The 11th ISFNR Congress in Mysore provided a pleasant venue for the meeting of the governing body of the “Folklore Fellows International”, namely, the FF Advisory Committee whose task it is, according to § 3 of the statutes, “to prepare proposals for new members, to assist in the planning of the researcher training courses, and to distribute information on the publishing potential afforded by the FFC series”.
The Committee has fourteen members, of which seven were present at the meeting at the Lalit Mahal Palace Hotel on January 8, 1995. The meeting has two parts. First, the personal meeting goes through the agenda which has been distributed to all, including the non-present members, who have a chance to make proposals before the meeting by correspondence. The personal meeting discusses the agenda and makes proposals for the second part of the meeting, which takes place per capsulam with all members participating. This meeting makes the decisions with some assistance from the local four-member Executive Committee, which meets in Finland to conclude the per capsulam meeting and sends the minutes to the FFAC for approval.
This time long lists of member nominations had been prepared. § 4:1 of the FF rules stipulates that “The Folklore Fellows researcher network has (1) an unlimited number of honorary members, (2) a maximum of 100 full members and (3) an unlimited number of associate members. Honorary members are invited from among eminent folklorists whose scholarly contribution has during a long period of time been internationally and/or nationally important. Distinguished active researchers from different parts of the world are invited by the Folklore Fellows’ Executive Committee to become full members on the advice of the Advisory Committee. One quarter of the full members must be from outside Europe and North America.”
The difference between honorary and full members may be seen in that occasionally a local, mostly life-long career of magnificence will be recognized in the previous category, whereas full members are usually scholars rather well-known and active internationally.
The Advisory Committee voted in a closed ballot on nominations in these two categories and eliminated about half the candidates. The Executive Committee could at its meeting on March 27, 1995 in Helsinki state that the following scholars had been elected honorary members:
Dr. Francisco R. Demetrio, Cagayan de Oro City, The Philippines
Prof. Arthur T. Hatto, London, U.K.
Prof. Warren E. Roberts, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
The following scholars were elected full members:
Dr. Eydun Andreassen, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Dr. Gillian Bennett, Stockport, U.K.
Dr. Giovanni Bronzini, Bari, Italy
Prof. Gary Allan Fine, Athens, GA, U.S.A.
Prof. Helge Gerndt, München, Germany
Prof. Radost Ivanova, Sofia, Bulgaria
Associate Prof. Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj, Turku, Finland
Dr. Ulrich Marzolph, Göttingen, Germany
Prof. Klaus Roth, München, Germany
Lecturer Birgitte Rørbye, Copenhagen, Denmark
Prof. Gerald Thomas, St. John’s, NFLD, Canada
Prof. Barre Toelken, Logan, UT, U.S.A.
Prof. Eli Yassif, Beer Sheva, Israel
As far as the third category, associate members, is concerned, voting is not needed. According to the statutes “The Executive Committee may invite associate members from among e.g. junior and senior folklorists attending the researcher training courses, or representatives of closely-related disciplines whose participation would help to achieve the functional goals of the researcher network through contacts with research, teaching and archive establishments in different parts of the world.” Along these lines 62 persons were invited to become associate members.
The FFAC had for summer 1995 two options, either to have a directory of all Folklore Fellows prepared or to produce formal membership diplomas, which have not yet been distributed, partly for economic reasons. The Committee decided that diplomas will have the right of way at this point, which will probably satisfy several members who have inquired about this matter. So, if you are a member and your address is correct in our files you will receive the diploma this summer.
The Executive Committee elected Anna-Leena Siikala, newly appointed Professor of Folkloristics at Helsinki University, as its Vice-Chair.
Lauri Honko
Chairman, FF
(FFN 10, May 1995: 11)