COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS   
Drawing from contemporary folklore theory and method, English 482 (Folklore Studies) will explore the folklore genres of verbal arts such as personal narratives, myths, legends, and jokes; ritual/festival events such as Rural Cajun Mardi Gras and traditional baptisms; folk music such as ballads, blues, and gospel; and material culture such as quilts and wood carvings.  Also students will learn basic folklore fieldwork skills for documenting folk traditions and oral history in their cultural contexts.  Multicultural in scope, the course will include folk traditions from a variety of American regional, religious, occupational, and ethnic groups including Native American, Amish, African American, Anglo-Scots Irish, Italian American, Mexican American, and Louisiana Cajuns.  The course will present ethnographic documentation and analysis of folklore from these groups with a variety of media:  scholarly articles, documentary videos, audio field recordings, photographic slides, Internet, and the instructor's research on Louisiana folklife.

The general goals for graduates and undergraduates are as follows:

• To develop an understanding of the discipline of folklore, including basic folklore theories and methods with a concentration on contemporary studies in the field.
• To understand the range of folklore genres and groups in current folklore scholarship.
• To develop folklore fieldwork skills for documenting folk traditions in their cultural context.
• To develop recognition and understanding of and an appreciation for multicultural folktraditions and cultural diversity in everyday life and literature.

TEXTS
Sims, Martha and Martine Stephens.  Living Folklore.  Logan, Utah:  Utah State University,
            2005.  (Available in bookstore)
Oring, Elliott, ed.  Folk Groups and Folklore Genres:  A Reader.  Logan, Utah:  Utah State
            University Press, 1989.  (Available in bookstore)
Bartis, Peter, ed. Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques. 
            Washington, D. C.: Library of     Congress,     1990. Hard copy & online:
            <http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/fieldwk.html>
Louisiana Voices: Folklife in Education Project.  Louisiana Division of the Arts.  Online:
            <www.louisianavoices.org>.  Do not print the study units since we will not use all.
Additional readings will be provided.  

PREREQUISITES AND CREDITS                       
English 101 and 102; may be taken for undergraduate and graduate credit.

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADES
The course grade will be based on grades on quizzes over readings, lectures, class presentations and discussion; weekly journal entries, short writing assignments; class participation; and a research project.  I use a ten-point grading scale: 90-100=A, 80-89=B, 70-79=C, 60-69=D, 59-0= F.  The assignments will be counted as follows: 

Tests (44% of grade): The course will have two tests (mid-term and final: 150 points each).  Scores may be curved. Specific test dates will be negotiated, but will be spaced approximately three-four weeks apart. In addition, seven quizzes will be given on any class except on test days (20 points each).

Attendance/Participation (6%):  Each student’s attendance and participation in class activities and discussion will contribute to this assessment. Attendance is essential; three or more unexcused absences may lower your grade.  Students receive points for participation in discussions and for attendance plus bonus points for perfect attendance and (60 points). Let me know if you come in late. Cell phones should be off during class (no text messaging).  Laptop computers can be used for notetaking (no Internet use).

Responsive Journals (10%): Students will keep a journal on the readings, lectures, discussions, and relevant observations of folklore in everyday life.  Undergraduates: Submit a minimum of two (2) handwritten pages or one (1) double-spaced typed page per week; you can write one entry per week to fulfill the page requirement, or you can write more short entries. Graduate students: Submit a minimum of two (2) typed pages per week.  Each week's entry will count ten (10) points, but extra points may be given for high quality content and longer or more entries. Journal responses may facilitate student class participation. Entries may be handwritten or word processed on loose paper and submitted in a simple folder in chronological order, with the entry date in the upper right corner. Entries do not need to be highly revised or corrected.  Think of journaling as folklore freewriting and a means of obtaining extra course credit.   Journals are a more informal means of contemplating and responding to issues and topics raised by the readings, lectures, and discussion.  Some entries will be directed toward specific topics, while others will be of your own choosing.  Try to apply the concepts presented in the course to your own life and observations.  Some possible topics:  (1) the use of folklore in specific examples of the media or literature, such as how a specific episode of a television sit-com uses a folk tradition; (2) brief documentation for your observations of folklore in context, e.g. a joke telling you experienced with your friends at a party; (3) Consider the relationships between folk and popular or elite culture.  Since most of you are new to folklore, you may have many questions about the field and its contents.  Please use your journal to pose these questions and contemplate the answers and to brainstorm for your course report.

