Janu

ary

2013

PEO-PLE

The University of Manitoba’s best kept secret, Mosaic, famous around the world, may be less well

known on the Fort Garry campus. We are a journal of interdisciplinary literary and critical research, publishing interdisciplinary essays in such areas as world literatures, literary theory, film studies, theatre, English literature, photography, philosophy, history of medicine, architecture, feminist studies, indigenous literature, and children’s literature. We publish four issues a year, on time, and up to the highest standards. Mosaicdistributesto31countriesand384university and college libraries.

Our workplace— lively, busy, and always

welcomingtovisitors—canbefoundinroom208 oftheTierBuildingontheFortGarrycampus.

You can also find us in the Elizabeth Dafoe library, on newsstands,orin384otherlibrariesaroundtheworld.

Or, you can locate Mosaic essays through a database such as Project MUSE.

At Mosaic, we wear a number of hats. For one, we publish the best work currently being done in

the interdisciplinary study of literature and literary and critical theory. This involves us in anticipating and facilitating new theoretical developments and interdisciplinary research alliances. On another front, Mosaic is a business operation, responsible for generating growing revenue from its issue and subscription sales. Still again, but related to its role in facilitating theoretical innovation, Mosaic is a research development hub out of which three major international interdisciplinary conferenceshaveemergedsince2004,withafourthconferencescheduledfor October,2014.Eachoftheseeventshashostedkeynotespeakersandover200 presenters, including not only leading scholars in their fields but also graduate student participants whose conference expenses are subsidized. Insofar as these events bring graduate students and accomplished scholars together for paper presentations, exchange of ideas, and collaboration, they are invaluable educational experiences for everyone involved. And indeed, one of Mosaic’s prime roles is that of educator. In addition to its conferences, the journal runs a highly successful collaboratively funded student intern program through which at least four students are trained annually in all aspects of academic journal publishing and research. Last but not least, Mosaic’s role as an educator assumes an international reach through its ever-growing reviewer pool, consisting now of some 15,000expertswho,throughablindprocess,serveasreviewers of essays submitted to the journal in their respective fields, anonymously offering careful and informed evaluations to authors wishing to publish, and thereby contributing to the formation of a global educational network.

opens me to knowledge that I would never otherwise have the time or ability to acquire.

PeoPLe

aBoUt Mosaic

We are a journal of interdisciplinary literary

and critical research

January 2013

WHO WE ARE

WHERE WE ARE

“ ”

Dawne McCance, University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Religion and editor of Mosaic, is immensely proud of her staff and student interns, and of Mosaic, now one of the leading humanities journals,uniqueinitsinterdisciplinaryapproach to literature and to literary and critical theory. When she first took over as Mosaic editor, Dawne asked W.J.T. Mitchell, editor of the prestigious Critical Inquiry, how best to promote the journal. “Attract the very best in the world to publish in your pages,” he advised. Now, some 60issueslater,Mosaic is the journal in which, across a range of fields, leading world scholars choose to publish. It worked!

Jackie Pantel is Mosaic’sBusinessManager, responsible for managing day-to-day operations and for providing assistance to the Editor on planning and overseeing the journal’s budget, its sales income, and its

expenditures. Jackie’s responsibilities also include the journal’s print subscriptions, now managed electronically, as well as its distribution through such databases as Project MUSE. Jackie has experience with web designing and received her certificate in Photography (with Honours) from Red River College. She creates some of the journal’s paid ads and has served as our in-house photographer at the journal’s conferences and special events. Jackie has been with theUniversityofManitobafor32years,almost13yearsofwhichhavebeen with Mosaic, thus gaining extensive and invaluable experience with policies and procedures.

Andrée-Anne Boisvert, Mosaic’s Production Manager, completed a Master’s degree in English at the University of Manitoba and focused on Canadian literature before veering into publishing. Andrée-Anne coordinates production from the point at which essays have been selected and edited to the appearance of each published issue. She works with the editor and with the journal’s designers on each issue layout, coordinates proof preparation and copyediting, and the printing of each issue. Andrée-Anne is also responsible for the journal’s electronic essay submission process. She “feels lucky to be part of such a friendly, cooperative, and professional team.”

Greg Renegar, Mosaic’s IT specialist, joined the journal some years ago for the purpose of converting the various aspects of its operation into a sophisticated electronic infrastructure. Greg is an information technology specialist, focused mainly on the areas of business analysis, software and web development, and system administration. He has worked with many technologies across several platforms to develop technology- basedsolutions.GreghasaBachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba and is proud to be able to continue to enable and support the journal.

