Judging from the programs of the MESA meetings over the past several years and the contributions to the Bulletin and IJMES the preponderance of research and teaching thus far in our history in the religious studies field has been in connection with Islam. That is not surprising, given the dominance of Islam in the Middle East. The syllabi received by the Headquarters and Secretariat dealing with religion for the ongoing syllabus project all treated Islam exclusively.

In a report on the climate for social science research in Turkey published some seven years ago, Edwin J. Cohn noted that there had been a considerable intensification of interest and activity in the social sciences in Turkey, spurred both by the training of Turkish social scientists and by the increased interest of European and American scholars in Turkish experience with rapid social, economic, and political change. At the same time, Cohn reported, “the climate for research, especially research by Americans, has deteriorated…” This assessment remains basically accurate. Of course, in the intervening years, there have been further developments. Two in particular will be dealt with here: continued increase in institutions, facilities, and trained personnel on the Turkish side; and greater formalization of official rules governing the conduct of research by foreigners.