In This Issue
The current issue of the Review of Middle East Studies (RoMES) features two interim reports on contemporary research projects. The first summarizes a roundtable discussion on “Islam, security, and the State in Central Asia,” organized by David W. Montgomery and John Heathershaw in Washington, DC, in 2015. The second is a special section on the Muslim Subjectivities Project based at Southern Denmark University in Odense. The project includes participating scholars and researchers elsewhere in Europe, North America, and the Muslim world. The four articles begin with a rich discussion of theories of subjectivity formation in the social sciences and humanities. Following the opening essay on theories of modern subjectivity formation by the director of the project, Diectrich Jung, two project participants report on their ongoing fieldwork in Muslim communities in India and the United States. A third reports on her research on the formation of Muslim women's subjectivities in Egypt. As this issue of RoMES goes to press, an international conference on the “Formations of Middle Eastern Subjectivities” is also taking place at The Tenth Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.
Film receives special attention in the present issue. Readers will find, in addition to a film review, two review essays on Arab and Muslim films and film making. The emerging focus on film is the work of Nadia Yaqub at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, RoMES’ associate editor for film and performance. Another theme we are working to develop in future issues is the growing impact of Internet Technology on teaching and research in Middle East studies.
In this issue, readers will also find thirty-two book reviews and nine shorter Briefly Noted reviews.
RoMES Now Indexed in ESCI
We were happy to learn that RoMES will be indexed and abstracted in the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). ESCI is a new addition to the Thompson and Reuters Web of Science Indices in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. From the 2015 issues on, RoMES will be searchable by Thompson and Reuters library search engines, which will expose RoMES authors and their works to a much wider network of researchers. As we understand it, the content of RoMES articles will be considered also for inclusion in other, more established, Thompson and Reuters Web of Science Indices, such as the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)® and the Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI)®. MESA's Review of Middle East Studies is gaining valuable recognition in the scholarly world.
Office Staff Changes
A shout out to Amanda (Mandy) Wright Cron, who is leaving RoMES at the end of August to pursue professional career goals. Mandy started as assistant editor when RoMES moved to Virginia Tech in 2013. She resigned a couple of years later in order to concentrate on doctoral studies. Chris Calorusso was then hired as managing editor. An experienced academic journal editor, Chris reorganized the office and helped prepare for the transition to digital publication with Cambridge Journals Online. When Chris had to leave her post with RoMES for personal reasons, Mandy came back to manage the office. The past eight months have been difficult in the office as Mandy and I have worked to learn the new system designed by Chris and the interface with editors and staff at Cambridge. Thanks, Mandy, for your service to MESA and RoMES! A search is currently underway for a managing editor. Bear with us as we strive to achieve continuity in change.
