The Center for Minority Serving Institutions Announces the Release of Pathways: A Journal of Humanistic and Social Inquiry
Philadelphia, Pa., February 18, 2019 — Today, the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI) has announced the release of the first issue of Pathways: A Journal of Humanistic and Social Inquiry (Pathways), a peer-reviewed journal featuring the work of Fellows in the HSI Pathways to the Professoriate Program.
Pathways captures the distinctive voices and perspectives of Fellows in the HSI Pathways to the Professoriate program and features scholarship traversing a number of disciplinary traditions, showcasing the breadth of scholarly interests amongst HSI Pathways Fellows.
“This journal prepares students to confidently communicate their intellectual thoughts for public consumption,” shared Editor, Marybeth Gasman, the Judy and Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions. “By offering Fellows an outlet to submit their research, we hope to alleviate the anxiety and stress associated with the academic journal process.”
The closed-submission journal prompts Fellows from across the three participating institutions to submit manuscripts featuring their original research. This original research, developed by Fellows during the program’s research-intensive summer seminar, is refined and polished with the guidance of faculty mentors in the program. Each submission is carefully reviewed by several faculty members who serve on the editorial board. Authors receive constructive feedback and participate in the revision process prior to acceptance for publication.
“This program goes beyond simply preparing students for graduate school,” shares Brandy Jones, the Assistant Director for Communications at the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions and Pathways Managing Editor. “HSI Pathways to the Professoriate provides Fellows a foundation of research, inquiry, and scholarship that helps students fully engage in their academic milieu. This journal is yet another opportunity within the program for Fellows to demonstrate their academic agency.”
Supported by a $5.1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, HSI Pathways to the Professoriate was created to increase the number of Latino faculty members in humanities. The program is coordinated by CMSI in partnership with three Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) — Florida International University; the University of Texas, El Paso; and California State University, Northridge — and five majority research institutions — New York University; University of California, Berkeley; University of Pennsylvania; Northwestern University; and University of California, Davis. Each year, HSI undergraduate students are selected to take part in an intensive summer research program, while also receiving mentoring, and support for applying to and enrolling in graduate school throughout the academic year. Throughout the five-year program, CMSI is also conducting assessments as to how selected students are navigating the HSI Pathways program and, once admitted, their graduate programs. CMSI aims to uncover the challenges and impetuses along the pathway to the Ph.D.
“Pathways allows Fellows in this program to claim a stake in their respective fields of study. This opportunity encourages Fellows to articulate their positions within their intellectual community, while simultaneously acquainting them with the often daunting academic journal process,” states Editor, Andrés Castro Samayoa, Assistant Professor at Boston College and the Assistant Director of Assessment at the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions.
The first issue of Pathways: A Journal of Humanistic and Social Inquiry can be found here.
About the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions
The Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions brings together researchers and practitioners from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Asian American, Native American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions. Based at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, the Center’s goals include: elevating the educational contributions of MSIs; ensuring that they are a part of national conversations; bringing awareness to the vital role MSIs play in the nation’s economic development; increasing the rigorous scholarship of MSIs; connecting MSIs’ academic and administrative leadership to promote reform initiatives; and strengthening efforts to close educational achievement gaps among disadvantaged communities. For further information about the Center, please visit www.gse.upenn.edu/cmsi.
About the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Founded in 1969, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies by supporting exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work. For more information, please visit https://mellon.org.
