History

A brief history of the journal

In the minutes of the 50^th Boad meeting of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Sciences (PPGICH), held on March 12, 2004, under the chairmanship of coordinator Prof. Héctor R. Reis, the following is stated:

“Prof. Rafael Raffaelli reported a favorable opinion on the proposal to create the Program’s Electronic Journal. After several considerations by those present, it was agreed that the Journal should be launched soon, in line with the proposal presented by the doctoral students Cristina Rocha and Silmara Cimbalista. At the suggestion of Prof. Héctor, approved by the other faculty members, Prof. Rafael Raffaelli was nominated president of the Editorial Committee of the journal, as well as the names of the doctoral candidates Cristina Rocha and Silmara Cimbalista as associate editors.”

We can say that this is the founding act, which led to the launch of the first issue of our journal at the end of the first half of 2004. Since then, maintaining an uninterrupted annual publication frequency, INTERthesis has benefited from the valuable contributions of editors Rafael Raffaelli (2004), Paulo J. Krischke and Luzinete Simões Minella (2005), João Lupi (2006) and Sandra Caponi (2006 and 2007), Silmara Cimbalista and Selvino José Assmann (2008), soon aggregating Javier Ignacio Vernal among the editors (2012) – a team that led and continued the journal for over ten years. In 2024, Daniel Serravalle de Sá takes over as Editor-in-chief, just as the journal celebrates its 20^th anniversary.

It is essential to highlight the people who over the years have greatly contributed to the regularity and increasing qualification of INTERthesis journal: Silmara Cimbalista and Javier Ignacio Vernal, who began their respective contributions as doctoral students and associate editors, managing the journal even after completing their PhDs at UFSC. On September 30, 2017, the journal lost its Editor-in-chief, Prof. Selvino Assmann. Over the years, he never abandoned his extraordinary way of interacting with students and colleagues, nor did he stop looking at the world with curiosity and honesty. His work at the journal made it possible to publish the translations of texts written by contemporary and globally relevant philosophers, as well as to address and discuss essential topics related to the complexity of the human condition. In the first issue of 2018 (January/April), we paid our tribute by republishing the translations he made as editor of the journal; it was our way of honoring the unique work he left us. We greatly miss this extraordinary human being, both inside and outside the University.

We also highlight the valuable contribution of the Laboratory of Interdisciplinary Studies (LET) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, which, directed by the equally admired Prof. Paulo J. Krischke, who passed on July 5, 2021, provided significant support in the maintenance and publication of the journal for many years. Prof. Paulo Krischke, editor of INTERthesis in 2005, was deeply committed to the causes and struggles for human rights and was an unyielding critic of all forms of abuse of power and authoritarianism. His absence is deeply felt by students and colleagues.

In 2009, INTERthesis began publishing dossiers on the following themes: Interdisciplinarity; Gender studies; Society and the environment; The human condition in modernity. Starting with the first issue of 2016, INTERthesis inaugurated its new periodicity, becoming a quarterly publication and dividing the article sections according to the respective areas of concentration of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Sciences (PPGICH), namely: Human Condition and Health in Modernity; Gender and Sexualities Studies; Society, Environment, Migration, and Risk; Africa and its Diasporas.

Starting in January 2020, the journal began publishing on a continuous flow basis, accelerating the availability of accepted articles. Another change, coming from the UFSC Journals Portal, was the implementation of templates for articles, essays, and reviews, standardizing the visual identity of the University’s journals. The new templates created by the Portal team meet national and international scientific publication standards and also ensure the accessibility of articles for blind or visually impaired individuals.

INTERthesis is increasingly recognized as an important journal in the publication and dissemination of interdisciplinary studies in the field of Human Sciences. In its first twenty issues, 209 articles by Brazilian and international authors were published, including essays, in addition to 45 reviews and 10 translations of important texts by foreign authors.