The ICCS membership unanimously elected Charles Batson as ICCS President Elect at its annual general meeting on 25 June 2026. Dr. Batson, Professor at Union College in Schenectady, New York, is the former President of the American Council for Québec Studies, and co-director of the international research initiative, Circus and its Others.
He has taught and published widely on Québécois, Canadian, French and Francophone cultural production and performance, including circus, dance and theatre. His teaching and research interests relate to Québec and Canada. He is co-editor, with Louis Patrick Leroux, of Cirque Global: Quebec’s Expanding Circus Boundaries (McGill-Queens 2016) and co-edited special dossiers on Queer Québec in Québec Studies.