Through support of two new initiatives, the Mershon Center is enhancing the scholarship relevant to national, international, and human security. The Mershon Center is proud to announce that we are the new home of the Journal of American-East Asian Relations (JAEAR), with Mitchell Lerner (Mershon Center Director and Department of History) as the new editor. JAEAR is a peer-reviewed quarterly journal of interdisciplinary historical, cross-cultural, and social science scholarship devoted to the study of US-East Asian relations. 

“The Journal of American-East Asian Relations has a long and distinguished history of connecting academics and policymakers,” said Lerner. “The journal is rooted in the Vietnam War years, when scholars of Asia and US-Asian relations felt frustrated by their inability to connect their expertise with policymakers who were making vital decisions. Housing it in the Mershon Center embodies the Mershon tradition of connecting scholarship about international security with the broader conversations about policy––past, present, and future.”

The journal’s roots date back to the Vietnam War, when a group of prominent academics, concerned that Asian experts in the United States had failed to engage with both the public and policymakers during the critical steps to war, and recognizing the growing prominence of East Asia in world affairs, sought to create new paths to amplify the voices of relevant scholars and their impact on policymaking. The official transfer will happen in summer 2026, with the first issue under our name scheduled for early 2027.

Mershon is also helping to bring the editorship of Environmental History to Ohio State. Environmental History is the world’s leading scholarly journal in environmental history and the journal of record in the field. 

“Hosting the journal Environmental History at Ohio State will support ongoing efforts to bridge different communities, linking scholars across disciplines, training graduate students in editorial work, and positioning Ohio State as a leader in the environmental humanities,” said Ellen Arnold, senior lecturer, Ohio State Department of History. “Our work with the Mershon Center will help highlight the importance of environmental issues in global security and show the value of historical thinking within ongoing conversations about world affairs.”

Published four times a year by the University of Chicago Press on behalf of the American Society for Environmental History and the Forest History Society, the journal brings together scholars and practitioners from the humanities, sciences, and social sciences to explore the changing relationships between humans and the environment over time. Editorship here will cultivate a community of practice in environmental history at Ohio State, link scholars across disciplines, train graduate students in editorial work, and position Ohio State as a leader in environmental humanities. 

In part through funding from the Mershon Center, JAEAR and Environmental History are now poised to become transformative institutional assets for the Department of History, the College of Arts and Sciences, and The Ohio State University.