Editorial

“What is the source of our first suffering? It lies in the fact that we hesitated to speak. It was born in the moment when we accumulated silent things within us.” – Gaston Bachelard

Gaston Bachelard wrote about transcending silence long before we engaged in this ambitious and rewarding endeavor. We find his observation to be most appropriate given the context of the feminist and activist missions at the heart of this electronic journal. At least two of our papers in this issue deal with the theme of invisibility, a synaesthetic aspect of silence. It is this invisibility, this silence, which condemns us to endure social injustice passively. The stigma associated with speaking out is very real: the fear of being exposed and labeled as a victim, or in other cases, labeled as a criminal. The very act of giving a voice to the unheard, of bringing certain issues to light, is the essence of feminist activism. With transcending silence… we attempt to identify sources of suffering and make it known, or rather heard, in the hopes that our communities join us in voicing our concerns and proposing solutions.  

We would like to extend thanks and recognition to our advisors, as well as Professor Teresa Harrison, Chair of the Department of Communication, and to Roger Lipera, Interactive Media Training Specialist, University Libraries. Both took the time to share their expertise, furthering our understanding of electronic media and publishing. Their contributions were invaluable.

In an effort to encourage future submissions and to dispel the impression of favoritism, we would like to explain the blind peer-review process. All manuscripts were judged anonymously. We took great pains to maintain that anonymity. The opportunity to participate in the intricacies of the peer-review process educates students about the rigors and expectations of academic publishing.  

We are also pleased to publish the winner of the University Libraries’ Frankenstein Competition (Spring 2005), Angie Torres’ "Women of the Skies." Drew Pancilla, a member of the editorial board, was a member of the competition jury and represented the interests of the journal.

In closing, we would like to note that publishing an academic journal is not an easy task. The hours are long and constantly changing; this in response to the production schedule. In upcoming issues we hope to see submissions that test the limits of our electronic medium. We hope for audio submissions and hypertext, as well as multi-lingual and multi-author submissions. It is our firm belief that transcending silence… is an integral part of the new face of undergraduate research at the University of Albany. We expect that the future of the journal will be a path paved with new ideas, diverse submissions, innovative positions and fully utilized technologies.      

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