“The Emperor,” YSU’s Honors Academic Journal

By Alyssa Weston

“The Emperor” is an academic journal written by honors and honors-eligible undergraduate students at Youngstown State University. It is student and faculty reviewed, and the first volume of the journal was published April 2017. The second volume has plans for publication in summer or fall 2018.

The writing requirements include being an honors and honors-eligible undergraduate student, having 12 or more completed credit hours and a cumulative GPA of 3.4 or higher.

Diana Awad Scrocco, instructor in the department of English and the faculty advisor for “The Emperor,” said the academic journal was created in 2014 aftera group of YSU honors students attended the National Collegiate Honors Council conference in Colorado. She said the students learned about another university’s undergraduate honors journal on a panel.

Awad Scrocco said students can submit work from upper-level courses, research projects, their honors thesis and other creative or scholarly work.

“Through this rigorous process of review and revision, ‘The Emperor’strives to publish scholarly works that demonstrate competence, creativity and diligence,” she said.

Awad Scrocco said those involved with “The Emperor” bolster the university’s community of emerging scholars by providing a public forum for students to share their academic research and creative scholarship.

“With continued support from students and faculty, the Honors College aims to establish ‘The Emperor’ as a permanent venue for students to publish their exemplary work and to contribute to YSU’s long-standing tradition of academic excellence,” she said.

Brigitte Petras, senior geology and art history major, is the co-editor-in-chief of “The Emperor.”

She said her job requires her to be the acting liaison between what the honors college wants versus what the faculty advisor wants.

“We do blind revisions, so the other co-editor and I are responsible for blinding them, getting them together, distributing them to our editorial board, keep things updated with everyone else and oversee the advertising,” she said.

Petras said the academic journal receives anything from typical scientific research and papers to English research papers, including creative writings and fine art.

“We really pride ourselves in having a lot of openness with what kinds of publications we accept because we realize that YSU is a multi-faceted university that doesn’t necessarily specialize in one major or college,” she said.

Mara McCloud, senior political science and history double major, is a student reviewer, copy editor and a contributing author.

McCloud said she conducted research last year and composed a comprehensive study of Russian propaganda in the modern era and how it can relate to current affairs in the United States.

“This piece is called ‘Orange is the New Red: How Trump Mirrors Russia’s Propagandistic Reality,’ and seeks to analyze objective research and compare it with the author’s own conclusions from research and observation,” she said.

McCloud said “The Emperor” seeks to be an outlet for academic and creative expression for YSU students.

“This public forum for sharing intellectual pursuits allows students to see their potential and learn the publication process for future use, and it inspires young authors, researchers and even lawyers and political scientists like me to pursue their interests in a formal manner,” she said.