Writing Center Mentor Invited To Edit Prestigious Journal

For Kezia Namakula ’25, her experience mentoring Hartwick students in the Writing Center served as a foundation for honing the editorial skills that opened doors to new opportunities.

An honors student double-majoring in business administration and political science, Namakula drew on this expertise to earn a position on the submissions team for Illuminate, the undergraduate research journal published by the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC).

“James Cochran recommended me to Professor Kristin Jones from my work with the Writing Center,” she said. “And immediately, Professor Jones recommended me to the NRHC to help edit Illuminate.”

The annual journal, Illuminate, provides a platform for honors students from the Northeast region to showcase their scholarly and creative work, enabling their research and artistic pieces to reach a broader audience. Dedicated to fostering intellectual and creative engagement, the journal publishes research, art and scholarly articles from undergraduates who propose and present their work at the NRHC conference, ensuring their contributions inspire and stimulate others.

Namakula was tasked with reviewing four student-submitted scholarly articles on topics ranging from fine art, business, political science and economics, as well as “campus challenges” – issues put forward by colleges for students to create solutions for.

“There are so many different means of expressing interest in a particular topic and so many ways of doing the research,” she said. “For example, one of the papers I recommended for acceptance addressed the issue of finding parking on a campus – the student researcher solved the problem by designing an app to help students and faculty navigate the parking lots.”

Namakula recommended three pieces for publication and edited a fourth, encouraging the student to revise and resubmit. After the student made the changes, the journal invited Namakula to review and approve the revised submission.

In all, the journal published 29 pieces.