ENGH 412(CRN 72572) 591 (CRN 72574), Public , 2019 Meets Tuesdays 4:30-7:10 pm in Enterprise Hall 174

Professor: Dr. Lisa Gilman Email: [email protected]/ Phone: 541-285-7043 Office: 418 Robinson B Office Hours: Thurs 10-noon and by appt

Communication. Email is preferred method of communication. Allow 24 hours for response. GMU’s policy is to use only GMU accounts to communicate with students. Check your Mason email account regularly and use it for all communication related to this class.

Course Description: This course explores the theory and practice of arts and cultural programming in the public sphere. Readings, focused discussions, guest speakers, and a fieldtrip to DC cultural institutions will illuminate a range of professional opportunities available to cultural workers of varied backgrounds.

Learning Outcomes: • Improve written and oral communication skills • Learn about history and theory of public folklore • Strengthen writing skills important for jobs in public folklore • Become familiar and begin developing network with public folklorists in the DMV • Build grant writing skills

Required texts: All readings available on Blackboard. Optional Texts: • Baron, Robert and Nick Spitzer, eds. 1992. Public Folklore. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press. • Cadaval, Olivia, Sojin Kim, and Diana Baird N'Diaye, eds. 2016. Curatorial Conversations: Cultural Representation and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. • Feintuch, Burt, ed. 1988. The Conservation of Culture: Folklorists and the Public Sector. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. • Hufford, Mary. 1994. Conserving Culture: A New Discourse on Heritage. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. • Jones, Michael Owen, ed. 1992. Putting Folklore To Use. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.

Assignments and Grading: Undergraduate students • Attendance and participation (20%): students will be assessed on their attendance, participation, and completion of in-class writings and activities. Be prepared for un-announced in-class essays about assigned readings. • Attend a folklore event (10%). Attend one folklore lecture or event during the semester (instructor approval required). Submit 1-page paper with title, date, and location of event, brief description, and brief analysis using one concept from class. Due one week after event. • Review of public folklore programs (10%, due 9/17) • Interview a public folklorist (20%, due 10/22) o Interview a public folklorist. o Log audio of interview o Write a 300 word bio • Grant proposal (40%): o Draft (15%, due 11/12) o Presentation (5%, due 12/3) o Final version (20%, due 12/9 by 5:00 pm)

Graduate students • Attendance and participation (10% ): students will be assessed on their attendance, participation, and completion of in-class writings and activities. Be prepared for un-announced in-class essays about assigned readings. • Attend a public folklore event (10%). Could be a performance, festival, exhibit, etc. • Write a blog entry describing it to the general public. Due one week after event. • Review of public folklore programs (10%, due 9/17) • Interview a public folklorist (20%, due 10/22) o Interview a public folklorist o Log audio of interview o Write a 300 word bio • Job application letter (20%) • Find a job posting or use the one provided on Blackboard • Write a letter of application to the position • Draft to share with other student (5%) • Final version (15%, due 11/26) • Grant proposal (30%): • Draft (10%, due 11/12) • Presentation (5%, due 12/3) • Final version (15%, due 12/9 by 5:00 pm)

Attendance • Class meetings are used for discussions, lectures, group assignments, writings, and other activities. Attendance is mandatory and fundamental to your success. • When academic requirements conflict with observance of religious holidays, students must inform instructors in advance of holiday. • If you miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain notes and materials. If your absence is due to excusable circumstances, you may meet with me to review missed materials and determine schedule for completing any missed work. • If excusable circumstances prevent your attendance or turning in an assignment on time, communicate with me before or within 24 hours after due date via e-mail (this requirement lifted in extreme circumstances). Late papers (not due to excusable circumstances or to agreement with me) will drop one letter grade each day they are late.

Use of electronic devices: Cell phones, pagers, and other communicative devices are not allowed in this class. Please keep them stowed away and out of sight. Laptops or tablets are permitted for the purpose of taking notes only. Engaging in activities not related to the course (e.g., gaming, email, chat, etc.) will result in a significant deduction in your participation grade.

Academic Integrity: Mason has an Honor Code with clear guidelines regarding academic integrity. Three principles to follow are that: (1) all work submitted be your own; (2) when using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations; and (3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification. Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving the person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes. Paraphrased material must be cited. If you have doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, see me. No grade is important enough to justify academic misconduct.

