Periodicals, Undergraduate Research, and Disciplinary Futures: The Promise of Course-Embedded Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs)

Abstract: This article argues that periodical studies offers extraordinary potential to enrich student learning through creating collaborative research opportunities and making these integral to course pedagogy. After describing how undergraduate research has become recognized as an established best practice in higher education, the article notes that, even though English has lagged behind other disciplines in adopting it, periodicals are especially well-suited sites for student research. In particular, they are readily adoptable for course-embedded undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) that can engage undergraduates both in and beyond the major, as the description of a Victorian literature course taught at the University of Delaware demonstrates. The article concludes by arguing that creating such experiences is ever more important for demonstrating the value of English studies at a time of declining enrollments and when the discipline is facing growing threats from beyond the academy.