Aperio Series of Humane Texts

The Aperio Series is a unique initiative that enables faculty and students to collaborate on original research and publish their work with Apprentice House Press, Loyola’s student-run publishing company.

Most projects begin with an idea and an opportunity: a text that needs to be translated, an archive that has not been fully explored, a topic that has not been investigated. A faculty member—often with the help of a student or students—outlines how this text or material could be explored or explained. The faculty member and student(s) discuss the plan with colleagues and other students; at this point, other students may volunteer or be enlisted to participate. The parties fashion a proposal that they submit to the Center for the Humanities. Projects vary, but most will involve student summer research, followed by a seminar in the succeeding fall or spring semester; that course is followed by, or concurrent with, the work of publishing a book. For examples of successful proposals, see the proposals by Walsh on Perpetua's Passion and Osteen on the history of Baltimore Jazz and Cole on the Women's Literary Club of Baltimore. Enjoy the short publications that individual students in the Aperio group are posting based on their research. Seniors Hunter Flynn  wrote "What We Lost in the Fire" and Sydney Johnson wrote "Miss Henrietta Szold: A Jewish Idealist in the WLCB" for the Maryland Historical Society blog "Underbelly."

The following guidelines furnish details about how projects should be proposed and how they are evaluated.

Project Composition

1. Each project must have at least one faculty supervisor from a Loyola Humanities or Fine Arts department and a student project manager. 

2. Ordinarily, each project will include a seminar to be taught by the faculty supervisor in the department where she or he regularly teaches. The publication portion of the project may occur in the same semester as the Aperio seminar or in the following semester. 

3. The faculty supervisor should select the students to participate in the project no later than the semester prior to the semester in which the Aperio course will be taught.

4. Each Aperio seminar should consist of between 7 and 10 students, of whom at least half should receive a summer research stipend (these should be included in the budget). One student—usually, but not always the project manager—should act as liaison between the faculty supervisor(s) and CM 388: Book Design and Production (if appropriate); one stipend may be reserved for that student liaison, even if she/he is not the project manager. Summer housing for students receiving Aperio stipends may be available at a discounted rate. 

5. The faculty supervisor receives a stipend equal to a Summer Research Grant. That figure should be incorporated into the proposed budget.

Application

1. The faculty supervisor and student project manager (if determined) send a cover letter with a proposal describing the project and its outcome (i.e., book and other form of publication). The proposal should include a detailed timeline for each stage of the project, an outline of student duties, a detailed budget, as well as a description of the content and goals of the project. The proposal should also include a written acknowledgment from the Department of Communication that they have been consulted regarding scheduling and publication. The proposal should be no more than 1,000 words in length. 

2. The budget should include items such as student research stipends and a faculty stipend. It may also list expenses such as travel, materials (books or software), publicity, and other essentials. Project supervisors are encouraged to find ways to limit costs.

3. The chair of the applicant’s department should submit a brief letter of support, approving the proposal and acknowledging that the applicant’s home department can allow her or him to teach an Aperio seminar instead of his/her regular course. 

4. No more than one Aperio project will be approved each academic year. Ordinarily, the deadline is the last working day of October. If the Steering Committee does not receive an acceptable proposal in the fall, the Center will open a second round of submissions, with a deadline of the last working day of January.

Approval Criteria

1. Each Aperio project must involve a significant scholarly endeavor in the humanities or fine arts, whether it be editing or translating a text, conducting archival research, or some combination of research, annotation and interpretation. The Steering Committee is likely to favor cross-disciplinary projects.

2. Each project must involve original research and scholarly work by students, which may include library or primary source research, writing and editing, annotation, translation, bibliographic work, indexing, and discussion and collaboration with other participants.

3. Each project must yield publishable material that makes an original contribution to knowledge in the humanities. For example, the publication might be a translation of a foreign-language text not available in English, or available only in an outdated or obscure form; it may be a collection of significant materials never previously gathered; it may be a newly annotated version of a well-known text. 

4. The Steering Committee considers careful budgetary planning in evaluating proposals.

Publication

1. Approved and completed Aperio projects will be published in print and digital formats by Apprentice House. The Department of Communication and Apprentice House must be involved in planning each project from the outset. When projects arrive at the publication stage, they must meet the deadlines set by CM 388 and Apprentice House. 

2. The publication must include scholarly apparatus, including endnotes, bibliography, index, etc. 

3. All royalties for the published books will be divided evenly between Apprentice House and the Center for the Humanities. 

Deadline

The last working day of October. However, if the Steering Committee does not receive an acceptable proposal in the fall, the Center will open a second round of submissions, with a deadline of the last working day of January.