We are thrilled to announce that the Fall/Winter and Spring 2024 issues of Animus Classics Journal are now available online (here and here) for viewing! This issue is the culmination of months of hard work by our authors, artists, peer reviewers, copy editors, and editors, and we could not be more proud to present this edition. Below is the Spring issue’s Letter from the Editors:
As empires rise and fall, and the Animus Board meetings move from Classics 021 to some room in Harper Memorial Library, we would like to take a moment to mention the people who have dedicated their time, energy, and efforts to the Winter 2024 issue of Animus.
Without fail, we are incredibly thankful for the continual support of our Animus staff and personnel. The tireless efforts of our Peer Reviewers, who, amidst an unprecedented number of submissions, ensured each of our authors received careful and insightful feedback, continue to impress us cycle after cycle. We are equally grateful for our keen-eyed Copy Editors, willing to take on anything from experimental poetry to hefty bibliographies and ensure every period is in (or out of) place. We thank you all for the endless hours you’ve contributed to making the journal what it is today.
We’d like to thank the Classics department as a whole for their guidance, support, and warmth. We have particularly relied on Kathy Fox and Professors Jonah Radding and Emily Austin for their consistent kindness and assistance throughout the publication cycle. We also appreciate the help of Classics Bibliographer Catherine Mardikes for archiving issues of Animus for posterity. It is also impossible to overlook the UChicago Student Government Committee, whose generous funding makes this issue possible.
We feel deeply fortunate for the amazing staff who have worked with us during this publication cycle. When we first introduced the Assistant Section Editors in our second volume, we were excited to bring more people into the Animus community, but we could not have imagined then how helpful and essential their presences would become in our weekly meetings. We are honored to have a truly excellent group of Assistant Section Editors, without whom the journal would not have been possible. We are particularly grateful for Bill Baker, Harris Lencz, Carrie Midkiff, and Will Zimmermann for consistently going above and beyond in supporting not just their Section Editors, but Animus as a whole. In this vein, our gratitude extends to Jonathan Yin and Anjali Jain, who have taken on the yoke of typesetting and designing our journal from Jacob Keisling, our previous Design Editor, whose presence is still felt in every page. We would also like to thank Gabriel Clisham and Elizabeth Harrison, who serve as the President and Vice President of the Classics Society this year. With their help, the Classics Society continues to grow, secure funding, and host events for the Classically inclined on campus.
In the course of this cycle, as we’ve welcomed our new Board and staff members, we’ve witnessed Animus flourish as a community–not just as a journal. Each Sunday, our members trek through the sleet, snow, and wintry slush to our warm room on campus, where we laugh, linger, connect, and commiserate–and yes, put together the journal you’re holding now. We are fortunate to have a group of bright, inquisitive, and thoughtful individuals working to bring Animus to you–from Penelope’s culinary experimentations to Gabriel’s storytelling, from Harris’s love of the New York Knicks to Esther’s research rollercoasters, the community we have created at Animus is a far cry from our Zoom-laden origins, and we could not be more grateful for the people with whom we share each Sunday afternoon.
Always yours,
Sarah M. Ware and Elizabeth Harrison