Humanities Express

Jones’s New Edition of Major Encyclopedia Debuts to Rave Reviews

Lindsay Jones, Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies, has served as editor in chief for the revised second edition of the Encyclopedia of Religion, recently published by Macmillan Reference. With more than 3,000 articles, this 15-volume collection will soon be found in almost every university library’s reference section. This is the first major update of the award-winning Encyclopedia since it was compiled by noted scholar Mircea Eliade in the 1980’s and chosen as one of the Library Journal’s most important reference works of the last millennium. The new edition features some 500 new topics, nearly 1,000 new articles, and 1.5 million more words than the original. Scholars from around the world are congratulating Jones on his monumental achievement. As one writes, "few scholars would have had the requisite combination of sheer breadth of knowledge, ability to work as a team leader, and stoic work ethic to have accomplished what Dr. Jones has done in this project."

As editor in chief, Jones provided intellectual oversight of the project, including assembling a world-class editorial board and hundreds of contributors, among them several colleagues from the College of Humanities and Ohio State University’s libraries, including Michael Swartz (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures), who also served as associate editor with oversight of more than 200 Judaica entries; Hugh Urban (Comparative Studies), who also served as consultant for a section on politics and religion; Marti Alt and Erika Bourguignon (both, University Libraries); Daniel Frank (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures); Matt Goldish (History); Fritz Graf (Greek and Latin); Eugene Holland (French and Italian and Comparative Studies); Sarah Iles Johnston (Greek and Latin); Margaret Mills (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures); Patrick Mullen (English); and Sabra Webber (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Comparative Studies).

The new edition preserves and expands the cross-cultural approach of its predecessor but updates that work to reflect numerous changes in the field of religious studies. Among the topics covered are Buddhism, Ecology and Religion, Feminist Theology, Gender and Religion, Mary Magdalene, Muhammad, Physics and Religion, Sexuality, and UFO Religions. For more information about the contents of the Encyclopedia, see http://www.gale.com/servlet/ItemDetailServlet?region=9&imprint=000&titleCode=M81&type=4&id=180634.