Welcome to the Journal of Integrated Studies, the student-led graduate journal of the Master of Arts—Integrated Studies program. Our primary aim is to see students write and submit articles, narratives, and poetry for online publication, and also to create a process and place where those involved with JIS may learn to review and prepare others’ work for publication.

When I reflect on the creation of this journal and see the product neatly “printed” in cyberspace, I want to remember and acknowledge the hard work that made this possible. What I found most enjoyable and notable in coordinating and watching this first issue come to fruition is the dedication editors showed as they worked with the contributors, submissions, and other volunteers. Their focus was not only on putting together this first issue in a professional way, but also on teaching reviewing, editing, and proofreading skills to others who have also generously volunteered their time. In this way, the journal is a valuable extension of the learning done in the MAIS program and offers a place to acquire academic-publishing skills.

In addition to acknowledging the contributions in written form, I would also like to thank and appreciate the artists who offered their work so that the journal would not only be an intellectual feast, but a visual one.

Note that in future issues, we will start to welcome the work of graduate students from other post-secondary institutions. And know that when you get involved with JIS, whether you are submitting work, selecting cover art, or helping with other aspects of the publishing process, it will be both a labour and a love.

In this first issue, true to the journal’s “integrated” theme, you’ll be served a diverse diet of topics, ranging from how environmental sustainability might be inspired by indigenous knowledge, questions on autobiography as a(n) (un)stable genre, a postmodern exploration of accreditation, what novelist Solzhenitsyn and writer Havel might have in common, and how through a process of self-monitoring a parent might cultivate patience.

Integration will be found not only in what our writers have digested and (re)created for themselves and readers, but in how you interact with the material and explore new connections and implications. Integrated learning that inspires us—and even transforms us—happens when we synthesize and re-imagine what we believe in ways that connect with both how we think and how we feel. And we are asked to open ourselves to other points of view and ways of looking at the world (and our constructed concepts); in the end we are fortunate if we are inspired, nudged, or even challenged to let go of our secure places and perceptions. Enjoy.

Reinekke Lengelle
JIS Coordinator and
Graduate Instructor
Centre for Integrated Studies
Athabasca University