From the SFRA Executive Committee
From the President
Stina Attebery
I’m writing this column in the midst of what feels like a very chaotic election season. I’m encouraged by the positive election results in Brazil and Serbia, and hope for more good news soon. As I drove to the library today to drop off my ballot for the US midterm election, I passed a large group of high school students protesting ICE. I wish we all lived in a better world where students didn’t need to organize protests, but I am buoyed by their energy. When I got to campus, I ran across a group of organizers for my union, the California Faculty Association, doing outreach for our strike authorization vote (my second vote for the week). We filled out a graveyard of signs sharing all of the parts of the institution we would like to bury, from dead-end lecturer contracts to back-room deals with AI companies. Once again, there was a lot of positive energy, from both faculty and students.
Our own election is now open to vote in two new Members-at-Large to serve on the executive committee (my third vote for the week). Unlike other elections, this one is guaranteed to have a positive outcome, but I would encourage you to vote in the election anyway. You can find the ballot and candidate statements at this link (your membership needs to be active and you will need to sign-in in order to vote), and voting closes on November 5th at 11:00pm/23:00 US EST.
I will have an announcement for the 2028 conference location soon. In the meantime, the organizing work for the South Korea conference is well underway. Everything that Haerin and Sang-Keun are planning sounds incredible. I know that many of our members are concerned about costs. We hope to be able to share more information soon about estimated cost breakdowns, but for now I can give the reassurance that while there is no way to work around the expense of the plane ticket (for those of us traveling internationally), the lodgings and other associated costs will be very affordable. I also hope that Seoul will be a big draw for our members in Asia and the Pacific—so many of you travel incredible distances to join our conferences in Europe and North America, so it seems past time to return the favor!
