General Editor’s Note: Special Issues
Issue 58.3 is the first “Special Issue” in the history of the Symposium, and we are delighted to welcome in this new era of collaboration as we host guest editors and themed articles. Since Special Issues are focused on a particular topic, they are beneficial to the unique disciplines of our readership. Both professionals and scholars can explore a concept on a more detailed level while gaining the insight of varied outlooks which are all presented in one place. As other scholarly publications recognize, these pointed issues benefit readers and authors as they communicate useful information, but they also buoy the health of journals since they attract a fair amount of interest and are often referenced time and again. Ideas for Special Issues can come from many sources. The Symposium may invite leading scholars to write a group of articles on a topic that is particularly relevant, or a special issue can be developed from noteworthy papers and presentations at conferences, symposia, or workshops, or the Symposium might solicit a “Call for Special Issue Proposals.”
Quality can never be sacrificed, so all Symposium Special Issue articles must follow the guidelines and standards of the journal. Authors must prepare original, well-written work that is of significance to Symposium readership. Guest editors (one or more per issue) must ensure that all manuscripts receive rigorous peer review and that ethical standards of academic publishing are met.
Because of our commitment to the regular Symposium issues and the need to avoid annual backlog, we aim for not more than one special issue a year. It is of note, since articles are assigned to a fixed issue in advance, deadlines are of the utmost importance. For more information, contact the General Editor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Last modified on Tuesday, 07/04/2020
Lisa A. Urkevich, General Editor
Lisa Urkevich, PhD is Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology and former founding Division Head (Dean) of Arts and Humanities and founding Chair of the Department of Music and Drama at the American University of Kuwait (AUK). She also regularly serves as an advisor for a myriad of international government and private sector initiatives in the performing arts and education. She specializes in the music of the Arabian Peninsula as well as Renaissance music and is the author of several publications, including Music and Traditions of the Arabian Peninsula (Routledge 2015), and “Anne Boleyn’s French Motet Book: A Childhood Gift” (Paris-Sorbonne 2011). Before joining AUK, she was a fulltime professor at Boston University where she held a joint position in the College of Fine Arts, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She has taught at several institutions including Bucknell University and the University of Maryland. She is a former editor of the International CPE Bach Edition and for seven years was the Film/Video Reviews Editor of the Yearbook for Traditional Music (UNESCO). She is recipient of the Alumna of the Year Award at the University of Maryland and is 2015 Harvard University Fellow. She holds four degrees: PhD University of Maryland; MM Florida State University; BS Towson University; BA University of Maryland Baltimore County.