Re:Search: The Undergraduate Literary Criticism Journal at the University of Illinois is an undergraduate-produced, peer-reviewed online journal that is designed to annually publish works exclusively authored by undergraduate students. It seeks to create a venue for undergraduate students to showcase and publish literary criticism within a greater academic discourse while nurturing a collaborative community between faculty, administration, and undergraduate students.

Students of any field may submit to Re:Search as long as their submissions are in accordance with our vision of the journal as a site of critical analysis. We encourage undergraduate students to submit literary, media, or cultural criticism—including revisions of papers written previously for a class, current or completed honors theses, or even projects that students conceive outside of the classroom. Accepted submissions should provide innovative critical analyses of a text, film, or other medium of work. We welcome analyses of texts from any period or language, provided that modern English translation is provided for any material quoted within the submission. While theory is not the journal’s primary subject matter, we encourage submissions that refer to, reflect on, and engage with theory to provide richer and more nuanced analyses. Our anticipated audience includes university students, instructors, administration, alumni, and prospective students.

Re:Search is unique among other undergraduate academic journals of its type because it supports students throughout the research and publication process by working closely with: the University of Illinois English Department, the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR), the English Student Council (ESC), and the University Library. In particular, we offer a faculty mentorship, whereby students work side-by-side with a faculty advisor throughout the writing process. The OUR and ESC offers opportunities to share work-in-progress, and the Library provides a fully-indexed platform for completed articles. This journal fosters collaboration between faculty, administration, and undergraduate students, and we hope for this to be a collective project amongst us all.

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