Short writings (15%):  Students will write a description of a recently observed specific holiday tradition (e.g. Christmas dinner, preparation of a family food recipe, or gift exchange) or a family story, folk ritual, or joke telling with friends (75 points; due after holiday).  A second short written assignment will be based on a collaborative interview class project, where you conduct an audio interview with a classmate to document a folk tradition (75 points).  Specifications for these assignments will be provided.

 Folklore Research Project (totaling 250 points = 25% of grade)
            Topic and Research Requirements:  The required qualitative research project must investigate a specific folklore genre in a specific cultural group; reports and documentation will be archived with the La. Regional Folklife Program.  The project will culminate in an analytical research report that presents your field research in a scholarly context. This original field research should use basic field methods and theoretical applications, which will be introduced in the course. The project topic must have my approval and should include both primary field research and secondary research (undergraduates will use a minimum of two published scholarly articles or book chapters; graduates will use a four-source minimum); please see me for bibliographical recommendations.  Field research will include a recorded interview based on a specific folklore genre from a specific folk group. For example, you could document hurricane survivors or responders’ narratives (see <www.louisianafolklife.org/katrina.html>), or a specific food tradition or ritual practiced in a selected region, ethnic, or family group, such as making Southern cornbread dressing.  In this example, you could conduct an audio interview with someone making the dressing and take photographs of the process.  If you do not have a tape recorder, you may borrow one from the Regional Folklife Program in my office.  Please give yourself time to grasp the parameters of the folklore field, and plan to discuss potential topics with me after Christmas break (or before).
            Outline of the Research Process:  (1) Select research topic and locate interviewee(s) in collaboration with instructor, (2) Do preliminary background readings on the tradition and plan your approach, (3) Schedule interview(s), (4) Prepare questions for your interview, (5) Conduct interview, (6) Index interview and transcribe portions to be used in report, (7) Discuss any problems and organization of report with instructor, (8) Outline report, (9) Write report, (10) Submit and share with interviewee.
            Report Length:  Undergraduate students: 7-11 double-spaced pages in addition to documentation materials (including photographs, tapes, tape index, photo log, additional transcriptions).  Graduate students: 14-20 double-spaced pages in addition to documentation materials (audio or video tapes, photographs, tape indexes, photo log, etc.).  Papers will include more in-depth research and theory, and students will give a fifteen-minute oral presentation in the last class week. Papers may be longer.
            Report Form: The final paper will be submitted with double-spaced pages, using one-inch margins and 12-point type, in a technical report format using headings to divide the report into accessible sections.  Model papers will be exhibited in class to provide examples.  For a style guide, the MLA Handbook is preferred.      
            Content of the report and accuracy in quoting: The report contents will present the following: an overview of the tradition and folk group, specifics of the collection/interview situation, participants, context of the tradition,  the folklore item(s), interpretation and analysis, and a bibliography (listing both primary and secondary resources (minimum of 2 secondary sources for undergraduate and 4 for graduate students).  The sequence of these items does not have to follow this order. Folklore analyzed in the paper should be transcribed (if verbal) or described with words and photographs (if an event or object); descriptive statements from the interviewee should be integrated into the report with specific quotations from the interview to document aspects of the tradition and its performer.  When quoting from your recorded tapes, be especially careful to be accurate.  Do not change words, or use dialectical or phonetic spelling.  Omissions of words or sentences should be designated with the use of ellipsis (three spaced periods) and follow MLA style.  Explanatory or other editorial remarks may be used in the transcription with square brackets ([ ], no parentheses).
            Supplementary documentation materials: The interview/documentation tapes will be submitted with the paper and should be accompanied by a tape index (see the sample tape index handout), and a Louisiana Folklife Survey form with a signed release (provided in class); photographs should be logged.

SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS: Students needing testing or classroom accommodations based on a disability are encouraged to discuss those needs with me as soon as possible.

 ABSENCES, MAKE-UP WORK, AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS
If you know in advance that you must be absent, let me know, and I will give you the assignment so that you can turn it in early. If you miss graded in-class work, such as a quiz, you will need to submit an excuse for my approval before you can make up the missed work.  It is your responsibility to find out about assignments and missed work.  If you fail to do this, or if your excuse is unacceptable, you will receive a grade of "0" for that particular assignment. Assigned papers/reports will be accepted late only if you have received permission from me.  If you do not have an assignment prepared, please do not skip class; instead, attend and request permission to submit the assignment late, so that I will accept it.