Without research essays, there could be no journal, so first of all, we would like to recognize all of the students enrolled in the Writing Program’s research courses in the Spring and Fall Semesters of 2005, and their instructors. We are especially indebted to those students who submitted their papers for consideration. This was an auspicious year in both the quantity and quality of the submissions, and we received many strong research essays. We are publishing two more than we did in past years, and all signs point to continued growth in the future.
Our thanks to all who submitted their work to Dialogues for Volume 5: Ahmed Al Ghamdi, Rui M. Almeida, Nicole Altman, Matthew Anfuso, Don P. Angelini, Maria Katrina Arceno, Oliver Ardeljan, Elana Aron, Rochelle Atengco, Malena Attar, Diana Autio, Vlademir Aveno, Nousheen Baig, Dana C. Baretta, Jeremy Becker, James Browning, Siobhan Byrne, Antoinette Cole, Whitney Cook, Shira Davis, Dana Daye, Katherine De La Merced, Jacqueline Deitz, Brian Engelmann, Natalia Falcon, Frank Fay, Kimberly Folkenflik, Kellie Gaynor, Joshua Gerber, James E. Gervasio, Samantha Gierzynski, Ted Girma, Suzanne Ham, Sabrina Hassan, Mary Heffner, Robert Hickey, Jr., Amanda Hinckley, Keith Alan Howey, Alex Hu, Sophia Issa, Monique Jackson, Juhi Jaisinghai, Shafa Javaid, Christine John, Christiana Kang, Caitlin Kennedy, Kiran Khurshid, Young C. Kim, Danielle King, Mike Kinney, Bryan T. Lucania, Rohan Maniar, Patrick McKnight, Jessica J. Meirs, Mehak Nangia, Brian Nicewicz, Alpa Patel, Yulia Pinkusevich, Jonya Platas, Jennifer Puglisi, Irina Pustovalova, Breanna Ratkevic, Amita Ray, William James Riley, Kelvin Rivera, Anne Rowan, Violeta Ruta, Eric Rutan, Shradhdha G. Sahani, Adam Salem, Poonam Saluja, Daniel R. Scharch, Ronak Shah, Jesse Shaw, Cassie Siegel, Derrick Smith, Hani Spektor, Gionna Stone, Amanda Suriani, Joseph Takach, Brian Tamburro, Samantha Teich, Alice Testa, Karen Tung, James Wang, Scott Donald Ward, Cynthia Wasser, Aviva Weinstock, Victoria Whitfield, Allie Wright, and Jack Wu.
The Writing Program is fortunate to have a committed and accomplished group of instructors whose classes produced original and provocative essays, and who encouraged their students to submit them to Dialogues. The essays in the volume were written by Karen Campbell, Holly Ennis, Edward Fu, Nour-eddine Labiad, Misty Lambert, Monae Davis, Sebastian Lesniak, Brittney Mazza, Walter J. Przybylowski, Christina Puvabanditsin, Matthew Samuel, Ankit Shah, Oscar Villarreal, and Joni Vitale. Their instructors were Molly Burke, Donna Cantor, Roberta Glassner, Jenna Howard, Ann Jurecic, Samiha Matin, Matthew McGowan, Jeff Robbins, Jen Schubert, Jason Spiegel-Grote, Karen Thompson, and Kathy Wilford.
Our capable and dedicated editorial staff read the one hundred and six submissions we received over the course of the year, selected fourteen essays for publication, worked with the authors on revisions to their essays, and wrote their own commentaries on the essays. Thanks go to Natalie Burak, Jessica Driscoll, Jason Feliciano, Ryan Gogol, Hana Goldin, Mercy Harper, Nabia Jenkins-Johnston, Philip Krachun, Nour-eddine Labiad, Sarah Patterson, and Stacy Straczynski. These remarkable young editors were recommended by Donald Dow, Heather Robinson, and Ken Urban, Directors of the Livingston, Douglass, and Plangere Writing Centers. The participation of two experienced editors who worked on previous volumes of Dialogues was particularly welcome, and special recognition goes to Courtney Borack who gave additional help on copy-editing, and Douglas Piccinnini, who is doubly represented in the volume, by a splendid cover and an editorial commentary. Tracy Budd, my Associate Editor, has done more than her share to bring this volume to fruition: her enthusiasm and steady judgment have been invaluable. She has an unerring ability to see the possibilities in an essay, and to assist the editorial interns in realizing its potential. Important contributions were also made by Emma Rumen, Romana Uhlirova and Susan Park on Livingston Campus, Judy Karwowski, Gale Nadonley, Jessica Hedges, Carol Spry, and Zelda Ralph on the College Avenue Campus, and Arlene Bubrow on Douglass Campus. Special thanks to Sylvie Lekarakos who has been responsible for the production of the journal since its inception, and to Douglas Piccinnini for his delightful cover.
Skiles Howard
Piscataway, New Jersey
June 20, 2006
