The IAFA seems entirely dysfunctional
So .... it seems pretty clear that the IAFA, the major organization for the academic study of fantasy, is currently something of a dumpster fire. I won't mention the absolutely horrendous last three issues of Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts , which were published after the retirement of Brian Attebery; that's another blog post, but the editorial team's lack of experience was pretty obvious. For right now, I just want to talk about the IAFA itself, and even from my semi-outsider's perspective as a rank-and-file member -- the whole organization looks to be in absolute disarray. For some background, there were major discussions last year about moving our annual conference, the ICFA, out of Orlando, Florida. That's not been unusual lately. Scholars in the humanities are overwhelmingly left-leaning, and some people across several different academic organizations have wanted to make political statements by boycotting holding conferences in red states. (My own view