By Peter McKellar
“Borrowed Earth,” perhaps the only student academic journal combining both literature and scientific research, is seeking to examine environmental issues in the context of doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“The journal has a lot of different focuses,” said JoAnn Valenti, a faculty advisor for the journal. “There”s everything from literature to research reports to poetry.”
The first issue of the journal, which debuted this week, contains the literary and scientific work of 15 BYU students.
Twelve other student volunteers put together the journal under the direction of Johanna Buchart, the journal”s editor.
Buchart, 23, a senior from Toronto, Canada, said it is important to explore environmental issues from both scientific and literary viewpoints.
“You can”t discretely tuck environmental issues into any one field,” she said. “They bleed over into each other,”
Although new, the journal owes part of its heritage and content to a previous environmental journal, Journal of Environmental Studies, another BYU publication that has not been published for over five years.
Articles from two unpublished issues of the old journal were combined with new writings to create the first issue of “Borrowed Earth.”
But Buchart said the new journal offers distinct advantages over its predecessor.
“The Journal of Environmental Studies was limited to science fields,” she said, “Some of us who are working on this are in the humanities fields and we wanted to have something that we could discuss from our background as well.”
In addition, “Borrowed Earth” adds a religious perspective, which Buchart said is unique and beneficial, especially to the BYU community because many church members incorrectly associate environmentalism with the radical left.
“It is practicing our religion to have an environmental conscience and inform ourselves on these issues,” she said.
Valenti agrees that the journal”s focus is unique.
“It fills a niche that is not yet occupied at the university,” she said.
“It offers an opportunity for students in conservation or environmental science to publish their findings but it is also open to students in literature.”
The next issue of the journal will be published during Spring Term, and subsequent issues will be published each semester beginning next fall.
Copies of the journal may be purchased for $1.50 inside the south entrance of the Jesse Knight Humanities Building, or on the fourth floor of the Widtsoe Building.
