Monsoon Journal Raising the Profile of Indian Ocean Studies

As part of our ongoing partnership with The Africa Insititute, we recently developed the identity, masthead and publication design for the recently announced Monsoon Journal. A collaboration between The Africa Institute and Duke University Press. We crafted a bespoke logotype and unique brand mark for use across the biannual publication. The brand mark was inspired by a classic dhow and its unique sail shape which is synonymous with the Indian Ocean cultural landscape.

Monsoon is a new interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, co-edited by Jeremy Prestholdt, Professor of History, University of California, San Diego, and Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf, Professor of Anthropology, Georgetown University in Qatar, which seeks to spark new ways of thinking about the Indian Ocean region and to promote innovative scholarly research and analysis.

The Indian Ocean has been a critical nexus of global linkages for millennia. The region is a cultural continuum facilitated by mobility, belief, taste, exchange, and other practices. Its geopolitical, strategic, economic, sociocultural, and historical significance can hardly be overstated.

“Half of the world’s population lives within fifty miles of the Indian Ocean’s shores and half of the world’s container ship traffic crosses its waters, most of the world’s petroleum traverses the basin, and global powers compete for regional influence. As a result, scholarly and popular interest in the Indian Ocean region has increased dramatically in recent years. At the same time, the region has yet to receive the scholarly attention it merits,” said co-editor Professor Jeremy Prestholdt.

Monsoon encompasses a series of special issues bringing together the perspectives of scholars, critics, and artists across the disciplines of humanities and social sciences that offers a new forum to present research, debate critical themes, and highlight emerging trends in Indian Ocean studies — with an emphasis on Africa and the Western Indian Ocean.

For more information please visit The Africa Insitute’s website here.

We will share a case study soon on our projects page.