Folklore Program at George Mason University

10/18/2023

Some of our graduate students attended the Richmond Folk Festival over the weekend. It was wonderful to experience so many incredible performances from performers from Virginia and beyond. Definitely will be there next year!

10/16/2023

The Folklore Program's Prospective Student Open House will take place on Thursday, October 26th from 7:30-8:30pm EST. This event will take place online. Please register using the Eventbrite link below:
https://tinyurl.com/ykwh66r5
(Apologizes if you interacted with this post before the edit)

10/07/2023

Here are some pictures from Wei Hai-Min's Beijing Opera demonstration on Wednesday. A special thank you to everyone who attended the event and Wei Hai-Min for performing for all of us. We also want to thank our translators for whom without the experience wouldn't be nearly as engaging.

09/27/2023

"Wei Hai-Min and Her Personae: Beijing Opera in Our Time" brought to you by Mason's Department of Modern and Classical Languages, the English Department, University Life, and the Folklore Program. Preeminent Beijing Opera performer Wei Hai-Min will perform from 4:30-6:00 pm on Oct. 4 in Merton 1201. There will be a reception afterward! Registration is on Mason360. https://tinyurl.com/46a2zrbx

09/26/2023

Check out our Fall 2023 events!

09/22/2023

We're almost done with September and we're still thinking about the amazing work that our graduate students have done over the summer!
Ang DiNardo interned for Lincoln's Cottage on their Cottage for Community project. They conducted interviews with residents of the Petworth Neighborhood of DC so that the Cottage can build programming that engages and reflects the community of Petworth. Since the internship's conclusion, Ang has been assisting the cottage with the analysis of the collected data before it is presented back to the community.

William Patterson volunteered over the summer with the Smithsonian for Folklife and Cultural Heritage for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Here he is featured taking a break from his work to participate in the Coalition to Save Thoroughfare circle. William is doing his master's project in collaboration with the Coalition.

09/22/2023

Photos of our Visiting Folklorists event from Tuesday. Thanks to Katy Clune (Director of Virginia Folklife) and Ryan Koons (Folklife Specialist at Maryland Traditions) for coming to Mason and sharing their work experiences!

09/15/2023

We are so excited to hear from our visiting folklorists! Katy Clune and Ryan Koons will be at Horizon Hall 1010 on Tuesday, September 19th from 7:30-9:00pm.
They will also be in Dr. Gilman's Public Folklore class in Horizon Hall 1011 from 6:00-7:00pm to talk about their work.
Registration link here: https://tinyurl.com/4veb4wjc

09/13/2023

Hello George Mason Folklore Community,
You are all invited to join us on Sept 19 from 7:30-9:00 pm in Horizon Hall 1010 for an informal gathering with Katy Clune, Director of the Virginia Folklife Program at Virginia Humanities, and Ryan Koons, Folklife Specialist at Maryland Traditions in the Maryland State Arts Council. This is a valuable opportunity to learn about the public folklore organizations and activities in Virginia and Maryland and to meet the leadership while enjoying FREE FOOD. This is also a wonderful opportunity to build your professional network!
If you are not able to make it or just cannot get enough of public folklore, our guests will be visiting Prof. Gilman’s Public Folklore class from 6- 7 pm in Horizon Hall 1011 for a more formal presentation about public folklore work in Virginia and Maryland. You are more than welcome to join us!
Please email Prof. Gilman if you have any questions at [email protected]
We hope to see you there!

Link to register for the event on Mason360: https://mason360.gmu.edu/Folklore/rsvp_boot?id=2155200

09/04/2023

Mason Students, have you joined Folklore Roundtable yet?

This academic student group meets to discuss and participate in all things folklore. Join today: https://tinyurl.com/2p5jekym

09/01/2023

Publore is a valuable tool and communication link for the public folklore community.

This listserv is free, sign up for it here: https://tinyurl.com/28nh7yf6

08/25/2023

WHEW! That's a wrap on the first week back 📖

How did yours go?!

08/22/2023

Welcome Back Students! What are you most looking forward to this semester?

08/21/2023

We hope you've had a rest-filled and enjoyable summer break! 🌞

Looking forward to seeing our folklore students this week as classes start back up again!

07/24/2023

Publore is a valuable tool and communication link for the public folklore community.

This listserv is free, register here: https://tinyurl.com/28nh7yf6

06/26/2023

Mason Folklore Professor, Lijun Zhang (far right), recently traveled throughout Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China meeting with, and learning from, bamboo craftspeople alongside other folklorists: (from L to R) Huawen Li (PhD student, Minzu University), Wuerxiya (PhD student, Indiana University), and Jason Baird Jackson (faculty, Indiana University).

06/15/2023

Hey you! Mason Folklore student!

Are you a member of American Folklore Society yet? Your student membership gives you access to incredible resources. Join today:

AFS Member Application Instructions To join AFS as a new member, please fill out the following information. You can add sections dues on the next screen, and you can choose to either pay once or set up automatic monthly/annual billing by saving a payment profile. If you are a current or recent memb...

