Acknowledgments

My interest in this topic grew through many years of discussions with many people, foremost among them Bert Vaux, Charles Reiss, and Cedric Boeckx. I am thankful for their kind mentorship throughout my career, in support of this venture and so many others.

I would like to express my gratitude to Elly van Gelderen, Werner Abraham, and Kees Vaes for their interest in a collection of this nature and especially to Kees for shepherding it through the proposal and publication process. Their guidance was instrumental to focusing the volume.

Thank you also to my family, particularly my husband, Kay Sušelj, for their encouragement. My colleagues at the University of Southern California have also been very supportive of my research endeavors, which I appreciate very much. I am also grateful to my colleagues during my time at Pomona College, during which the idea for this volume took shape.

Last but most definitely not least, a huge thank you to the authors and reviewers, whose tremendous efforts are evident on every page. It has been my honor to work with them, and I am so thankful for and delighted by their willingness to contribute to this project.