WHAT WE DO

PEO-PLE

of the foUr iSSUeS Mosaic PUBLiSheS

annUaLLy, at LeaSt one iS a SPeciaL

iSSUe on a theme of cUrrent or

UPcoming criticaL imPortance, or aS

a comPiLation of Mosaic conference

ProceedingS. Since 2000, theSe SPeciaL

iSSUeS incLUde:

Freud AFter derridA Proceedings,

Part II - 44.4 decemBer 2011

Freud AFter derridA Proceedings,

Part I - 44.3 SePtemBer 2011

Kristin LinKLAter/ the sAntorini Voice symPosium

44.1 march 2011

scuLPture 42.4

decemBer 2009

sound: Part II - 42.2

JUne 2009

sound: Part I - 42.1 march 2009

Antigone 41.3

SePtemBer 2008

FoLLowing derridA: LegAcies

40.2 JUne 2007

the AnimAL: Part II 40.1

march 2007

the AnimAL: Part 1 - 39.4 decemBer 2006

AFter derridA 39.3 SePtemBer 2006

the gArden 38.4 decemBer 2005

the PhotogrAPh 37.4 decemBer 2004

PiLgrimAge 36.4 decemBer 2003

LiterAture And Architecture

35.4 decemBer 2002

hAunting 2: citAtions 35.1 march 2002

hAunting 1: the sPecter 34.4 decemBer 2001

chiLdren’s LiterAture 34.2 JUne 2001

hygieiA: LiterAture And medicine

33.4 decemBer 2000

ntroduced only recently, Mosaic’s popular Feature Issues focus on a noted individual whose work is of considerable significance for many of the

journal’s readers. In some cases, the journal has published its Feature Issues in conjunction with its organization and hosting of a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer event. See for example, its Feature Issue on Peggy Kamuf, Marion

Frances Chevalier Professor of French and Comparative Literature and English at the University of Southern California, which includes an editor Interview with Dr. Kamuf and two original essays written by her.

For another example, see the Feature Issue on Rodolphe Gasché, Distinguished Professor and Eugenio DonatoChairofComparativeLiteratureatSUNY,Buffalo;and that on Alphonso Lingis, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University, both of which

include original essays by the featured scholar and an editor interview. These interviews belong to the Crossings Interview Series,initiatedbytheeditorin2001,and including additional interviews with voice theorist andteacherKristinLinklater(March2011);FrederickJ.AdelmanProfessorofPhilosophyatBostonCollegeJohnSallis(March2007);philosopherandwriterDavidFarrellKrell(March2006);poetErinMouré(December2003);Portugal’s Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza (December2002);translator-theoristJohnP.LeaveyJr.(March2002);CanadianliterarytheoristLindaHutcheon,Dr. Michael Hutcheon, postcolonial theorist Helen Tiffin, andauthor-criticSanderGilman(June2002);writerandartcriticMaryAnnCaws(September2001);andphilosopher,writer,andpoliticaltheoristBillSpanos(December2001).

Bruce Conan is a second-year M.A. student at the University of Manitoba, working on a thesis that joins theory of biology to political and ethical theory. During his time at Mosaic,Brucehasbeenoccupiedinproofreading,whichhe considers a valuable skill for any graduate student to learn. He has also performed database work and research, assisted in planning Mosaic’s most recent conference, and in redesign of the journal’s Style Guide. What is perhaps most rewarding about working at Mosaic, Brucesays,ishavingthe opportunity to read works submitted for publication, a process that “opens me to knowledge that I would never otherwise have the time or abilitytoacquire.”

Karalyn Dokurno, currently in the first year of her Ph.D. studies in English Literature and working toward the completion of the coursework component of her degree, joined Mosaic inSeptember,2012.ForKaralyn,“working at Mosaic has been an abundantly rewarding opportunity and I am certain it will continue to be so. Mosaic allows me to interact on a regular basis with other students who are interested in academia and publishing and provides me with an interdisciplinary environment in which to further consider my own deeply interdisciplinary project on early modern Jesuit missionary writings and communities.”

Ryan Constantinos Phikas Fics is an M.A. candidate at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Religion, intending to focus his thesis on how the political origins of the word “religion” (religio) compare to its contemporary political currency in scholarly writing on terrorism. The broader scope of his research explores how categories such as “religion” and “secular” are not fixed in nature and, therefore, have (and have had) strategic relationships to power across different genres of writing. Working at Mosaic has exposed Ryan to the intricate details of editing and proofreading, and this, he says, has given him a greater appreciation for the process of writing. Ryan considers it a great honour to be working in a space full of inspiring, fun, intelligent, and hard-working individuals who have influenced him in more ways than he can express. Having assumed the title of “Conference Assistant,” he is now involved in organizing Mosaic’s 2014conference.

