LEFT PHOTO left to right: Abiana Adamson (C’18, Executive Editor), Kelsey Gallant (C’18, Review Team Leader), Baillee Cooper (C’18, Design and Technology Team Leader), Naija Brown (C’18, Public Relations Team Leader), Chonise Bass (C’18, Features Team Leader), Ansley Carlisle (C’18, Executive Editor) MIDDLE PHOTO left to right: Abiana Adamson (C’18, Co-founder) and Ansley Carlisle (C’18, Co-founder) RIGHT PHOTO top row left to right: Team Members: Shira Givens (C’18), Kelsie Warmack (C’19), Corin Bell (C’19), Ayanna Troutman (C’19), Traci Litthcut (C’19), Tenley Hutchinson-Smith (C’19) bottom row left to right: Team Members: Shawna Howard (C’19), Belinda Owusu (C’19)
Please visit http://www.spelmancontinuum.com/publications to view this issue.
Or·i·gin \ˈôrəjən\
(n.) the point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived; the first stage of existence
Research always begins with an initial thought, a question that drives a thirst to better understand the world in which we live. Most often, questions that drive research come from within the context of the life we experience. This contextually driven research is fueled with passion because the questions have relevance to the researcher’s life and commitments. The intersectionality of gender, race, and class makes black women’s voices and contributions most susceptible to being silenced due to traditional constructions of knowledge and expertise.
At Spelman College, we are taught that it is our choice to change the world. The creation of Continuum: The Spelman Undergraduate Research Journal is one of the first steps two students took to initiate this task. Continuum is an interdisciplinary journal whose mission is to highlight research that affects black women as well as black women’s contributions and leadership in research. It is our hope that Continuum will encourage young women readers and contributors to reimagine the role of research in their own lives, and perhaps their own greater possibilities in a world where research questions tend to originate from the perspectives of the powerful, the established, the well-funded. Established by and for women at Spelman College, Continuum seeks to incite a spirit of inquiry and critical analysis in undergraduate students. As an interdisciplinary journal we endeavor to demonstrate that all academic disciplines are interrelated. Continuum encourages readers to think critically about the intersection between scholarship and black women’s experiences across the diaspora. We named the journal Continuum because of our mission to establish a journal dedicated to scholarship about black women that not only spans the “continuum” of thought, but also extends the legacy and scholarship of those before us. The publication will serve as a preparatory step for graduate studies as students connect research to academic and personal passions. We are a platform for students around the world to use scholarship to initiate dialogue across disciplines and bring research to the forefront of the collegiate experience.
Continuum would not be where it is today without the support and guidance of the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program. The co-advising and support of the Honors Program has been continuous from when Continuum was an abstract concept. The Honors Program community is where Continuum was born. The founding members of Continuum are honors students that took advantage of the living and learning environment that the Honors Program facilitates. In addition to the Honors Program, Continuum also recognizes and appreciates the co-advising and support of Dr. Dolores Bradley Brennan, the Director of Undergraduate Research at Spelman College and the program director of RISE.
Continuum is not only an interdisciplinary journal, but it has also been a place of growth and innovation. Continuum’s mission is important because it allows women to have a space of academic inquiry that is unabashedly reflective of knowledge that is important to black women, their lives and their imagination. One of the most important things Continuum does is allow young intellectuals to fight against the discourse deficit that affects our community. There are many black women who have fought for representation in academia and succeeded, such as Etta Zuber Falconer, one of the first African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in Mathematics, and Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, the scholar who introduced the theory of intersectionality. At Continuum, we strive not only to pay recognition to those who have paved the way for us, but to create our own paths. Continuum is a space where we celebrate the serendipitous moments in research where discovery and insight intersect. This journal was built from scratch, sustained on the desire to create a safe space for black women to be engaged in their research. Our journey thus far inspired the theme for our first issue to be “Origin.” We chose this theme for its denotation of beginning, genesis, and birth.
Continuum will be publishing its first issue, “Origin”, on December 5th, 2016.
If you are interested in submitting to be published in Continuum or you would like to join our team, please email us at spelmancontinuum@gmail.com
Naija Brown C’18,
Public Relations Team Leader