From the Editors

Recently things have been quieter than usual on Arcade as we have worked on a major redesign and an upgrade to our software. When we introduce the new site in a few weeks, Arcade will be easier to navigate, more fluid in its structure, and better integrated with social media.

I am delighted to announce the publication of two new issues of Occasion: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities.  Number 3 is entitled "Intellectuals and the State," and features essays by Antonis Balasopoulos, Alberto Toscano, Neferti Tadiar, Ashis Nandy, Timothy Brennan, Gopal Balakrishnan and others, covering a wide range of national, intellectual, and political arenas.

Like everyone else, I'm following the events at UVa with great interest and concern.

"Besides broad philosophical differences, they had at least one specific quibble: They felt Sullivan lacked the mettle to trim or shut down programs that couldn’t sustain themselves financially, such as obscure academic departments in classics and German."

The Modern Language Association has just released new author agreements for its journals (most notable among them PMLA) in which authors will hold copyright to their own work, and are explicitly granted permission to make their work accessible in open-access institutional repositories.

Influential since its founding in 1988, the journal Public Culture is adjusting its format to become more "open-ended."

Has the movement for open access in publishing reached a milestone?

One of our readers recently complained to me that Arcade doesn't have a search function.

Today, January 18, a number of sites including Wikipedia and Reddit have gone dark in protest of the United States Congress's consideration of H.R. 3261, the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and S. 968, the "Protect IP Act."

It's been a dramatic few weeks, as the Occupy protests have converged with the demonstrations for public education that have been ongoing for the past few years.