"SFRA is pleased to present the following slate of exceptionally qualified candidates for the four elected position on our organization's Executive Council. We are most grateful to all those who volunteered for these offices. Ballots will be mailed to each SFRA member early this fall, with an October 1 return postmark as the election cutoff date. As this next executive committee may well be the group that decides whether or not to hold future elections online, please give each of their statements your most careful consideration."

Adam Frisch, SFRA Immediate Past President

Candidate Statements for SFRA Executive Council Positions 2011-2012

1. Ritch Calvin

It is my honor and privilege to be nominated for the position of President of SFRA. Since 2008, I have served as the Vice President, during which time I, with the help of some very capable people, began the process of shifting much of the organization online, which included the membership database, the registration process, the syllabus project, conference resources, and the directory. In addition, in 2008 I was the conference organizer for the annual conference (Lawrence, KS). I have also been the Media Reviews editor for the SFRA Review since 2008--I hope that you at least look through the lists that I send out quarterly and find some interesting things! In addition, I served on the Mary Kay Bray Award committee from 2006-2009. In 2010, I was awarded the Mary Kay Bray Award for my short essay on mundane science fiction. If you elect me President of SFRA, I will endeavor to:

1. ensure that all the aspects of the SFRA (annual conference, publications, website, awards, membership outreach) continue to function seamlessly;
2. continue the process of transitioning to electronic media (electronic registration, journal management, membership database, and membership directory);
3. continue to develop a web presence through various electronic and social media;
4. work with the Executive Committee and with the membership to find ways to reflect and incorporate the increasingly diverse interests of the members and the rapid expansion of our field of study.

2. Libby Ginway

I am honored to have been asked to run for the position of SFRA President. I was a member of the Executive Committee of the South Atlantic Modern Language Association 2004-2006, and attended my first SFRA meeting in 1993. In October 2005, I organized the symposium “Latin America Writes Back: Science Fiction in the Global Age” at the University of Florida, where I am currently Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. I work mainly with Brazilian science fiction, but do so from a comparative perspective with Anglo-American SF. We are at an exciting moment in science fiction studies as the genre increases its visibility as a global genre, with a foothold in postcolonial studies. I look forward to the future as SFRA begins to hold meetings in international venues.

My priorities include:
• Increasing the organization’s global/international perspective
• Encouraging of young scholars, foreign scholars and graduate students
• Setting the stage for more international visibility and future venues
• Facilitating comparative perspectives in teaching and criticism

1. Jim Davis

I am Jim Davis, a candidate for vice-president of the SFRA. I am an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Troy University in Troy, AL, where I designed and first taught a junior-level SF lit course in 1989, and got it added to the catalog and regular lit rotation the following year. As my area of specialization is creative writing, I have, within the past five years, begun a workshop on writing SF. This fall I will begin my fourth year on the faculty senate and second year as secretary of that body.

I have been presenting papers on SF topics since 2003, and have been a member of SFRA since 2007. I recently completed a three-year rotation on the SFRA’s Graduate Student Paper Award Committee—now the Student Paper Award—and served as chair of that committee this past year, 2009. I hope to be able to continue my service to the SFRA as VP.

Thank you very much.

2. Jason Ellis

I am extremely honored to be nominated as a vice presidential candidate, and I hope to continue my service to the SFRA in this position if I am elected. I have been a member of the organization since 2006. Since then, I have won the 2007 Mary Kay Bray Award, served as the organization’s publicity director beginning in 2008, served on the MKB Award committee beginning in 2008, and promoted the organization, its meetings, and its members on my science
fiction scholarship blog dynamicsubspace.net. If I am elected as vice president, I will pledge myself to the maintenance and efficient running of the organization. As vice president, I will be specifically charged with member recruitment, to which I will dedicate myself in addition to the related functions of organizational promotion and member retention with these three plans:

1. I will work cooperatively with the EC, the SFRA Review editors, the publicity director, the web director, and the membership to promote, develop, and expand the SFRA. Significant growth of the organization will be a collective effort.
2. I will work hard to invite new scholars and graduate students to join SFRA using personal invitations via in-person meetings, traditional letters, and social media. Along with this, I will guide the development of sfra.org into a useful tool for members and a point of contact for non-members, the media, and the public for all matters related to the work that we do.
3. I will poll current members about their needs that can be met by the SFRA, elicit members’ ideas regarding the development of the organization, and advocate those findings with the organization.

