Creating Knowledge, volume 10, 2017

Dear Students, Colleagues, Alumni and Friends, This may sound like an act of contrition, but it is not. When I meet administrators of other institutions of higher education, it is predictable that the first few minutes of interaction will be devoted to a vigorous display of institutional pride. In that context, my practice has been to let them deliver along traditional marketing lines including glossy brochures with abundant well-staged pictures of buildings, faculty, and diverse students. Once they are done, I kindly commend them and in return, I present to them our latest issue of Creating Knowledge. I know that their first reaction will be to tell me that they also publish the outstanding research work of their faculty, which I will acknowledge at the same time that I clarify that Creating Knowledge, is not the product of faculty research but student scholarship. They are clearly impressed, but will further point out that they also publish the work of their most talented graduate students, which I will again acknowledge and finally clarify that Creating Knowledge is a formal publication of “undergraduate scholarship”. Their surprise is priceless and triggers in me a sense of pride that I have truly come to enjoy very much. Creating Knowledge makes tangible our extraordinary commitment, not only to the dissemination of knowledge, but also its creation across all ranks in our academic community. Creating Knowledge: The LAS Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship, was the product of a 2008 initiative aimed towards the goal of promoting research and creative endeavors among our undergraduate students. With this volume, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this wonderful publication and the establishment of a rich culture of scholarship. In this issue, you will find a selection of 18 essays and 13 art works, representing advanced coursework produced in programs of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences during the 2016-2017 academic year. All the work hereby presented has been selected by department-based faculty committees as the best of the year’s student creative work and all have been revised for submission under the mentorship of faculty. Most of the work has already been the subject of recognition through department awards and supported by undergraduate research and creative grants. The first footnote to each essay provides information about the class in which it was written and the processes of selection and revision. This body of work celebrates the intellectual rigor, sophistication, and diversity for which our college is equitably recognized. The evident academic rigor displayed by Creating Knowledge is largely dependent on the intellect and enthusiasm of our faculty and staff. I would like to express my profound gratitude to the more than 60 faculty who supported, reviewed, selected, and helped to edit this remarkable collection of student work. Thanks are also due to the three Department of Art, Media and Design faculty who served as jurors of the artwork and the three masters in writing and publication students who proofread the volume. In particular, I would like to thank Warren Schultz, Executive Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, who serves as editor of the volume, putting out the call for submissions, supporting the faculty work of reviewing, selecting, and editing the student essays, and coordinating the production of the print and digital editions. I am sure that you will experience the same sense of pride in the work of our students that I feel. I encourage our students to see the work of their more advanced colleagues as a challenge soon to be transformed into the opportunity to build on the accomplishments of their predecessors. I hope that our alumni and friends of the college will take this opportunity to re-engage in the life of our college and renew their support of our students through the establishment of additional scholarships and the inclusion of our graduating students in their recruitment and hiring plans. We are a group of life-long learners who find great joy in creating knowledge. It is my pleasure to invite you to enjoy this tenth issue of Creating Knowledge: The LAS Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. Sincerely, Guillermo Vásquez de Velasco, PhDDeanhttps://via.library.depaul.edu/ckgallery/1009/thumbnail.jp