MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION. In

1966, a group of American and Canadian scholars founded the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) to promote high standards of scholarship and instruction in the field of Middle East studies, to facilitate communication among scholars through meetings and publications, and to foster cooperation among individuals and organizations concerned with scholarly study of the Middle East. The organization covers the geographic area from the Atlantic to, and more recently including, Central Asia, as well as those lands in Europe once under Islamic political control. The chronological period covered by MESA begins with the rise of Islam, However, most scholarly activities focus on contemporary developments,

MESA publishes botli the International Journal of Middle East Studies and the MESA Newsletter four times a year; the MESA Bulletin appears twice a year. Topics of archaeological interest, announcements of conferences, and calls for papers are listed in the Newsletter. The names of those who participate in professional meetings and the titles of the papers presented at those meetings appear in an electronic form. Articles and book reviews related to Islamic archaeology are sometimes included in the Bulletin. Tables of contents, notes research and teaching resources, lists of recent conferences, and books in Middle East studies are available on tire MESA Bulletin gopher site (at Gopher. cua. edu) or via World Wide Web cormection to URL:Gopher://vmsgopher. cua. edu. 70/1 igopher_root_mesabul: [000000].