Diversity and Inclusion: This course seeks to create a learning environment that fosters respect for people across identities. We welcome and value individuals and their differences, including gender expression and identity, race, economic status, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, national origin, first language, religion, age and ability. We encourage all members of the learning environment to engage with the material personally, but to also be open to exploring and learning from experiences different than their own.

Accessibility: Disability Services at GMU is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students by upholding the laws that ensure equal treatment of people with disabilities. If you are seeking accommodations for this class, please first visit http://ds.gmu.edu/ for detailed information about the Disability Services registration process. Then please discuss your approved accommodations with me. Disability Services is located in Student Union Building I (SUB I), Suite 2500. Email:[email protected] | Phone: (703) 993-2474.

Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Interpersonal Violence: GMU is committed to providing a learning, living and working environment that is free from discrimination and a campus that is free of sexual misconduct and other acts of interpersonal violence. We encourage students who believe that they have been sexually harassed, assaulted or subjected to sexual misconduct to seek support. University Policy 1202: Sexual Harassment and Misconduct speaks to the specifics of Mason’s process, the resources, and the options available to students.

Notice of mandatory reporting of sexual assault, interpersonal violence, and stalking: As a faculty member, I am designated as a “Responsible Employee,” and must report all disclosures of sexual assault, interpersonal violence, and stalking to Mason’s Title IX Coordinator per University Policy 1412. You may seek assistance from Mason’s Title IX Coordinator, Jennifer Hammat, by calling 703-993-8730 or email [email protected]. If you wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact one of Mason’s confidential resources, such as Student Support and Advocacy Center (SSAC) at 703-993-3686 or Counseling and Psychology Services (CAPS) at 703-993-2380. The 24-hour GMU Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Crisis Line is 703-380- 1434.

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SCHEDULE OF CLASS READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

PART I: WHAT IS PUBLIC FOLKLORE: DEFINITIONS, HISTORY, AND THEORY WEEK 1, 8/27: What is Public Folklore? Readings: • Robert Baron and Nick Spitzer. 1992. Introduction. Public Folklore, pp 1-14. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press. • Michael Owen Jones, 1992. Applying : An Introduction. In Putting Folklore To Use, pp. 1-41. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. • Alvarez, Maribel and Gary Paul Nabhan. 2018. Strategies to Broaden Knowledge: Citizen Scientists and Citizen Folklorists. Local Learning: The Journal of Folklore and Education. 5(1). https://www.locallearningnetwork.org/journal-of-folklore-and-education/current-and-past- issues/jfe-vol-5-2018/journal-of-folklore-and-education-volume-5-issue-1/strategies-to- broaden-knowledge/

WEEK 2, 9/3: History Readings: • Erica Brady. 1988. The Bureau of American Ethnology: Folklore, Fieldwork, and the Federal Government in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. In The Conservation of Culture, ed. Burt Feintuch, pp. 35-45. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. • Hawes, Bess Lomax. 1992. Happy Birthday, Dear American Folklore Society: Reflections on the Work and Mission of Folklorists. In Public Folklore, eds. Robert Baron and Nick Spitzer, pp. 65- 73. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press. • Hirsch, Jerrold. 1988. Cultural Pluralism and : The New Deal Precedent. In The Conservation of Culture, ed. Burt Feintuch, pp. 46-67. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. • Hufford, Mary. 1994. Introduction: Rethinking the Cultural Mission. In Conserving Culture: A New Discourse on Heritage, ed. Mary Hufford, 1-11. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Optional reading: • Baron, Robert. 1992. Postwar Public Folklore and the Professionalization of Folklore Studies. Robert Baron and Nick Spitzer, eds. Public Folklore, pp. 307-338. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press.

WEEK 3, 9/10: Theory Guest: Chad Buterbaugh, Director, Maryland Traditions, Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Readings: • Jane Becker. 1988. Revealing Traditions: The Politics of Culture and Community in America, 1888-1988. In Folk Roots, New Roots: Folklore in American Life, ed. Jane S. Becker and Barbara Franco, pp. 19-60. Lexington, MA: of Our Natural Heritage. • Brewer, Teri F. 2006. Redefining "The Resource": Interpretation and Public Folklore. Journal of American Folklore 119(471): 80-89. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4137784 • Baron, Robert. Theorizing Public Folklore Practice - Documentation, Genres of Representation, and Everyday Competencies. Journal of Folklore Research 36:2, 185-201, 1999. • Evans, Tim. 2000. Toward Critical Theory for Public Folklore: An Annotated Bibliography, Folklore Forum 31(2): 115-22. Read the preface, skim the bibliography.

