AGORA - UnderGraduate Philosophy Journal | College of Arts

AGORA - UnderGraduate Philosophy Journal

News

3/02/2010

The deadline for submissions to the upcoming issue of Agora has now closed. We would like to thank everyone who has submitted a paper for review for their time and interest in Agora. All applicants will be notified when a decision has been made. If you have any questions about the review process, or Agora in general, please contact us at gupjournal@gmail.com.

01/06/2009

We are happy to announce that we are currently accepting submissions for the second edition of Agora. Currently enrolled undergraduate students from any university are encouraged to submit their philosophical papers. All submissions can be sent electronically to agora@uoguelph.ca. We ask that authors review our submission guidelines prior to sending in their paper, as papers that do not meet our requirements will not be accepted. If you have any questions please contact us at gupjournal@gmail.com.

 

Mission Statement 

The word agora refers to a public, open space used for gatherings, much like a marketplace, which was at the heart of many Greek cities. It was a place for citizens to attend to their civic duties, as well as buy and sell various wares. However, it was not only the goods and services, skills and trades that were traded and developed there, but also the ideas of those who would meet and have discussions in the Agora. Ideas do not emerge or evolve in isolation, but are developed through a process of exchange with others � through the changing relationships between people. Thus the scope of what and how and why we think depends on the gathering together of those doing the thinking.

Our hope is that this journal will provide such a gathering place and an opportunity for students to share their own ideas, and to question new ones. We believe the public dissemination of one�s original work is a major aspect of being a philosopher, and that undergraduate students should have the opportunity to be involved in this process- as authors, editors and referees.

History 

Undergraduate students Emma Baker and Alexandra Mogyoros met in a first year philosophy class in the fall of 2005. After enjoying several philosophy courses and long nights writing papers and talking about philosophy, they decided that the University of Guelph would greatly benefit from a place to have undergraduate students share their thoughts and ideas. Now in its second year of production, Agora looks forward to upholding their goal of promoting undergraduate scholarly work in philosophy.

 

Referees 

We select a new panel of referees at the beginning of every year. If you are interested in becoming a referee for Agora please contact us with a little blurb telling us about any relevant experience in editing and philosophy.

Contributor 

We accept submissions from undergraduate students throughout the year. If you are interested in being a contributor please visit our submissions page for more details.

Miscellaneous 

We are always looking for extra help for a number of areas such as promotion, fundraising, etc. If you are interested please send us an email

 

!

Our referees are asked to evaluate submissions based on the following criteria. We ask anyone interesting in submitting a paper for review carefully notes how their paper will be evaluated and to follow the required format.

1. Clarity and Structure 

    • the paper makes its purpose clear and is easy to follow
    • there is an intro, body, and conclusion and everything in the body is anticipated in the intro
    • there are at least 3 sentences per paragraph
    • the paper is concise and doesn�t make unnecessary repetitions
    • all quotes are explained or paraphrased
    • all jargon is explained or defined
    • all quotes or paraphrased ideas are referenced
    • the 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style is used with endnotes for all referencing and supplementary information

2. Evidence of philosophical thought 

    • it is obvious that this is a philosophy paper. While there are no limitations on the branch of philosophy being discussed, it must be clear that the paper belongs in a philosophy journal.

3. Originality and an interesting issue 

    • if possible, an issue that is seemingly relevant or will grab a reader's attention.
       

Please send and address all inquiries to Alexandra at gupjournal@gmail.com. Submissions can also be sent to gupjournal@gmail.com with "submissions" in the subject line.