Given the chance, I hope to serve the organization and its members as the next vice president of the SFRA. Thank you for your consideration, and see you all in Lublin!

1. Patrick Sharp

I am excited about the possibility of serving the SFRA as Treasurer. I joined the SFRA and attended my first conference on the Queen Mary as a grad student in 1997. Since that time my work on science fiction literature, film, and television includes a book, a co-edited anthology, several essays and reviews, and dozens of conference presentations. I am currently Professor and
Chair of the Department of Liberal Studies at California State University, Los Angeles as well as Secretary of the SFRA.

If elected Treasurer, I intend to continue the work I am engaged with as Secretary: I will work to improve the online membership renewal system and look for ways to streamline our current operations in a way that will save the association money. I will work with the other committee members to expand our membership and support the association's inclusive approach to studying
science fiction in all print and electronic media. I will work closely with the Secretary and the journal editors to ensure that we are responsive to any member issues that arise.

2. James Thrall

I first attended an SFRA gathering in 2002 at New Lanark, Scotland, and have made getting to as many of the conferences as I could a priority ever since. The collegial camaraderie that is such a hallmark of the group, and is expressed so well in the relaxed friendliness of our online exchanges and our meetings, represents academic collaboration at its best. I have certainly felt
warmly welcomed, even as something of an interloper from the field of religious studies. My work in religion and culture permits me to turn lifelong SF fandom into a major focus of my studies in fiction, film and television. SFRA has been the perfect home for pursuing that mingling of academic endeavors—a place to try out ideas and be excited by the ideas of others. As I result, I find myself something of an SFRA evangelist, encouraging anyone who expresses the slightest interest in the academic study of SF to join. Having received so much from the group, I would be pleased to have the opportunity to give something back by serving as treasurer. I actually have some experience in that area to offer. My wife volunteered me to be permanent treasurer for our
homeowner’s association, explaining that there should be some community benefit from what she considers the unnatural pleasure I take in balancing our checkbook.

1. Pawel Frelik

I am Assistant Professor in the Department of American Literature and Culture at Maria Curie-Sklodowska University (Lublin, Poland). My main research and teaching interests include, among others, slipstream literatures, media SF and new modes of story-telling. Beyond membership, my experience in academic societies includes service on the Boards of the Polish Association of American Studies (1999-2007) and the European Association of American Studies (2007 – present). I am also one of the editors of the European Journal of American Studies, the official academic journal of the EAAS.

I am honored to be nominated for the position of SFRA Secretary. I joined the organization in 1997 after Elizabeth Kraus’ mention of an association that so ideally reflected my academic interests. Since then I have attended a number of SFRA conferences and served on two committees: Pioneer (twice as a member and once as a chair) and Graduate Student Paper Award (twice as a member). I am also the organizer of the 2011 SFRA Conference in Lublin. If elected, I will do my best to conduct the statutory duties but also try:

1. to help foster further internationalization of SFRA, especially in Europe, and forge links with other academic associations such as the Utopian Studies Society,
2. to promote and expedite further development of the online presence of the organization, including such initiatives as the online directory or digital archivization of SFRA Review; some of these have already been initiated or suggested but, to my mind, could be pursued more decisively.

2. Susan George

I’m excited to have the opportunity to run for Secretary of SFRA. I attended my first SFRA/Eaton conference in 1997 on the Queen Mary and since then I have attended every few years. I volunteered at the Atlanta conference and helped with preparing the packets, working registration, and serving as an author liaison. I enjoyed this so much I volunteered to help in Carefree as well. For the last two conferences I have organized the Teaching SF round tables. Last year I became a member of the Mary Kay Bray Award committee and decided, now that my tenure as division head for ICFA is over, that I want to devote some time to SFRA. Secretary seems like a good position to learn more about the organization and get involved.

Currently I’m teaching at the University of California, Merced and my research and publications focus on the representation of gender and the alien other SF film and TV. If elected I will endeavor to:

1. carry out the duties of the office efficiently and on a timely basis
2. work with the other SFRA officers to make sure the organization continues to grow, is open to new areas in SF scholarship, and provides a place for new and accomplished scholars and authors to exchange ideas
3. be responsive to the needs and concerns of the membership
4. welcome all those interested in SF and the organization

I would truly appreciate your vote so I can serve SFRA as secretary. If you would like to see my CV feel free to email me directly at sageorge13 [at] sbcglobal.net.