Student-run journal, ‘History in the Making,’ continues run of national recognition

Consistent? Yes. History making? Absolutely!

For the third year in a row, “History in the Making,” the student-run journal produced by Cal State San Bernardino history students, has been awarded second place in the national Phi Alpha Theta Nash Journal Competition in the Graduate Print Category.

The award also is the seventh-consecutive honor for the journal by the national honor society.

“History in the Making” is a collection of work from current students and recent graduates of CSUSB that is also edited by students. History faculty members Tiffany Jones (primary advisor) and Jeremy Murray worked with the student editorial board.

“This year’s journal invites discussion on the intersectionality of race, gender and history and its portrayal throughout history, depiction and propagandist material and its effect domestically and internationally,” Evy Zermeno, chief editor, wrote in the journal’s introduction. Its articles “speak to past historical events while signifying their importance to present and future historical discourse.”

"The work of the student editors and authors is different every year, reflecting the diversity of the field and its impressive emerging practitioners. But each year, the commitment to outstanding scholarship is remarkably consistent,” said Jeremy Murray, professor of history, who served as a faculty advisor with Tiffany Jones, also a professor of history.

“This is based on the experience and leadership of students like chief editor, Evy Zermeno, and many others, who learn from years past and improve with every issue,” Murray said. “The path to publication is sometimes a winding one, with considerable challenges of scheduling and professional differences to negotiate. The student editors and authors demonstrate a level of professionalism and maturity that is as impressive and resilient as any I have seen in the world of academic publishing, maybe more so."

The latest honor marks the seventh consecutive year that the journal was recognized by Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society. In 2023 and 2022, it was awarded second prize; in 2021, it was awarded third prize; in 2020 and 2019, it was awarded first prize, which followed the 2018 third prize in the honor society’s graduate print journal national competition – the first time “History in the Making” was entered in that category. 

And, as in 2023, this year’s awards in the graduate print category also represented a sweep by California State University campuses. In addition to CSUSB, Sacramento State’s “Clio” was awarded first place, Cal State East Bay’s “East Bay Historia” was awarded third place, and, for the second-consecutive year, Chico State’s “The Chico Historian” was named honorable mention.

It is also the 12th time the journal, which competes with journals from universities throughout the nation, has been recognized by the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society.

Prior to 2018, the journal had been awarded five Gerald D. Nash History Journal Awards in the undergraduate competition (third place in 2009 and 2013, second place in 2012 and 2015, and first place in 2014).

Serving with Zermeno on the 2024 editorial board were Randi Stoner, Ahlys Gandara, Lina Tejeda, Christina Monson, Margaret Phillips, Henry Sigman, Pamela Budinger, Devin Gillen, Gustavo Alonso Chamu, Kelly Noyola, Brandon Kaufmann and copyeditor, Gabrielle Velázquez.

Contributing to the journal were Jean Martinez, Ayden Kelly, Kathleen Boswell, Edgar Chavez Sosa, Edgar Noice, Ahlys Gandara, Leslie G. Madrigal, Gabrielle Velázquez, Lina Tejeda, Devin Gillen, Jessie Zepeda, Bshara Alsheik, Pamela Budinger, Isai J. Martinez, Martin Emmanuel Perez, Rhian Reyes, Henry Sigman, Morgan Hast, Fatima Vazquez, Evy Zermeno, Joanna Gonzales, Gustavo Alonso Chamu and Christina Monson.

In addition to its own webpage, the journal is available online on John M. Pfau Library’s ScholarWorks webpage.