About Vekhi
Last fall, a Chadwick alumni visited me. He asked for help in publishing a journal for Greek and Roman philosophy under the title, 'Aretaic Turn'. I still do not know what the purpose of the publication was, but I do know that this kind of journal has been published before and then disappeared, mainly for students attending international schools.
Perhaps because those journals were part of students’ EC (Extra Curricular) activities, the journals usually disappeared once the students entered college. Like a sand castle that collapses after being built up every time, these activities start anew, but after going to college, the activities end. I felt sorry for this practice, so I came up with an idea to take responsibility for a journal of my own.
Taking responsibility does not mean that I will be involved in all matters related to journal publication, but means that I will only be responsible for the continuity of ‘publishing’. It is the students' autonomous job to actually write, to comment, and to collect the written articles for both online and offline publishing. I'm mainly going to provide administrative support for these activities of students only. Of course, I may also provide a few comments on some works so that the writings written by students can go in a little better direction. However, whether the journal would be published or not is ultimately up to the students, as they are the ones who will actually create the journal.
As a publisher, my purpose of publishing this journal is as follows. Overall I hope that this journal will widen students' perspectives, promote their in-depth thinking, and allow smoother expression of complex thoughts in written forms, so that it becomes an interactive venue for students to share their ideas.
To be more specific, firstly, through annual publication of articles worthy of recognition, such as noteworthy papers, essays, book reviews or opinion pieces written by students attending secondary schools, mutual development would be achieved by students sharing their thoughts.
Second, by appointing students who finished secondary school and are currently enrolled in universities of the United Kingdom or the United States as editor-in-chief and assistant editor-in-chief, and appointing a number of students as reviewers to review and comment on the articles written by students, I would like to encourage students in Korea to have a wider scope of thoughts as a result of their interaction with university students.
Third, the journal is aimed to help students with their studies, by increasing academic exchanges between students enrolled in overseas universities in the US or UK. Even if one studies abroad, I believe that there should be relevancy with reality in their academic work. So, I hope that by increasing the communication of students abroad, they will be given the opportunity to compare their studies against each other.
Finally, this journal would play a role as a self-cleaning device that clears up the writing market in Korea. In our performance-oriented society, our reality is that writing is almost always considered as a means to gain college admission. Despite the status quo, I really hope this journal would establish itself as a place for disciplined and truly passionate writers, where they can enhance their academic abilities and reflect on themselves, rather than writing as a specification or means.
- Publisher Greeting ( Korean Ver.)