduates in the international studies major.”
The idea of “Sojourn”
Study abroad opportunities form the cornerstone of the College’s international studies program, and every International Studies concentrator spends at least a quarter studying abroad through one of the University of Chicago’s overseas programs.
“Every student has to study abroad in the international studies major, and there are many more not majoring in International Studies who are interested in study abroad programs nevertheless.” Sobin said.
While brainstorming for an apt name for the new publication, the journal’s editors decided on Sojourn—a world that captures the publication’s goal of synthesizing knowledge and information from around the globe.
“It’s about the idea of taking a Sojourn to different parts of the world, staying for a period of time, and finding ways to bring back knowledge about these places upon your return,” McNear said.
This Winter Quarter, Sojourn will incorporate interactive weblogs featuring content written by students studying at the University’s international studies center in Paris. In the future, Sojourn will extend its interactive components to the College’s other overseas program, particularly those run through the University’s Beijing facilities.
“We’re going to have some of these students writing pieces, submitting photographs, reviewing their classes, publishing papers they have written for their courses,” Sobin said.
A platform for ideas
Sojourn’s editors envision the journal as a tool for student engagement within global contexts. This quarter, Sojourn will incorporate independent student reporting on Chicago-area events with international focuses, including guest lectures co-hosted by the University’s Center for International Studies.
“We want to have a mix of content—mostly papers is how we envision Sojourn—but also there’s going to be some room for original reporting,” McNear said.
As the journal evolves, Sojourn’s editors want to use the website to publish student-led interviews with alumni of the international studies program.
“One of the things we’re shooting for is to get professionals to talk about their career choices. Say they’re in the foreign service—we’re interested in what you might need to do while in college to prepare for these careers,” Sobin said.
The website also serves as a central location for information about foreign embassies in the city of Chicago, and links to external resources that offer online foreign language teaching tools.
“From the beginning the idea was that this would be a broad-themed journal that would be a platform for different ideas and formats,” Sobin said. “We want to explore questions from all sides, to publish papers side by side that take opposing sides of issues.”
“We would like this to be a place where we can ask and answer questions. What is the significance of globalization? What does it mean to be a citizen of the world?”
By Rhema Hokama, fourth-year in the College