AFS Nominating Committee Announces 2021 Candidate Slate

The AFS Nominating Committee (chaired by Lisa Rathje with members Luisa Del Giudice, Anika Wilson, and Sarah Gordon) has announced its slate of two candidates for each available office in the AFS 2021 election.

Executive Board (three to be elected to three-year, 2022-2024 terms):

Karen (Queen Nur) Abdul-Malik, Perkins Center for the Arts  
Julián Antonio Carrillo, Independent, El Paso 
Tim Frandy, Western Kentucky University 
Benjamin Gatling, George Mason University 
Semontee Mitra, Penn State University, Harrisburg
Meltem Türköz, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul 

Nominating Committee (one to be elected to a three-year, 2022-2024 term):

Mark Miyake, Western Washington University 
Guha Shankar, American Folklife Center 

As described in the AFS Bylaws, Society members now have the opportunity to add names to this slate by petition. Here is the process:

No later than October 5, please submit the following materials by email to AFS Executive Director Jessica Turner ([email protected]): 

1. A petition signed by at least 10 current AFS members that names the candidate and the office for which s/he is being nominated (please submit as a PDF)
2. A statement from the candidate agreeing to run (please submit as a PDF)
3. A 100-word biographical summary for the candidate (please submit in .doc or .rtf format)
4. A 250-word platform statement from the candidate responding to the question “What are the most significant opportunities or challenges now facing the Society, and how as [President / a member of the Executive Board / a member of the Nominating Committee] would you respond to those opportunities or challenges?” (please submit in .doc or .rtf format)

We will post biographical summaries and platform statements from all candidates on the elections page of the AFS web site on October 8. 

We have invited all candidates to participate in a virtual Candidates’ Forum on the Monday afternoon of the 2021 Annual Meeting, and we invite all Society members who will be at the meeting to attend and hear the candidates speak. Secure online voting will begin around November 1 and will continue through December 15. Those elected will take office on January 1, 2022. 

The Executive Board thanks the members of the Committee for their work to assemble this slate, and all candidates for their willingness to serve the field and Society.