PART II: INSTITUTIONS AND FUNDING WEEK 4, 9/17: Types of organizations and what they do

**Due: Review of public folklore programs** Readings: Each student picks 3 of the organizations below and reviews their website. • Vermont Folklife Center http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/ • Maryland Traditions https://www.msac.org/programs/maryland-traditions • Virginia Folklife Program https://www.virginiafolklife.org • Philadelphia Folklore Project/city project, partnerships with communities, http://www.folkloreproject.org/ • Western Folklife Center/Cowboy Poetry, http://www.westernfolklife.org • Liken Knowledge http://likenknowledge.org/about/ • Local Learning https://www.locallearningnetwork.org • American Folklife Center https://www.loc.gov/folklife/ • Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage https://folklife.si.edu • National Council of Traditional Arts http://ncta-usa.org • City Lore http://citylore.org

Review of public folklore programs assignment: 1) Pick three organizations from this list. 2) For each organization, answer the following questions . • What is the program/what kind of organization is it? • What is its mission? • How is it funded? • What is its institutional structure? • What communities does it “serve”? • What qualifications would likely be necessary to be hired by this organization? 3) Submit answers to Blackboard and be prepared to share with class. Can be in bullets (answers don’t need to be in sentence prose)

WEEK 5, 9/24: Funding: Grants, Corporate, Philanthropy, Revenue Readings: • Review website for the National Endowment for the Arts, Folk and Traditional Arts website https://www.arts.gov/artistic-fields/folk-traditional-arts. Pay special attention to Grant opportunities: https://www.arts.gov/grants/apply-for-a-grant • Barry Bergey interview, NEA http://arts.gov/audio/barry-bergey-recently-retired-director- folk-and-traditional-arts • Wells, Patricia. 1992. Helping Craftsmen and Communities Survive: Folklore and Economic Development. Putting Folklore To Use, ed. Michael Owen Jones, pp 240-50. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky.

WEEK 6, 10/1: Writing Grant Proposals/Proposal Review Readings: • Review website for the Virginia Folklife Program https://www.virginiafolklife.org. Make sure to click on the “Apprenticeships” link and find out what funding opportunities are available. • Review website for Maryland Traditions https://www.msac.org/programs/maryland- traditions. Find out what grant opportunities they offer. • Additional instructions will be posted on Blackboard.

**In-Class Activity: TAAP Proposal review exercise. **

PART III: How Public Folklorists Do Their Work WEEK 7, 10/8: Rapport and fieldwork as basis for public folklore Readings: • N’Diaye, Diana Baird. 2016. Agency, Reciprocal Engagement, and Applied Folklore Practice: Beyond the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. In Curatorial Conversations: Cultural Representation and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, eds. Olivia Cadaval, Sojin Kim, and Diana Baird N'Diaye. University of Mississippi Press. https://mississippi-universitypressscholarship- com.mutex.gmu.edu/view/10.14325/mississippi/9781496805980.001.0001/upso- 9781496805980-chapter-015?print=pdf. • Gilman, Lisa and John Fenn. 2019. Ch. 9 Interviewing. In Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. • Bartis, Peter. 2002 [1979]. Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman’s Introduction to Field Techniques. Washington 2002. Available: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwork/ or as PDF on Canvas. [SKIM]

Optional readings: • Davis, Gerald L. “’So Correct for the Photograph’: ‘Fixing’ the Ineffable, Ineluctable African American.” In Public Folklore, eds. Robert Baron and Nick Spitzer, pp. 105-18. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. • Spitzer, Nick. “Cultural Conversation: Metaphors and Methods in Public Folklore,” Public Folklore 77-103. Washington & London: Smithsonian Institution Press.

