Ethnic American Folklore: Continuity and the Creative Process

The course investigates how folklore and the oral culture of diverse cultural groups have transformed within their texts and in their creative representations and meanings. It looks into the dynamics of cultural continuity and the creative process involved, from oral narratives, foodscape, family lore, the senses of place, and the senses of home. At the juncture of the oral, the written, the popular, and the high tech, what are the new cultural forms, new cultural products, communication milieu and venues negotiated and contested. Anthropological field research methods and training will be a major emphasis of the course. Enrollment limited to 20.