From the Mast-Head

Abstract

From the Mast-Head Brian Yothers We begin a new year and a new three-year cycle of Leviathan issues this spring. This new cycle for Leviathan corresponds with new terms for the leadership of The Melville Society as a whole, and I want to pause for a moment in this column to thank our Society leadership from the least three years, as this last three-year cycle has posed challenges of the sort that scholarly societies and journals do not routinely encounter, not least because of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has set the terms for our work in many ways since March of 2020. We have a great deal to celebrate as we begin our new cycle, from a highly successful conference in Paris that constitutes much of the subject matter for this issue to the fact that we are now celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary as a journal, as indicated by the twenty-fifth anniversary logo on our cover designed by Karen Coughlin in consultation with Mary Alice Fallon Yeskey. The Melville Society has benefited immensely from the commitment of its officers and committee members, not only to keeping the Society going, but also to ensuring that the growth and development of the Society and journal continue. I want to begin by thanking our officers and committee members from the last three years. Our three presidents, Samuel Otter, Timothy Marr, and Rodrigo Lazo, have all helped to ensure the strength of the organization during the pandemic and have gone beyond the traditionally ceremonial role of president in their contributions to the flourishing of The Melville Society. Our Executive Secretary of the last three years, Matthew Rebhorn, faced the challenging situation of stepping into his role at the beginning of the pandemic and offering leadership to a Society that was only able to resume meeting in person in the middle of 2022. Our Associate Secretary for Programs and Conferences, Meredith Farmer, had instituted a travel grant program in 2019 that she not only maintained, but expanded during the pandemic years, greatly aiding scholars seeking to travel to our 2022 conference in Paris. Many senior members of the Society contributed generously to the travel grant program, enabling the conference to be as broadly inclusive as possible. Zachary Hutchins, our Treasurer for the last three years, also stepped into an unexpectedly challenging situation and responded with grace and determination in addressing the Society’s finances. Robert K. Wallace and Christopher Sten maintained a flourishing Melville Society Cultural Project throughout the pandemic years, laying [End Page 1] a foundation for continued contributions by the MSCP. Kelly Ross, our at-large member in the Executive Committee was consistently a sharp and thoughtful contributor to our discussions, as Jennifer Greiman, her predecessor in that role, moved on to doing superb work as Leviathan’s new Associate Editor. Our officers from 2020–2022 accomplished a great deal under inclement circumstances, as we redefined our relationship to Johns Hopkins University Press as a Member Society, reworked the Society’s dues structure, and commissioned the redesign of the Society website, all in the service of the continued flourishing of The Melville Society at a time when the humanities as a whole have often seemed under attack. We are excited to welcome our new Executive Committee members: John Wenke as President, Dawn Coleman as Executive Secretary, Steven Olsen-Smith as Treasurer (Society members may recall that Steve has served in this role before, and we are grateful for his return to the role), and Emilio Irigoyen as member-at-large. Robert K. Wallace, Meredith Farmer, Jennifer Greiman, and I will continue in our roles from the last three years, and we offer special thanks to Matthew Rebhorn, Zachary Hutchins, Christopher Sten, and Kelly Ross for their service to the Society over the last term. Our committees have also done important work over the last three years. Of particular note is the work that Carie Schneider has done as the chair of our Communications Committee and our new Web Editor in overseeing the updating and revamping of our website, and we are very grateful to Adam Fales, Chip Badley, and Kassie Jo Badon for their...