Embedded Files
Isaac Krom (Class of 2026) is pursing majors in Philosophy and Mathematics and a minor in Writing.
After hours of working on a short paper, the reward of getting back a good grade is simply insufficient. Really, any affirmation will inevitably be insufficient if it responds to a project that I allowed myself to become passionate about. What I seek, after a copious amount of time poured into the great questions of the liberal arts, is not affirmation but companionship. Much more than compliments, I want conversation. This semester I sought to address that sentiment by founding Aspectus.
Aspectus (translates from Latin to ‘view’ or ‘aspect’) is an online magazine of short papers written by undergraduate students at CUA. By publishing issues of three or four papers grouped around a central theme, it places student’s work in conversation, drawing out themes across literary genres and academic disciplines. This initiative was inspired by my work on the staff of Inventio, CUA’s undergraduate academic journal in the humanities. While Inventio successfully highlights student work, it being an academic journal means that it cannot publish the close reading papers that are the bulk of undergraduate writing in disciplines such as philosophy, theology, and English. In launching Aspectus as a new initiative from the Inventio editorial board, the same quality of writing that Inventio publishes is able to be achieved even if the type of work is different.
Working on Aspectus has confirmed my suspicions that many students, like me, want to do more with their work than submit it for a grade. In every paper that the Inventio team has copyedited, I see sincere gratitude from the author. Often, the copyediting team will suggest revisions that require substantial work from the author: complete rewrites of sections and argumentative holes to be filled are not uncommon suggestions. Yet, rather than being discouraged by the prospect of again revisiting the papers which they already spent hours writing, the undergraduate authors are excited that other students are reading their papers and giving serious thought to their ideas. These authors are among the students who, like me, are inspired to work more by the academic community at CUA than the desire for achievement. Grades are a finite measure that cannot express the magnitude of the questions which students begin to grapple with together in the humanities.
Page updated
Report abuse