vi Advisers and Contributors Islamic Law and Society and is an editor of the Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, and coeditor, with Rudolph Peters and Frank E Vogel, of The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution, and Progress (Cambridge, Mass 2005) and, with Wolfhart Heinrichs and Bernard G Weiss, of The Law Applied: Contextualizing the Islamic Shari‘a (I B Tauris, 2007) An article by her hand on Islamic law in contemporary application appears in Oxford’s Encyclopedia of the Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2008) Kirk H Beetz, Ph.D., emeritus, has published over two dozen books and more than 900 articles His books span topics from endangered mammal species to children’s literature, including Exploring C S Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia” (2000) His recent writings have focused on the history and culture of ancient Japan Anne Berthelot (Docteur ès Lettres) is professor of French and medieval studies at the University of Connecticut She specializes in Arthurian literature with a comparatist approach She has published several books on this topic, including King Arthur and the Round Table and, more recently, La Légende du roi Arthur Amy Hackney Blackwell has degrees in history from Duke University and Vanderbilt University and a J.D from the University of Virginia Her books include Mythology for Dummies (2002), LSAT for Dummies (2004), The Everything Irish History and Heritage Book (2004), and Essential Dictionary of Law (2004) She has contributed to the Encyclopedia of World Nations and Cultures (2006), Alternative Energy (2006), and Chemical Compounds (2006) Robert Bollt, Ph.D., (University Hawai’i at Mānoa, 2005), specializes in the archaeology of East Polynesia His concentration is on the Austral Islands, where he found and excavated the earliest-known site to-date He is the author of Peva: the Archaeology of an Austral Island Settlement (Bishop Museum Press, 2007) He has also excavated sites in Hawai’i and the Marquesas Primary interests include Polynesia material culture (mainly lithics), and patterns of long-distance exchange among islands, which is achieved by using geochemical sourcing analyses to trace stone tools to their geological source of origin He also enjoys experimental archaeology, especially adze making Additional interests include Polynesian subsistence strategies, humanenvironment relations, sociopolitical transformation, and warfare Scott D Briggs is a freelance writer, essayist, and critic who has been active in the professional, amateur and small-press literary fields for more than 20 years, specializing in horror, fantasy, and science fiction literature; film; and rock and roll, pop, alternative, and modern classical music He has written essays for upcoming critical anthologies on the popular authors Thomas Harris and William Peter Blatty for McFarland & Co and essays and reviews for various publications and music and arts journals, including Necronomicon Press, NY Arts Magazine, and The Big Takeover music magazine Flordeliz T Bugarin, Ph.D., currently teaches cultural anthropology and archaeology at Howard University She has written articles on children in the archaeological record, African studies, and historical archaeology Gregory R Campbell is professor of anthropology at the University of Montana, Missoula He is the author of numerous works about indigenous peoples of North America Alice V Clark, Ph D., is associate professor and coordinator of music history and literature at Loyola University New Orleans Her scholarship, which focuses on aspects of the medieval motet, appears in The Journal of Musicology, The Journal of Musicological Research, and Plainsong and Medieval Music, as well as collections such as Fauvel Studies, and she has contributed an article on the medieval motet to the On-line Reference Book for Medieval Studies (the-orb.net) Julia Marta Clapp is pursuing her doctorate in art history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York Her research interests include modern and pre-Columbian Latin American art Leah A J Cohen is an independent writer and editorial consultant with a master’s degree in geography from the University of Florida She specializes in Africa area studies and food security She was a senior author for the Encyclopedia of African History and Culture, volumes and (2005) Justin Corfield, Ph.D., teaches history and international relations at Geelong Grammar School, Australia He is the coauthor of Historical Dictionary of Cambodia (2003) and has written extensively on Asia, Australia, and European colonial history Arden Decker is a Ph.D candidate in the history of art at the Graduate Center, City University of New York Her research interests include Mesoamerican art as well as modern and contemporary art of Mexico Kathryn M de Luna, M.A., teaches and is completing her doctorate in African history at Northwestern University Her research uses alternative sources, particularly the reconstruction of dead languages, to elucidate early African economic, social, and political life Haig Der-Houssikian, Ph.D., is professor emeritus (2003), linguistics, at the University of Florida, Gainesville His research and publication interests are in morphology, Creolization, and sub-Saharan Africa