From the Student Editors and Faculty
Introduction:
We are proud to present the 2021 edition of Understory: An Annual Anthology of Achievement. This edition marks five years since Understory was established as an anthology that features scholarly works from the Department of English Studies and creative works from students across UAA, and is still going strong. This year’s edition is a testament to our mission of supporting language and literacy. Stories, and writing in general, will always remain important, but during this global struggle writing is vital for feeling connected to others. This sense of connection has influenced many of the works in the 2021 edition. Our cover photos, and the poems that begin and end the Poetry section highlight the theme of hope.
During this year we’ve had to adapt and change how we work on Understory. We have learned to communicate and collaborate as a team remotely, demonstrating our commitment to the Understory project and its message. As with any team that is passionate about their mission, we wanted to preserve the value of creative writing and scholarship.
The 2021 edition shows that Understory has become a fixture of UAA’s Department of English Studies, and with the determination and commitment of the Understory team, will continue to be a representation of scholarly excellence within the Department of English Studies, and especially of the creativity and imagination of UAA’s students. In working on this anthology, we want to provide creative writers from all disciplines and areas of study a place where their voices can be heard.
Student Editors Rosalie Makar and Amy Smales
Student Editors & Mentors Charlene Ducut and Thomas Medo
From the Faculty Advisors and Project Liaisons:
This 5th edition of Understory: An Annual Anthology of Achievement marks a half-decade milestone of creating opportunities for students in English Studies to engage in scholarly conversations and share their work across the department's interrelated fields of Literary Studies, Writing & Rhetoric, Creative Writing, and Language & Linguistics, and to disseminate their work in print and online editions.
While each of the past five years has presented unique challenges for all of us, and especially for our student interns, the past year and a half of the covid-19 pandemic amplified those challenges exponentially. But every year, the dedication of each academic year’s intern team has been remarkable, and the Understory Project continues to thrive. To date eight students have served as project interns gaining invaluable professional experience while also earning academic credit.
At the five-year mark, we are encouraged by the range of the student work showcased during that period: 71 scholarly articles by 64 students and 171 creative works by 90 student authors. We are also pleased that this edition marks the first inclusion of student work from our community campus students.
As important as it is to highlight the successes of our students, we would be remiss if we did not also express our gratitude to our colleagues in the Department of English Studies for their support of the Understory Project and their dedication to research productivity, creative writing, and teaching our students during this half-decade of unrelenting waves of university budget reductions and a novel and deadly global pandemic.
Professors David Bowie and Ronald Spatz