I am writing to let you know of the "soft launch" of a new open-access journal. It is called NESAR (from ನೇಸಱ್, a Kannada word meaning "sun") and stands for New Explorations in South Asia Research. We are still working hard on the first issue, which will come out early next year, and there are a few features of the website that will be rolled out soon. But in the meantime — and especially in advance of this year's Annual Conference on South Asia at Madison — I wanted to let everyone know of its existence and encourage you and your colleagues to think about NESAR as a possible venue for your work in the future. Here is the journal website:

And here is a short article describing the new journal, its motivation, and the principles guiding it:

If you have questions or comments, please feel free to write to me, or write to the journal at nesar@nesarjournal.org. With all best wishes, including for a freer and more accessible future,

Andrew Ollett

University of Chicago