This summer, The Compass, Arcadia’s online, all-student-curated, interdisciplinary undergraduate journal, released its ninth issue. Issue 9 contains “Wings of Change: A Visual and Cultural Analysis of Mujer Angel” by Taylor Carrico ’22, exploring Mexican national identity through photography; “Cottagecore and Rural Gentrification” by Zoe Johnston ’22, asserting how nostalgia for an idyllic, pre-industrial country lifestyle creates gentrification in rural areas; and “Make Pennsylvania Free Again” by Margaret Riley ’23, reflecting on the constitutionality of a statewide mask mandate during the COVID pandemic.

Produced by students in Arcadia’s Honors Program, The Compass provides a platform for undergraduate research.

“We publish annually and attempt to publish papers that are timely and relevant, while also academically rigorous and interesting,” said Julie Castle ’22, editor-in-chief of The Compass, who will attend George Washington University Law School this fall.

Castle is proud of publishing two issues during her yearlong tenure as editor-in-chief and is proud of the journal’s staff.

“They are the hardest, most diligent workers,” she said. “It takes a village to publish a journal while juggling the huge variations in schedules, life events, and school, but our little village does it best. Helene Klein and Elizabeth Ferrell are also the most supportive advisors I could ask for. They make The Compass world go around.”

Klein, assistant dean of honors and accelerated programs, spoke on the talent and dedication required by the students to produce such a high-quality journal. 

“As we enter into our 10th year publishing The Compass, we are so proud of the amazing work of the student publishing teams that have been dedicated to finding papers that push the scholarship in their discipline and then working with authors to fine-tune the work so it is ready for publication,” she said. “The students take their responsibilities to produce a professional journal very seriously. They are committed to ensuring that we are advancing important interdisciplinary discussions and research.

“The Compass is downloaded across the globe over one thousand times a month. The work being done by our amazing staff has ripples across the globe.”

The Compass has 62 total papers online with 46,620 total downloads and 10,822 downloads in the past year.