WEEK 8, 10/15: NO TUESDAY CLASSES

Part IV: What Public Folklorists Produce WEEK 9, 10/22: Folklife, Writing, and Representation **Due: Interview with a public folklorist** Readings: • Lassiter, Luke Eric. 2001. From ‘Reading Over the Shoulders of Natives’ to “Reading Alongside Natives,’ Literally: Toward A Collaborative and Reciprocal Ethnography. Journal of Anthropological Research. 57:137-49. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3631564 • Liu, Rossina Zamora and Bonnie Stone Sunstein. 2016. Writing as Alchemy: Turning Objects into Stories, Stories into Objects. Journal of Folklore and Education, Volume 3. https://www.locallearningnetwork.org/journal-of-folklore-and-education/current-and-past- issues/journal-of-folklore-and-education-volume-3-2016/writing-as-alchemy-turning-objects- into-stories-stories-into-objects/ • Gilman, Lisa and John Fenn. 2019. Ch. 14 Ethics and Final Products. In Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

WEEK 10, 10/29: Public Folklore and Activism Readings: • Morales, Selina. 2015. Philadelphia Folklore Project. Art and the Public Sphere 4 (1&2): 83-85. • Kodish, Debora. 2013. Cultivating Folk Arts and Social Change. Journal of American Folklore 126(502): 434-454. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerfolk.126.502.0434 • Minner, Ashley. 2018. Retracing the Reservation: A Walking Tour of the Historic Lumbee Indian Community of East Baltimore. Maryland Humanities. https://www.mdhumanities.org/2018/02/retracing-the-reservation-a-walking-tour-of-the- historic-lumbee-indian-community-of-east-baltimore/ • Westerman, William. 2006. Wild Grasses and New Arks: Transformative Potential in Applied and Public Folklore. Journal of American Folklore 119(471): 111-128 . Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4137786

WEEK 11, 11/5: Folklore and Education: Readings: • Peruse the Local Learning website: https://www.locallearningnetwork.org • Bowman, Paddy B. 2006. Standing at the Crossroads of Folklore and Education. Journal of American Folklore 119(471): 66-79. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4137783 • Rathje, Lisa. 2011. “When Lunch was Just Lunch and Not so Complicated”: (Re)Presenting Student Culture through an Alternative Tale. In Through the Schoolhouse Door, Bowman, Paddy and Lynn Hamer, eds. Pp. 168-91. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. pdf • Green, Laura Marcus with Katy Gross and Tara Trudell. 2016. Between Two Worlds: A Collaborative Curriculum Addressing Immigration through , Media Literacy, and Digital Storytelling. Journal of Folklore and Education, Volume 3. https://www.locallearningnetwork.org/journal-of-folklore-and-education/current-and-past- issues/journal-of-folklore-and-education-volume-3-2016/between-two-worlds/

WEEK 12, 11/12: **DUE: Draft Grant Proposals** Class activity: Workshop grant proposals

WEEK 13, 11/19: Public Folklore and the Internet Guest: John Fenn, Head, Research and Programs, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress Readings: • Fenn, John. 2018. Exploring routes: Mapping, folklore, digital technology, and communities. In Artistic Approaches to Cultural Mapping, eds. Duxbury, Garrett-Petts, and Longley. Routledge. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/bsi/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzE4NTI5NzVf X0FO0?nobk=y&sid=580a041f-8b53-4c2b-b5b8-43eae535210c@sdc-v- sessmgr01&vid=3&format=EK&lpid=nav_109&rid=0 • Underberg, Natalie M. 2006. Virtual and Reciprocal Ethnography on the Internet: The East Mims Oral History Project Website. Journal of American Folklore 119 (473): 301-11. • Gregory Hansen, “Public Folklore in Cyberspace” and “Webography of Public Folklore Resources,” in Folklore and the Internet, ed. Trevor Blank, 2009. Read the article, skim the webography. • Explore at least one digital project discussed in one of today’s readings

WEEK 14, 11/26 Folklife Festivals: **Graduate students: Job application letter due**

Guest: TBD from the National Council for the Traditional Arts Readings: • Cadaval, Olivia. 2017. A Lesson in Presenting: The Smithsonian Folklife Festival Model. Journal of American Folklore 130 (516): 193-203. www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerfolk.130.516.0193. • Walker, William S. 2011. “We Don’t Live Like That Anymore”: Native Peoples at the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife, 1970-1976.” The American Indian Quarterly 35 (4): 479-514. • Sommers, Laurie Kay. 2002. Review of The National Folk Festival by National Council for Traditional Arts; Michigan State University; City of East Lansing. Journal of American Folklore 115(457/458):478-480. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4129192

Optional reading: • Kurin, Richard. 1995. Cultural Policy through Public Display. Journal of Popular Culture. 29 (1).

WEEK 15, 12/3: Grant Proposal Presentations

**Grant proposals due Dec. 9 by 5:00 PM, Blackboard**