vicepresident – Dynamic Subspace

Have You Considered Joining the Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA)?

The Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), founded in 1970, is one of the leading groups dedicated to examination and discussion of the popular culture of science fiction and fantasy in literature, film, art, and video games, and we always hold the door open for new members to join us in professional discussion online and at our annual conference as well as in scholarly publication in the SFRA Review. As a member, you become a part of an international community of scholars and fans who share their expertise for personal enjoyment and professional development. Additionally, our members have many opportunities for personal development by contributing to the organization through service, publication, and participation. You can be a part of this dynamic group, too!

Our members are among the top experts in the academy and fandom alike, because we do not restrict membership to university faculty. Our member rolls include writers, librarians, booksellers, filmmakers, and invested fans.

With an annual membership, you gain these material benefits in addition to the personal benefits of professional development, collaboration, and discussion: 4 issues of the SFRA Review, 3 issues of the journal Extrapolation, and 3 issues of Science Fiction Studies. Additionally, members may participate in the active SFRA listserv discussion list, submit reviews and essays to the SFRA Review for potential publication, and present papers or conduct panels at our annual conference, which meets at a different city each year (once internationally outside of the U.S. every three years). An individual membership costs only $80/year, and a student membership costs only $60/year!

Our 2011 meeting will be held in Lublin, Poland with the theme, “Dreams Not Only American: Science Fiction’s Transatlantic Transactions.” Visit the official website here for information on submitting a paper proposal, travel arrangements, and accommodation.

It is never too late to join the oldest professional organization that supports teaching and research in the science fiction and fantasy fields in all media. You too can join the SFRA by visiting our official website here.

If you have questions about the SFRA, its mission, or how to participate, please email SFRA Vice President Jason W. Ellis at dynamicsubspace@gmail.com.

Jason W. Ellis, The 2011-2012 SFRA Vice-President

Last night, Science Fiction Research Association Immediate Past-President Adam Frisch announced the 2011-2012 election results on the email listserv (and the official site here):

It is now official. The following 2011-2012 SFRA Executive Council Members have been elected:

President: Ritch Calvin

Vice-President: Jason Ellis

Treasurer: Patrick Sharp

Secretary: Susan George

Thank you to all of the candidates for their willingness to serve, and to the many SFRA members who voted.

It has been a pleasure and an honor for me to have served on SFRA’s Executive Council during the past four years. I have every confidence that SFRA’s new group of officers will lead our organization to ever greater heights of excellence.

Adam Frisch, SFRA Immediate Past President

It was a good race, and it was much cleaner than the campaigns here in Ohio. I am very happy to be the next SFRA Vice-President, and I look forward to working with the other newly elected members of the Executive Committee to continue developing the organization and increasing the member rolls.

Jason W. Ellis for SFRA Vice President, 2011-2012

Now that the Science Fiction Research Association executive committee elections for 2011-2012 are now open, I, Jason W. Ellis, am calling on each of you to vote for me as the next SFRA Vice President.

Adam Frisch, the Immediate Past President of the SFRA, posted all of the election candidates’ statements on the organization’s website here. You may read my statement for Vice President below:

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!

I look forward to continuing to serve the SFRA, and I hope that you will help me do this as the next SFRA Vice President with your vote.