Today’s post comes from Lindsay Van Horn, a PhD candidate in political theory at Princeton University who recently completed an internship in the Marketing Department through Princeton’s GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowship program. In this post, Lindsay reflects on her experience and what she will carry with her as she pursues a future career in academic publishing.
The late stages of a PhD program are often times of great uncertainty: as I was staring down my final year at Princeton last spring, “what comes next?” was the big question looming over my head. For PhD students who want to explore options outside of academia, GradFUTURES at Princeton offers a range of experiential fellowships with partner organizations in the region, including with Penn Press!
During my seven months as a Social Impact Fellow with the Marketing Department, I learned so much about the world and work of academic publishing from a team that was as professional as they were kind (shout-out to Clint, Peter, Tracy, Malai, and Kim!). Much of this work centered around Greater Philadelphia: A New History for the Twenty-First Century, a landmark three-volume history released in October. From gathering marketing contacts, to combing through permissions info, to highlighting contributors on social media, I am proud I could play a role in the official launch of such an important project.
Exceptionally rich in history and culture, the Greater Philadelphia area is also particularly close to my heart. Both my parents were born and raised in Camden County, New Jersey—my dad in Pennsauken, my mom in Cherry Hill. My mom commuted into Philly every day for a decade via the PATCO Speedline, “a model of transit innovation” when it first opened in 1969 (see John Hepp’s excellent entry in Volume 1 of Greater Philadelphia). Likewise, my dad got his first job out of high school at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard (expertly covered by Jim Saksa in Volume 2), working there for over thirty years before being transferred to San Diego, California, where I was born and raised. As a child I vividly remember receiving “Philly care packages” from family, replete with Tastykakes, Herr’s potato chips, soft pretzels, and, of course, Eagles and Phillies merch (Philly’s sports teams also have their own entry in Greater Philadelphia!). Growing up I even (not so secretly) longed to live back here, not least because of the vibrant music scene and the many bands I loved who were from Eastern PA and South Jersey. (Side note: if you’ve never heard of The Wonder Years, I’d highly recommend checking them out—they’re Philadelphia pop-punk legends.)
All of this is to say, my time at Penn Press felt like a real homecoming of sorts, and I will be forever grateful for the experience. As I look forward to defending my dissertation in the coming months, I feel more confident than ever about pursuing a career in academic publishing. And no matter where I end up, Greater Philadelphia will always occupy a special spot on my bookshelf.
