Introducing The Digital Orientalist 2024/2025 Team

It has been another busy and exciting year for The Digital Orientalist. Our 10th anniversary was a special occasion, marked by the introduction of several new features that have our enhanced our platform and expanded our reach. We launched the Editor’s Digest, a recurring feature where our area editors take turns outlining pieces from their team. Our monthly Newsletter offers a recap of recently published pieces on the DO alongside updates on the latest announcement and developments—both from our team and more widely. We have also introduced a donation page, allowing readers to support our mission, and opened the doors wider for guest contributions through our new submission page.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed their time and expertise—our editors, contributors, guest writers, and social media team—each playing a crucial role in advancing our mission and shaping The Digital Orientalist into the vibrant community it is today.

Welcome the New Editorial Team

As we enter our second decade, we are excited to announce significant changes in our team structure.

First, we extend our heartfelt thanks to Maddalena Poli, whose tenure as Editor-in-Chief has been transformative. Maddalena spearheaded many of the changes mentioned above, and her efforts in expanding and diversifying our team have set a high standard. We’re truly grateful for all her work and support. Rachael Griffiths will take over as Editor-in-Chief this year, having previously served as Editor for Central and South Asian Studies.

We’ve had another busy summer of recruitment, further expanding our team and nearly doubling the size of our editorial team. Along with this growth, we have undergone some restructuring.

The Digital Orientalist continues to be made up of four area studies: Middle Eastern and African Studies, Central Asian and South Asian Studies, Chinese Studies, and Northeast Asian Studies. The Middle Eastern and African Studies section, a cornerstone of DO since its founding by Cornelis van Lit, remains our largest team and has now been divided into three distinct sub-teams:

• Jonathan Robker will serve as Managing Editor for Middle Eastern and African Studies, overseeing all three teams within this area.
• Shiva Mihan transitions from contributor to Editor for African Studies, and will also continue to write pieces related to Persian Studies.
• Maria Thomas, a new addition to DO, joins us as Editor for Middle Eastern Studies.
• Sara Zanotta, another new addition to the team, takes on the role of Editor for Persian, Turkic, and Biblical Studies.

In Central and South Asian Studies, Daniel Wojahn will step into the role of Editor. Daniel joined us last year and has authored pieces on a range of topics broadly relating to digital humanities and Tibetan Studies.

James H. Morris and Mariana Zorkina, both well-known members of DO team, will continue their roles as Editor for Northeast Asian Studies and Editor for Chinese Studies, respectively.  

To support our growing annual conferences and their proceedings, we’re pleased to introduce Hirohito Tsuji as Conference Manager and Editor, who will also continue to write pieces related to Japanese Studies.

Social Media Team

Melina Katsoulakis and Niels Lee are continuing as our Social Media Managers, and Qianhui Ma remains as a Social Media Editor. We are also pleased to continue our DO Newsletter. Have a publication or announcement you’d like to share? Get in touch with us here.

Contributors and Guest Contributors

We are thrilled to welcome back many familiar faces and introduce some new ones:

Returning Contributors and Guest Contributors:

• Joanne Bernardi – Japanese Studies
• Erica Biagetti – Indian Studies
• Elizabeth Bishop – North African Studies
• Zachary Butler – Bible Studies
• Alice Casalini – Central Asian Studies
• Raúl Cervera Álvarez – Japanese Studies
• Rohan Chauhan – South Asian Studies
• Helen Giunashvili – Iranian Studies
• Ephrem Ishac – Syriac Studies
• Emma Kiey – Japanese Studies
• So Miyagawa – African Studies
• Adrian Plau – Indian Studies
• Roshane Shahbaz –South Asian Studies
• Dena Shamsizadeh – Middle Eastern Studies
• Tomasz Sleziak – Korean Studies
• Agnes Sung – Central Asian Studies
• Soni Wadhwa – South Asian Studies
• Lu Wang – Chinese Studies
• Anais Wion – African Studies
• Zezhou Yang – Nepalese Studies

New Contributors and Guest Contributors:

• Aida Alavi – Middle Eastern Studies
• Virgine Borges de Castilho Sacoman – Korean Studies
• Eric Chow – Chinese Studies
• Aizat Ishembieva – Central Asian Studies
• Gursimran Kaur Butalia – South Asian Studies
• Maciej Kurzynski – Chinese Studies
• Ilyes Mechentel – Middle Eastern Studies
• Edward A. S. Ross – Central Asian Studies
• Emine Turkmen – Ottoman and Turkish Studies
• Brian Tsz Ho Wong – Northeast Asian Studies

Other Changes

In addition to the expansion of the team, starting this year the financial responsibility for and ownership of The Digital Orientalist is being passed from our founder Cornelis van Lit to long-term team member James H. Morris. Reflecting this change The Digital Orientalist will now be published out of Japan rather than the Netherlands.

Looking Ahead

As we step into this new year, we are looking forward to learning more and sharing our experiences and understandings of methodologies, tools, and research. We invite our readers to contribute to The Digital Orientalist by submitting their own work through our submission page.

Here’s to another decade!