Current Deadline: March 1st, 2009

Amalgam is an interdisciplinary journal that showcases the outstanding work produced by the University of Virginia graduate student body. For its second volume, Amalgam seeks papers by University of Virginia graduate students from a wide variety of academic areas and on an array of topics. While we at Amalgam are deeply interested in promoting serious research and rigorous intellectual thought, we are also invested in encouraging a level of discourse that will enable scholars from multiple fields to interact with and understand each other. Amalgam hopes to attract term papers, research notes and reviews, book reviews, academic interviews, and creative work that are of the highest quality but that are also accessible to a diverse academic audience.

Please send submissions to amalgam@virginia.edu.

Amalgam invites the following types of submissions:

Term Papers

Amalgam provides graduate students with the opportunity to publish term papers and other academic essays on numerous topics. Amalgam is especially interested in papers that take an interdisciplinary approach to their subject material, but all academic approaches are welcome. Essays should be no more than 10,000 words in length, including their list of works cited. All term papers undergo a preliminary review by Amalgam’s editorial board to evaluate the appropriateness of the piece for the journal. Manuscripts that pass the preliminary review are reviewed anonymously by at least one colleague at the University. To facilitate this process, authors must submit a list of potential reviewers, including at least two graduate students and two faculty members capable of providing the most accurate and unbiased review of the work obtainable within the University. Papers are accepted based upon the recommendation of the anonymous reviewer and the completion of necessary revisions.

Research Notes

Amalgam is interested in publishing brief overviews of and short introductions to current graduate student research conducted at the University of Virginia. Researchers should aim to explain their research in a way that resonates with both their disciplinary peers and the larger graduate student body. Since readers of Amalgam may not be deeply acquainted with the researcher’s field, technical terms should be clearly defined or avoided whenever possible. Research notes should be approximately 2,000-3,000 words in length and typically do not include figures. Research notes may cite up to five references.

Research Reviews

Amalgam also publishes lengthier reviews of graduate research currently being conducted at the University of Virginia. Once again, reviews should be written for an academic audience that is potentially unfamiliar with the specific discipline at hand. Therefore, all technical terms and concepts should be clearly defined, and an attempt to relate the research to larger social and academic concerns is always appreciated. Research reviews should be approximately 5,000-10,000 words in length, and an abstract of one hundred words or fewer with no more than five figures must accompany review submission. Research reviews may cite up to twenty-five references.

Book Reviews and Book Review Essays

This year we are commissioning reviews of the book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" by Naomi Klein.  

Amalgam seeks book reviews of between 1,000-2,000 words and book review essays of between 4,000-5,000 words. The book reviewed must have been published within the past two years and be accessible to the general graduate student audience. Books reviewed may range from the scholarly to the popular, including everything from recent political best-sellers to the next great work of fiction.

Interviews

Amalgam publishes interviews with professors, scholars, and artists who have made major contributions to at least two intellectual fields. Interviews should be 2,000-3,000 words in length, and interviewees must approve the interview transcript before publication.

Creative Work

Creative work of various kinds may also be submitted to Amalgam. We are interested in publishing creative writing and poetry of up to 10,000 words in length. Visual art, including paintings, drawings, and photography, may also be submitted for publication.

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