Editor's Note, January 2005
Elizabeth Haller
PhD Student and Instructor, Kent State University
E-mail: editoraee@hotmail.com
I hope you all enjoyed your holiday season and look forward to a brand new year. What will this year hold for you? Will you teach in the same manner that you've been teaching? Or will you try something new based on reflective practices? If a student, will you set out to study more rigorously than you have been, or revise your techniques altogether? We tend to start out the year with grandiose plans for its entirety, but few of us ever accomplish all that we set out to do. I have come to the conclusion that perhaps we should narrow our scope by setting our sights on one goal in particular. A goal that is attainable and yet, somehow, surpasses all others. Or perhaps a handful of smaller, attainable goals. Either way, obtaining our goals would perhaps not be out of the question by the time November or December rolled around, and we could enter into the following year with the knowledge that we did accomplish that which we set out to do. It's worth a shot.
Enjoy this issue's submissions, and as you do, consider offering us a piece of your work for publication. Perhaps it could be one of those "smaller, attainable goals" I was talking about. We invite your continued perusal and encourage you to submit articles, poetry, and fiction for consideration in future issues of AEE. Please review our Call for Papers on this site for more details on submission requirements. If you are unsure whether your contribution would be suitable under the terms of our Call for Papers, please send along an inquiry, and I will be happy to respond forthwith. As always, do not forget to check out Grist for the Mill for possible submission ideas.
A reminder that if you are interested in joining our editorial staff, positions are available. Please e-mail me for more details.
The featured article, "Cross-cultural Communications: A Latino Perspective," by Luis A. Rosado opens our first issue of the New Year. According to Rosado, "This article describes the role of culture in the communications process, and discusses how cultural differences can affect the communication process among African Americans, European Americans and Latinos."
In Elie Antopol's second contribution to AEE (see December 2004 as well) "Laps," we are given the story of "a separated mother--nameless in the story, which she narrates--[who] works as a university archivist. She is also a dedicated lap swimmer. Her husband has taken up with a younger academic colleague and the swimmer-archivist has found a temporary lover. Those relationships dissolve and the academic couple reunites, as their daughter hopes they will. The characters undergo changes that remind her of a swimmer's laps."
Larry Phillips rounds out this month's issue with his insightful analysis of parent/teacher/student interviews in his piece titled, "Theatre of the Absurd: The Parent/Teacher/Student Interview." According to Phillips, "It was time for another parent/teacher/student interview. A play with which those parents who have students in elementary or junior high schools are familiar. For most participants, the interview is guided by ritual. Parents are assured; students are prodded; and teachers are shown to be human. But sometimes, ritual becomes abuse."
S. Purcell Woodard provides our first contribution to Poet's Corner. He provides the following synopsis of his poem titled, "Sleepless Nights": "Sleep/less nights awaken me to where the past, present, and future coalesce. My un/intentional struggle between repression and release during these times moves me from what is, closer to what can be."
Marjo Mitsutomi is the second contributor to the Corner. Mitsutomi's piece, titled "Cross-cultural Communication," is a "free verse 'poem' about the meaning of cross-cultural communication. Its major purpose is to serve as 'food for thought.'"
Enjoy!
Academic Exchange Extra invites reader response to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.
- Web Editor
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Citation Reference: Haller, Elizabeth. (2005). AE-Extra. January. Available Online. [URL: < >. Created: 12 December 2004. Updated: --. Accessed: ] |