Undergraduate Courses

Topics include folktales, personal narratives, legends, proverbs, jokes, folk songs, folk art and craft, and folk architecture. Considers ethnicity, community, family, festival, folklore in literature, and oral history. Discusses traditions in students' own lives. May not be repeated for credit.

Studies how traditional mythologies are reflected in English and American literature and other texts as themes, motifs, and patterns. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the term for a maximum 6 credits.

Exploration of various aspects of folklore and folklife such as folklore and literature, folk arts, folk song, and material culture. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different with permission of department. May be repeated within the term.

Examines the role of supernatural phenomena in individuals’ everyday lives. Introduces folkloristic approaches to the study of belief, paranormal experiences, and popular spirituality. Topics may include ghosts, spirit possession, superstitions, visions, near death experiences, dream interpretation, magic, the commodification of belief, and the supernatural and new media. May not be repeated for credit.

Examines the traditional arts of everyday life, such as festive foods, mementos and other objects of memory, textile arts, pottery, carving in wood and stone, roadside shrines, and more. Explores the folk aesthetics of group-based creativity through the lenses of biography, history, literature, and folklore studies. Considers traditional objects as narratives in material form. Examples drawn from multiple cultures as well as traditions in students' own lives. May not be repeated for credit.

Explores U.S. immigration trends and the historical basis for the concepts of ethnicity, identity, and immigration in folklore scholarship, literature, film, and popular media. The course explores at least three of the following ethnic groups: Latino, Asian, Jewish, European, Arab, or African. May not be repeated for credit.

Topic-based course in research methods. Students conduct advanced research in folklore studies using traditional and digital research tools and approaches. Notes: May be repeated when topic is different. May be repeated within the degree for a maximum 6 credits.

Study and practice of ethnographic writing. Students conduct ethnographic investigations and practice journal keeping, field note recording, interviewing, transcription, and interpretation. Includes introduction to current issues in ethnographic writing. May not be repeated for credit.