Riley McGuire, a first-year M.A. student in the Department of English, Film & Theatre, intends to pursue research that explores the intersection betweenliterarystudies,queertheory,andrepresentationpolitics,inordertoinvestigate the social implications of the presentation of marginalized groups. In his words, “I am extremely excited to be an intern at Mosaic and to be gaining insight into the process of academic editing and publication. I am also very interested in the interdisciplinary approach the journal takes to the study of literature—an approach I hope to employ in my own work.” Along with Ryan Fics, Riley is Mosaic’s newly-appointed “Conference Assistant,” and very muchlooksforwardtoworkingonallaspectsoftheOctober,2014event.

opens me to knowledge that I would never otherwise have the time or ability to acquire.

StUdent intern Program

umanitoba.ca/mosaic

SPeciaL iSSUeS

featUre iSSUeS / diStingUiShed ViSiting LectUrerS / interVieWS

“”

i

January 2013

2014

A mAtter of life deAth

the Call has been distributed; 5 keynote speakers

conferenceS

ver the last few decades, as the term “information” has taken on new meaning and assumed increasing importance, journal publishers have faced enormous budgetary and functional operations challenges. For

instance, when the present editor joined the journal, its peer-review process consisted largely of a card-file system; editing was performed by handwriting on printed essays; the essay submissions process consisted of a snail-mail operation; similarly, subscriptions and issue orders for both individuals and institutions relied on snail mail, and this included handling of shipping and payment in all its various forms, all across the various countries and currencies of the world. Such a situation typified that of most journals at the time. For a while, Mosaic employed the use of such tools as Microsoft Word, Excel, and Access to better manage its information, but these tools soon proved too limiting. So, ahead of most other North American academic journals, we decided to take a big leap forward: to develop an “information system” to which we gave the name MosaicIS, or MosIs. We call it an “information system” because it was built of integral parts designed to work together. These parts include a database that stores all of the journal’s information, a “server” program that handles all interactions with the database, and a “client” program that staff members interact with directly.

Some of the benefits provided by MosIS include:

• arichgraphicalinterfacethatmakesiteasyforstafftouse

• theabilitytouseanycomputerplatformtointeractwiththesystem

• acentralstoreforallinformation,easytomanageandprotect

• powerfulautomatedreportingandauditing

• automationofbusinesslogicsuchascalculationofsubscriptionexpiry, computing shipping charges, etc.

• MosISwasbuiltusingfreeopen-sourcetechnologiestosimultaneously maximize robustness and cost savings

• itemploysopenstandardstoensurethatthesystemwillcontinuetoprocess and output information in ways that other systems can consume, and to ensure that components can be interchanged for future evolution

• itcapturesconsistent,highqualityinformationduetofieldvalidation

• multiplestaffcaninteractwiththesystemsimultaneously

• ourwebsitecanleverageinformationinthedatabasetoprovidearichuser experience and to enable online interaction with contributors and customers

• housingnames,affiliations,andareasofexpertiseforour15,000-member global peer-reviewer pool, MosIS enables seamless operation of the reviewer aspect of our publication and has already positioned the journal as a leading candidate for SSHRC funding support

Ultimately these benefits translate into huge efficiency gains for the journal while simultaneously keeping costs to an absolute minimum. At a time when fiscal responsibility in the university setting is more important than ever, MosIS enables us to continue to evolve and deliver Mosaic to the world!

Stay tuned for some exciting developments with respect to our website...

COLLABORATIONSver the years, Mosaic has developed strong collaborations with the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE), the Canadian Association of Learned Journals (CALJ), the Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ), the Manitoba Magazine Publishers Association (MMPA), and a number of exchange journals. For the past three

years, Mosaic has sponsored the Canadian Comparative Literature Association’s (CCLA) main soirée at the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Mosaic’s relationship with the CCLA is important because it allows us to reach readers and potential authors and academics who are interested in a broad range of interdisciplinary research areas. Moreover, the CCLA’s membership includes many graduate students who are eager to publish their work, and Mosaic is pleased to foster their research.

MosIS

o

o

PhotograPh courtesy of Katrina SarK and the ccLa.

2004the PhotogrAPh

224 participants, 4 keynote speakers

2006following derridA: legAcies

214participants,3keynotespeakers

2010freud After derridA

210participants,5keynotespeakers

208TierBuilding University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba CanadaR3T2N2

t:204.474.9763 f:204.474.7584

mosaic@ad.umanitoba.ca

umanitoba.ca/mosaic