Editorial

Threads of Transformation: Unravelling Norms, Reweaving Futures

Grace Fisher, University of Warwick

It is with great excitement that I welcome you to volume 18 issue 1, the first issue of Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research in 2025, and my first as Editor. The continued success of Reinvention reflects the collaborative efforts of students, researchers and reviewers dedicated to expanding the boundaries of undergraduate scholarship. The theme of this issue, ‘Threads of Transformation: Unravelling Norms, Reweaving Futures’, weaves together a range of papers that interrogate the structures of society, culture and health. Each piece reflects on the forces – both visible and invisible – that shape personal identities and collective systems. These threads do not merely describe change; they compel us to understand transformation as something complex, layered and profoundly human.

Before diving into the articles, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the dedicated work of our editorial team, peer reviewers and contributors. This journal is a collaborative effort, and I am continually inspired by the rigour and creativity that emerges from our undergraduate researchers.

In this issue, we present to you four original interdisciplinary research papers and a guest article.

We begin with ‘You Are What You Eat: Depraved Food and Chinese Queer Kinship in The River (1997), which presents a bold and critical reading of Asian cinema through the lens of familial structures and taboo. This paper invites us to examine how cultural narratives are both shaped by and resistant to tradition, particularly when viewed through the embodied symbol of food.

Turning to public health, ‘Age and Racial Disparities Persist for Gonorrhoea and Chlamydia in the United States’ offers a valuable overview of sexually transmitted infections across states, highlighting shifting patterns and health disparities. This work not only contributes epidemiological insight but also raises broader questions about healthcare access and education.

Our final research article, ‘The Current State of the Healthy Start Food Voucher Scheme in the South West of England’ presents findings from a qualitative study with stakeholders. It brings policy into conversation with community, showing how top-down interventions interact with the realities of food insecurity on the ground.

The guest article ‘Breaking into Academic Publishing: Creating a credible, quality and publishable article’, written by Exchanges Editor in Chief, Dr Gareth Johnson provides insight into the common pitfalls, along with practical guidance and commentary what student researcher to post graduate researchers need to consider, as they submit articles to academic journals and take the next steps to transform their writing for publication success.

Together, these articles unravel the threads of transformation across continents, disciplines and experiences. They offer frameworks that challenge, inform and expand how we think about belonging, survival and systemic change.

As a final-year medical student, I have come to appreciate the critical role of interdisciplinary thought in creating compassionate, informed solutions. This journal is a space where such thought flourishes.