About Agora

The Agora, an on-line publication of Lynchburg College and specializing in responses to the great books of the world, has become a national journal of undergraduate academic writing.  Aiming to integrate classical ideas and issues with contemporary ones, the Agora takes its title from the marketplace at the heart of classical Athens, where much of Athenian public life was carried on: mercantile exchange, performance, political debate, athletic contests, and the public worship of deities, all took place within the hustle and bustle of the Athenian agora.  Similarly, the journal seeks to be a marketplace for important ideas and issues.

The Agora editor invites students from colleges and universities who are members of the Association of Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) to submit their work for consideration.  Lynchburg College students in the LCSR program are encouraged to submit their papers.  The journal is competitive, with no more than fifteen articles published annually, including one essay in each issue featuring a piece of faculty writing that focuses on pedagogy.

Justin Lerche receives the LCSR Program Director's Award from Dean Sigler at the Academic Awards Banquet at Lynchburg College on April 11, 2008. Justin won this award for his paper entitled "Boumediene V. Bush," which Dr. Peggy Pittas, the LCSR Program Director, judged as the best essay dealing with a social problem in the 2008 Agora.

The Agora editorial committee awarded the Kendall North Award for the best essay in the 2008 Agora to Tao Tan for his essay, "Nobility of the Warrior: Etiquette, Empathy, and Emotion."