AFS Executive Board Passes Resolution on Promotion, Tenure, and Other Reviews
In light of changing circumstances for funding and research at colleges and universities, the board passed a resolution on tenure and promotion policies for impacted faculty.
AFS Executive Board Resolution on Promotion, Tenure, and Other Reviews in the United States After January 2025
Passed by the Executive Board, May 19, 2025
Whereas the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society has promulgated a widely consulted Position Statement on Promotion and Tenure Standards and Review*;
Whereas, beginning in early 2025, folklorists working in the United States began being deeply impacted by the withdrawal of Federal support for arts, humanities, and social science research;
Whereas, beginning in early 2025, folklorists working in the United States began being deeply impacted by the withdrawal of Federal support for public-facing arts-, humanities-, and social science-based programming;
Whereas, beginning in early 2025, the withdrawal of (U.S.) Federal funding support has had ramifying and negative consequences for state, local, and institutional support for the work of folklore studies and of allied disciplines;
Whereas, beginning in early 2025, international travel to and from the United States became a source of concern and an impediment, impacting both international scholarly exchange and international research and creative activities by folklorists and by colleagues in allied fields;
Whereas the activities discussed above, and in the AFS Position Statement of Promotion and Tenure Standards and Review, are directly related to the professional work of folklorists; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, that
1. the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society urges that promotion committees, tenure committees, relevant administrators, and other stakeholders working inside the United States remain mindful that the above-mentioned changes are out of their control when assessing the work of impacted folklorists, and the work of impacted colleagues in allied disciplines;
2. the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society commits to assessing the contexts highlighted in this resolution on a continuing basis, hopefully withdrawing it speedily as the circumstances described improve.
*https://americanfolkloresociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Promotion-and-Tenure.pdf, accessed May 12, 2025.
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