A Vision for the Sundial (Archived)

a digital publication of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

(June 2022 Editor’s Note: With the publication of our updated Sundial Mission and Resources, we have decided to archive our original mission and pitch guide but leave it available to readers for historical purposes. If you are interested in pitching to or learning more about The Sundial, please visit the Sundial Mission and Guide.)

I’m taking over as Managing Editor of The Sundial in a particularly fraught moment. Around the world, we’re witnessing the alarming effects of rising extreme nationalism and white supremacy, raging environmental catastrophes brought on by human-made climate change, and structural systems that continue to reinforce inequalities based on race, gender, class, sexuality, and more. It feels difficult, if not herculean, to find hope in our current moment, not just in Arizona or in America, but around the globe. To yield to despair, however, seems like exactly the thing we cannot do. In moments like these, we might ask: what good does studying premodern pasts do for us in the present? How can narratives and experiences from hundreds of years ago help us make sense of today’s issues? What relevance could they possibly have to us?

These are some of the big questions that our contributors work to tackle in The Sundial. I chose the tagline “Premodern Pasts, Inclusive Futures” because it highlights one of the missions of not just The Sundial, but of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies: inclusivity. However, to begin seriously addressing these questions means a commitment to difficult conversations, uncomfortable moments, and hard work. As Sierra Lomuto recently argued we cannot let terms like “global,” “diversity,” or “inclusion” become tokenistic stand-ins for the structural changes needed at all levels. One way that ACMRS is working to promote this is by providing greater access, as many noted following our livestreaming of RaceB4Race.

The Sundial is another platform we’ve created to help facilitate access, a place for new audiences to find new work and begin new conversations, but ideally it will be more than that. The Sundial should be a space for authors to write for broader audiences and gain greater exposure for their work. It is a space for writers to try out new, daring, risky ideas, no matter where they might be at in their career. Above all, it will be a space where we all begin to have those difficult conversations and experience those uncomfortable moments, where we do the hard work of thinking about what inclusivity is and should mean for all of us, and where we start envisioning inclusive futures.

As Managing Editor, my job is to collaborate with you, from thinking with you about the public value of your work to making your work accessible to broader audiences to helping those audiences find your work and enter the conversation. Consider this an invitation to collaborate with us in The Sundial, not only to envision inclusive futures, but to make them a reality.

-Geoff Way, Managing Editor of The Sundial

Pitching to The Sundial

Thinking about pitching to The Sundial? Take a look at some of our published pieces online, and send us your pitch at acmrs.sundial@asu.edu.

As a digital, public-facing publication, we consider pitches for pieces of 1,000–1,500 words in length. Any images provided need to be high resolution, and for which you own the rights, have permission to use, or is in the public domain. We also ask that all sources be embedded into your piece as hyperlinks.

A strong pitch will

• Introduce you. We want to know who you are, where you are (your affiliation), and what you do (your position or rank). This will help give us a sense of the origin and approach for your pitch, but this information will never factor into our decision to publish your work.
• Introduce your writing. We’ll be considering the strength of your writing in the pitch itself as a part of our process, so make sure the voice and tone of your pitch fit with The Sundial. Our pieces are accessible, and your pitch is the first indication of how accessible your writing will be for Sundial readers.
• Situate the piece as part of a conversation. Feel free to provide links to other articles in your pitch to offer a sense of the conversation. We strongly encourage linking to other articles in your piece!
• Be specific and focused. Pitches should be short (1–2 paragraphs on your idea, and 1 paragraph introducing yourself and telling us who you are).
• If you still need help, there are a number of great resources online for pitching articles, such as this excellent guide from Eidolon.

Some common pitching mistakes

• Treating the pitch as an abstract. A pitch is not an abstract.
• The pitch is too short, not providing a clear idea on what your piece will be about.
• Submitting a long piece that you plan to revise instead of a pitch.
• The voice and tone do not fit The Sundial. We highly recommend reading a few published Sundial pieces to get a sense of how your work fits with us.

About The Sundial and ACMRS: The Sundial is a digital publication showcasing some of the most forward-thinking public humanities work in the fields of premodern studies. The essays we publish highlight ways we can use our premodern pasts to engage with and interrogate our understanding of the world today. The Sundial provides a home for diverse voices and is committed to hosting conversations and promoting dialogues that point us to different, more inclusive, futures. As part of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, we work to promote the most expansive, creative and daring scholarship in medieval and renaissance studies.