Middle East Studies Association
| Abbreviation | MESA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1966 |
| Type | learned society |
| Location | |
|
President
|
Nathan Brown |
| Website | mesana.org |
Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-political association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom."
MESA was founded in 1966 with 50 original members. Its current membership exceeds 2,900 and it "serves as an umbrella organization for more than sixty institutional members and thirty-nine affiliated organizations". It is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Council of Area Studies Associations, and a member of the National Humanities Alliance.
Regions of interest to MESA members include Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab world from the seventh century to modern times. Spain, Southeastern Europe, the Soviet Union and other regions also are included for the periods in which their territories were part of the Middle Eastern empires or were under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization. Historians comprise the largest group of disciplinary specialists in MESA followed by political science/international relations, anthropology, and language and literature. The interdisciplinary gender and sexuality studies group is quite strong.
The current president is Nathan Brown, George Washington University.
The International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) is a quarterly journal published by Cambridge University Press under the auspices of MESA. The editor is Akram Khater of North Carolina State University.
The Review of Middle East Studies (RoMES) is MESA’s journal of review. MESA policy has established the focus of RoMES as the state of the craft in all fields of Middle East studies. The Editor is Richard C. Martin and the journal is based at Virginia Tech.
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