News

An increasing number of international faculty members, especially from China, are receiving government grants to conduct research abroad for periods ranging from one semester to twelve months. Some of these faculty members are enthusiastic about conducting research or translation work in ecocriticism and are therefore seeking invitations from host universities where they can work with an ASLE member.

For many of these scholars, expenses are covered through some combination of government grant, home university support, and personal funds, requiring no financial support from their host university. They do, however, require an invitation letter, assistance with the obtaining of a J-1 visa, and an official location for their stay in the U.S.

Many larger institutions already have an office that handles the paperwork for the J-1 visa application. This paperwork is necessary for international students as well as visiting faculty wishing to study at our universities. For example, at University of Central Florida it is handled by the International Services Center (http://www.intl.ucf.edu/) and a quick review of that website would provide an idea of what is required. ASLE cannot provide administrative or institutional support of any kind for this endeavor; it serves exclusively as a point of contact information.

ASLE would like to facilitate hosting international scholars by adding a page to our website with information on people who are willing to host a visiting scholar. We would also like to post information on visiting scholar currently being hosted who may be available for speaking engagements at other US institutions. Members of ASLE who would be interested in hosting a visiting scholar should provide the following information so that interested international faculty will have a list of people to contact in order to pursue their goal of conducting research in the United States: name, institution, department, area of scholarly expertise, email address or phone number, and dates they are available to host. For members of ASLE currently hosting a scholar, please send in your name and institution, your scholar's name, home institution and area(s) of research, and where to best contact that scholar regarding a possible speaking engagement at another institution. Please send this information to info@asle.org. We will update the page on an ongoing basis.

A new listserv has just been created as a joint venture to enrich the affiliation between ASLE and the Science Fiction Research Association.  As the ecocritical study of science fiction continues to grow, we hope that this listserv will be a place to share ideas, to announce conferences and CFPs, to discuss courses and texts-in general, to engage in collegial conversation about the intersections between science fiction and environmental thought, and why these intersections matter. Anyone interested in these issues is encouraged to join.  Please follow the instructions below to subscribe to the ASLE-SFRA Listserv:
1). Click on http://list.fgcu.edu/cgi-bin/majordomo?module=browse.
2). Enter your email address in the appropriate box, then click "All" under "Browse Which Lists?" Click "Go."
3). On the next screen, click "AsleSfra" under "List Name."
4). On the next screen, click "Apply."
5). Check your email to confirm subscription.
The list address is: aslesfra@list.fgcu.edu

We are pleased to announce the outcome of our recent election. Paul Outka has been elected Vice President of ASLE for 2012 and will serve as President in 2013 and Immediate Past President in 2014. Christoph Irmscher and Stephanie LeMenager have joined the Executive Council as of January 1, 2012 as members-at-large. Congratulations to all of them!

Warm thanks are due to Lewis Ulman, candidate for Vice President, and George Handley and Heather Sullivan, candidates for EC, all of whom also received substantial numbers of votes. We're very grateful that they were willing to put their shoulders to the organizational wheel, and with ASLE's rapid growth and diversifying tasks, we'll be sure to need their expertise and commitment. All three of them have been extremely gracious in the process, and it's good know we'll be able to draw on their experience and knowledge in the future.

We also owe a big "Thank you" to the members-at-large who will be rotating off the Executive Council, Chia-ju Chang and Amy Patrick Mossman. ASLE is truly fortunate to have such knowledgeable, energetic, and dedicated members serve in its leadership. We look forward to working with them by other means in years to come!  We also owe enormous gratitude to Annie Ingram, who is finishing up her three-year term as Vice President, President, and, this last year, Immediate Past President of ASLE. Annie's commitment to linking ecocritical scholarship with pedagogy, activism, and the lived experience of diverse communities, as well as her foresight and discipline in leading ASLE and overseeing its remarkable growth are models for anyone coming after her.

Let's also welcome Joni Adamson as our incoming President for 2012. Joni has already carried a full burden of duties and responsibilities as Vice President this year with energy and commitment. We look forward to working with her in shaping ASLE's next few years.

The ASLE Off-Year Regional Symposium, Environment, Culture & Place in a Rapidly Changing North, will be held June 14-17, 2012, at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. Proposals related to the field of literature and environment broadly, or to the symposium theme specifically, are due by November 5, 2011.  For more information, see the conference website at http://www.uas.alaska.edu/asle/ or our Affiliated Symposia page.

The dates have been set for the Tenth ASLE BIennial Conference at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX.  The conference will be held from May 28-June 1, 2013, so get out your calendars and save the dates!

At the Author's Reception of the 2011 Biennial Conference, the winners of the ASLE Book and Paper Awards were announced.  Two of the four winners were in attendance to accept their awards, as were many of the judges of the four categories:  Scholarly and Creative Graduate Student Papers presented at the conference, and Scholarly and Creative Books written in 2009 or 2010.  To read more about the winners, see the Book and Paper Awards page.

After sixteen years as Book Review Editor of ISLE, Michael Branch recently handed the tiller over to ASLE stalwart Tom Hillard of Boise State University. From now on, all queries regarding reviews should be sent directly to Tom at ThomasHillard@boisestate.edu. Mike has written an essay reflecting on his long tenure in this interesting job, which will be published in ISLE 18.3 later this year. He wants to thank the many hundreds of you with whom he's collaborated over the years.  ASLE thanks both Mike Branch for his many years of stellar service and Tom Hillard for his willingness to serve our community in this way.