Volume 4, Issue 2 (2025)

Editor's Notes

Since the Confluence’s founding as a Lindenwood student research journal in 2021, we have published four volumes and eight issues, showcasing the scholarship of 49 Lindenwood University students. Their contributions have reached a global audience, with downloads by more than 2,000 institutions across 164 countries. Through the Confluence, Lindenwood students are establishing an international presence and making meaningful contributions to their respective fields.

Over the past several years, it has been a privilege to support our students as they navigate the process of academic publishing and develop confidence as emerging scholars. I am deeply grateful to the dedicated reviewers and editorial team members whose feedback and mentorship have been vital to the Confluence’s growth and to our authors’ success.

As I conclude my term as Editor-in-Chief, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Sara Kaufman, Assistant Professor of Communications in the College of Arts and Humanities at Lindenwood University, as the Confluence’s next Editor-in-Chief. She earned her Ph.D. from the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. Her research broadly focuses on interpersonal communication, and she is particularly interested in issues related to grief, death and dying and the role of animals in human social life. Her work has been published in OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, Handbook of Research on Communication Strategies for Taboo Topics, Death Studies and The Routledge Handbook of Public Speaking Research and Theory. Dr. Kaufman brings exceptional expertise and vision to this role, and I am confident that under her leadership, the Confluence and our students will continue to flourish.