Launched in March 2021, Conceptions Review is interested in the ideas people have about society and in the consequences of these ideas. We seek accessible and standalone articles about conception-bending ideas and about popular misconceptions. We are open to fields ranging from musicology to history to mathematics to insectology and everything in between.

While the arguments presented do not necessarily have to be wholly original, submissions to Conception Review must be previously unpublished. All written submissions should typically be around 1000 to 1500 words. Use hyperlinks throughout instead of footnotes or parenthetical citations. 

Works we publish will often be by writers with advanced degrees, but Conceptions Review recognizes that such formal training alone does not make one an expert. 

The purpose of this website is to generate conversations and to provide a platform for public-facing scholarship. Being ad-free and free to readers, the editors are not earning anything from Conceptions Review, but we still attempt to supply some form of compensation for our contributors, most often this is a physical copy of the original art attached to the article. The costs for running this website are absorbed by the editor and the associate editor. 

After submitting a prospective work, we will confirm receipt of submission within 48 hours and typically a determination of whether or not Conceptions Review can move forward with your piece. 

If you have questions, feel free to contact the Editor, ajpegoda[at]central.uh.edu or use the contact form below.

Editorial Board

Andrew Joseph Pegoda (“AJP”), editor, is an interdisciplinary scholar with particular interests in teaching and in writing. Pegoda has a PhD and MA in History, a MA in English, and teaches women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, religious studies, and English at the University of Houston. Pegoda has had articles appear in Time, The Washington Post, History News Network, and elsewhere. 

Timothy Seiter, associate editor, is a PhD candidate in the Clements Department of History at Southern Methodist University. He is writing a history of the Karankawa Indians of Texas and is also working on a social history of eighteenth-century presidial soldiers. His latest article, “The Karankawa-Spanish War from 1778 to 1789: Attempted Genocide and Karankawa Power,” appears in the SHQ.

Bridget Fernandes, assistant editor, is an anthropologist who studies social justice, prison reform, immigration policy, and the importance of dialogue in education. She currently teaches introduction to women’s studies at the University of Houston and has also taught anthropology courses at a men’s prison and English as a Second Language in the Somalian refugee community in Houston, Texas, and to business people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She believes in creating a writing and education space for people to empower themselves to learn and make social change.

Conceptions Review has three origin points. 

First, Tim Seiter and Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda have both wanted to collaborate on some kind of scholastic project and this project works for both of their interests. 

Another origin point was in September 2019. Dr. Pegoda made a random post in a Facebook group for college educators. This post asked: What is something “everyone” thinks is true but that as an expert in your field you know is not true and is important for others to know? The response was overwhelming.

Conceptions Review also grew out of a passion for public writing. As scholars, we believe that scholarship should not be locked behind paywalls or written in dense jargon. We promote the free exchange of information to the greatest extent possible.