Societies An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 英文参考文献.docVIP

Societies 2011, 1, 1-2; doi:10.3390/soc1010001 OPEN ACCESS societies ISSN 2075-4698 /journal/societies Editorial Societies: An Open Access Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Madine VanderPlaat Founding Editor-in-Chief, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3C3, Canada; E-Mail: madine.vanderplaat@smu.ca; Tel.: +1-902-496-8289; Fax: +1-902-420-5121 Received: 16 February 2011 / Accepted: 17 February 2011 / Published: 17 February 2011 Scholars have long recognized the value of moving beyond their disciplinary silos to view the world from a variety of different perspectives. Our understanding of humanity and the world in which we live has been greatly enhanced by the insights produced by multidisciplinary research teams and the emergence of interdisciplinary programs within academia. Societies, the latest open access journal from MDPI, contributes to this thriving enterprise in three inter-related and unique ways. First, it is a cross-disciplinary forum focusing on human societies as a bridge between the humanities and social sciences. In particular, it encourages intellectual engagement between history, the classics, religious studies and philosophy on the one hand and sociology, political science, economics and geography on the other. Second, it is a forum that welcomes cross-cultural comparisons not only between ethnic and national entities but also in terms of broader east/west and south/north political realities. Third, and this is perhaps Societies most distinctive feature, it is cross-temporal and seeks to enhance our understanding of social phenomena across time by exposing and critically examining the threads that connect ancient societies with modernity and the future. Topics can range from how human beings construct their social identities (e.g. gender, ethnicity, values and beliefs), to the formation and evolu