The Writing Program at Rutgers offers research courses that range from the Psychology of Conflict to the Ethics of Food, from Conspiracy Theories to Human Ecology. Other topics include feminism, medicine, film, propaganda, graphic novels, taboos, and family. Each semester, instructors provide background, theory, and the research skills needed to launch an exploration. However, it is the students who determine their arguments and the trajectory their essays will follow. The authors of the best papers are invited to submit their work to Dialogues@RU. This volume contains some outstanding research on video-visitation in prisons, media representations of queer villains, and maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa. Timely topics are also represented in essays on food waste, CRISPR gene therapy, and the limits of free speech in protest.
The essays appearing in this journal reflect another step in the Writing Program’s course sequence—editing, publishing, and presentation. All submissions are selected and edited by students enrolled in the Editing Internship. Volume 12 included an initial pool of more than 200 research papers. Some authors go further and submit their work to the Undergraduate Research Writing Conference at Rutgers. This scholarly gathering provides an opportunity for writers to showcase their work in panel discussions and individual presentations. The entire event is organized and overseen by students in the Editing and Conference Planning Internship. From conception to execution, revision to publication and presentation, writing at Rutgers is student-centered.
