Sean Rushton
Imagine yourself plumbing the ocean’s depths to find new life forms, creating the branding campaign for the next best-selling video game, or discovering a way to save the environment from further
From left to right, Nancy Ceresia, editor; François Chapleau, publisher; and Louise Jubinville, associate editor.
global warming.
As publisher of the University of Ottawa’s Imagine magazine, François Chapleau wants teens across Canada to do just that — imagine.
“With Imagine, our aim is to demystify higher education for teens by showing them what we do at the University in their language,” says Chapleau, who is also the University’s registrar and associate vice-president of Strategic Enrollment Management. “We want Imagine to engage young students with topics that are relevant and of interest to them, to have them say, ‘Hey, they’re doing that at university?’”
The magazine, which celebrated its first anniversary in October, is Canada’s only university magazine written specifically with a multidisciplinary focus for 13- to 17-year-olds.
While there are other youth-oriented research magazines available, Chapleau and others at the University felt there was a need to publish a magazine that popularized the entire breadth of cutting-edge research that occurs at a university — not just science, but also arts, humanities and social sciences.
It’s a need that Nancy Ceresia, Imagine’s editor, strives to fulfill as she lines up stories for each of the magazine’s three issues published each year.
“The idea behind Imagine is to tell research-related stories in ways that relate to what is important in a teen’s life,” says Ceresia. “We do this not only by keeping topics current, but also by examining them from a variety of angles. So far, we’ve discussed identity, the environment, communication and freedom.”
By looking at issues in new and unexpected ways, Imagine encourages students to re-think what they already know. Each issue examines a new topic, picks it apart, critiques it, and encourages readers to send in their comments and opinions.
Imagine’s subscription base includes high school students who participated in the University’s mini-enrichment courses program.
“For one week, the mini-courses bring our target audience of Grades 8 and 9 students right to our doorstep,” says Ceresia. “It’s a perfect environment to introduce the magazine. These students find themselves in a new environment where they can learn things that are beyond the high school curriculum.”
From the outset, this was one of the magazine’s goals.
“We would like Imagine to become a reference for students and teachers alike, providing them with project ideas and discussion points in the classroom,” says Chapleau. “That’s why we list additional readings with most articles, so that some of the more challenging topics can be explored in depth.”
Feedback on Imagine has been overwhelmingly positive during the magazine’s first year. With an eye to the future, Ceresia and Chapleau plan to build the magazine’s Web presence and thereby move towards a more interactive format.
Imagine is published in October, February and June. You can subscribe free of charge at www.imagine.uOttawa.ca.
