From the Editor

With this volume, Anthropological Quarterly (AQ), an academic journal published since 1927, begins a process of reinvention. The journal, now published by the George Washington Institute for Ethnographic Research, has two missions: first, to publish the highest quality peer-reviewed ethnographic analyses, and second, to provide a forum for scholars within and outside the discipline of anthropology to respond to current events as public intellectuals.

AQ would like to help reframe what anthropologists publish. We have therefore added two board reviewed sections for public intellectual writing, "Social Thought and Commentary," and "Media." "Social Thought and Commentary," consists of essays ranging in length from 3 to 15 pages, in which scholars address an issue of their choice. Along with publishing outstanding data driven anthropology, AQ asks writers to contribute to on-going public debates relevant to contemporary experiences, not only because we live and work in societies with such varied problems as war, racism, poverty, nationalism, globalization, and the implications of new genetic technologies, but because we need to add our voices to discourses dominated by journalists and a few scholars. The second section, "Media," provides a forum for scholars to write about film, theater, music, art, television, and other media. We encourage commentary on contemporary media, in particular, the problems associated with the public representation of culture, and the ways in which new media help to shape new social and cultural formations. The editorial process involved for both of these sections will allow us to publish the essays expeditiously.

We have also introduced an additional peer-reviewed section of articles on theoretically informed development anthropology, "Development in Theory," for studies of health care, ethics, human rights, and other development issues. Finally, our book review section will include some feature reviews of books just released, as opposed to the norm in which reviews appear sometimes years after books are published.

We are grateful for the extraordinary dedication of the anthropology staff of the Catholic University of America, who published this journal for 74 years, first as Primitive Man (1921-1953) and then under its current name from 1953 to the present. During the last decade, Phyllis Pease Chock has edited the journal, and she will remain on the masthead as Honorary Editor.

Finally, a note about this particular issue. The tragic events of September 11 stimulated many anthropologists to consider the cultural dimensions of terrorism, and, under the expert direction of Gautam Ghosh of the University Pennsylvania, the editorial staff and the contributors worked collaboratively to develop the essays published here. We appreciate Gautam Ghosh's vision in helping AQ produce this first section of "Social Thought and Commentary." We hope that these pieces, and the evocative photographs that accompany them, will engage readers to think about and contribute to the study of contemporary social problems.

Many thanks to all our readers and subscribers for their continued support.