Many students in the School of Foreign Service find creative outlets to cultivate their interest in obscure international topics. Samantha Yale (SFS ’07) is no different.
Since joining the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs during her sophomore year, Yale has risen the ranks of the biennial publication and is now editor in chief. Yale is responsible for overseeing the production of the journal and managing dozens of students. An aspiring editor, Yale has a few more months on the Hilltop to show the publishing world her expertise on covering world events.
What exactly is the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs?
The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the School of Foreign Service. It’s published twice a year. We have a student staff of about 70 students. About half of that is graduate students, half of that is undergraduate students. Basically what we do is we publish academic articles that are longer and more in-depth – about 3,000 words – and we brainstorm the topics we’d like to feature and writers we’d ideally like to have as contributors. We then research the ideal writers and then solicit them.
Can you describe the kinds of articles the Journal features? Are they more research- or reporting-based?
We do have some exclusive interviews. For this issue, we interviewed the former president of Poland [and distinguished scholar in the SFS], Aleksander Kwasniewski, and we did an interview last year with [former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage, but most of it is research.
How did you become involved in the Journal?
Actually when I was in high school, my history/government teacher brought in a copy of the Journal and we discussed a couple of articles in class, so that was something that impressed me. It was a more challenging, in-depth study than something I had read in Time Magazine or something. So when I came to Georgetown it was something I wanted to get involved in. I actually didn’t get involved in it until sophomore year, so this is my third year. I’ve really enjoyed it.
In your three years on staff, which articles have interested you the most?
There have been a lot of really interesting articles. I’m really happy with a lot of the ones we’re going to print with now. There’s one about the role of photography and theatre in Peru about civil society and national reconciliation through the arts, which is really cool. I’m a Culture and Politics major, so I find that really interesting. When I was a sophomore there was an article I worked on about conflict resolution through women’s grassroots organizations in Nigeria, which was really interesting.
Do you ever have any trouble soliciting articles from professionals since the Journal is entirely edited and run by students?
Well, what’s unique about our publication is that it’s half graduate, half undergraduate. Some of the other journals . are run entirely by grad students. Some of our authors don’t know that we’re students. It’s not something we really have to advertise. Sometimes I get letters from authors addressed to `Professor Yale.’ Since we have faculty take a look at the articles, too, that kind of helps qualify it as a peer-review journal.
How do you think your time working at the Journal will help you in your future career? Would you like to go into academic or regular publishing?
I would like to use the skills I’ve learned at the Journal in my professional career. I am interested in going into publishing, editorial jobs. I had an internship at a magazine last summer where I was actually doing writing. I actually enjoy doing the editing a lot more. I find that more meaningful. I would ideally like magazine publishing. . I’m also interested in even going into editorial, communications publishing of think tanks to kind of relate it more to international affairs.
What do you want for Christmas?
I do love shoes, so I think I would want that. I can never have enough shoes. Actually, I need another pair of boots.
– Interview by Sarah Mellott