Updated Feb. 7, 2024
Professor of Political Science Tim Hill, in conjunction with Doane University, is establishing an open essay-submitting platform called “The Forum.” The Forum is designed to get people’s voices heard, with a central question that students who write for it will have to answer.
The Forum will be sent out quarterly, in the form of a newsletter, and the first edition is scheduled to be published on Feb. 15. As to the structure of how it works, “students submit an essay that gets commented on by peers, then they review it, and finally, the essay gets published,” according to Hill.
The goal of The Forum, according to Hill, is to “get many people involved about topics that hopefully encompass a wide audience.” The inspiration behind The Forum was a lack of anything like this at Doane, a place where students can submit their thoughts and share them with their peers.
At the time of writing, there is no vehicle for students to leave comments publicly, but there are plans in the future to change that. Hill also wants to potentially hold off on this idea because the internet in its most unrestricted state can lead to some problems when trying to have a good conversation.
The questions that each essay gets centered around are aiming to “encompass a wide audience,” Hill said.
Currently, if students want to get involved with The Forum, they should reach out to Hill so they can submit their work. Students are also encouraged to reach out to Hill if they want to be a part of the committee that helps works get published, or if a student wants to help write questions by suggesting topics. Students who are interested can reach out at tim.hill@doane.edu.