06/01/2023

Publore is a valuable tool and communication link for the public folklore community.

This listserv is free, register here: https://tinyurl.com/28nh7yf6

05/22/2023

In all of last week's excitement around graduation, did you miss this story about awards we gave to folklore students?

Congratulations to Allie, Amanda, and Alice!

We are excited to announce the award winners of the 2023 Margaret R. Yocom Prize and the Outstanding Folklore Student for this year!

05/21/2023

Classes just wrapped up for the semester, but our folklore faculty are already out making important contributions to the folklore field!

Professor Zhang recently spent time at her alumni this past week as a Visiting Fellow. While in Bloomington, she participated in a writing workshop based on collaborative ethnographic research.

05/20/2023

We are so very proud of our Folklore Graduates: Allie Stanich, Amanda Ellard, Betty Aquino, Kathryn Casey, and Kenneth Vanwey! We wish you all luck in your next steps!

05/19/2023

After thorough consideration, the committee chose to award the graduate-level prize to Amanda Ellard for her paper “Masculinity and the Female Gaze in Danmei Storytelling.”

The program is also pleased to recognize Alice Christensen as the undergrad winner for their paper, “A Frightful Beast: Sexuality and Disability in Fairy Tales.”

The Yocom Prize honors the best folklore paper written by a Mason student. The award is named after Margaret R. Yocom, Associate Professor Emerita and founder of Mason’s Folklore Program.

Read more about these papers and other folklore awards here: https://folklore.gmu.edu/articles/19096

05/18/2023

During her time at Mason, Allie has presented multiple, well-received papers at folklore conferences, including American Folklore Society. She has been an active member of the Folklore Roundtable, Mason Folklore's academic student group, serving as both Vice President and President in this past school year. Allie even has a forthcoming publication in a prestigious folklore journal.

Read more about folklore awards here: https://folklore.gmu.edu/articles/19096

05/11/2023

Are you an artist or art enthusiast looking to develop your understanding of folk arts?

Learn how to interpret the messages that ancient and modern art provide to us in this course, Folk Arts and Folk Artists with Professor Zhang!

05/10/2023

Are you passionate about helping the public interpret and understand folklore? Ever thought of working at a museum? Have you been inspired by attending a cultural festival or celebration?

Our course, Public and Applied Folklore, will not only help you understand what the public-facing side of the field of folklore looks like, but you will also get to network with professionals in the field and develop vital career-building skills!

05/09/2023

Are you a new grad student in our program? Or an undergrad interested in taking an upper level English course on the topic of folklore?

THIS COURSE WAS MADE FOR YOU.

Develop a thorough understanding of the field of folklore through our Advanced Introduction to Folklore and Folklife!

05/06/2023

Do you love fantasy and young adult fiction? This is the folklore course for you!

Learn from Dr. Shutika, who spent this past year in Ireland. We're sure she has some stories to share on this subject of changelings and fairies... 🍀

05/05/2023

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo - do you know the origins behind this holiday?

In the U.S., it has become synonymous with celebrating Mexican heritage (not to mention tequila and heavy drinking), but this day is actually in reminiscence of the date that Mexico defeated France in the Battle of Puebla in the Franco-Mexican War in 1862.

This holiday and celebration is a great example of folklife! Learn more about folklore and folklife in ENGH 315, a course we are offering two sections of this fall.

05/04/2023

Did you know your grandma's chocolate cake recipe is considered folklore?

Folklore is the informal passing down of information from generation to generation. Register for this course and learn more about the Folklore of Food this fall with Professor Stryker!

05/03/2023

Want to travel the world and learn about culture, but don't have the time or resources to be a globetrotter? We've got the class for you! Check out GLOBAL FOLKLORE, a brand new course that we're offering in Fall 2023.

05/02/2023

Our student group, Folklore Roundtable, is collaborating with Outdoor Adventures to host a Haunted Hike this coming Sunday. Who is ready to get out in nature?

05/01/2023

Starting today, Pieces of Freedom, a book by one of our Folklore Alumni, Lee Ann Timreck, is having a 40% off pre-order sale! Snag your copy before the sale ends on May 15!

Want to learn more about the book? Read on here: https://folklore.gmu.edu/articles/18927

05/01/2023

Tomorrow evening we will be hosting our End of the Year bash for all folklore students. We will honor this year's graduates of our program. If you're a folklore student, alumni, or have ever taken a folklore class, we encourage you to come and bring a dish to share!

04/26/2023

We love seeing our alumni move into the professional world. For one of our recent alumni, this transition included publishing her first book!

Lee Ann Timreck graduated with a Certificate in Folklore in 2016. During her studies, her focus areas were—and still are—African American folklore and material culture.

Pieces of Freedom was inspired by the emancipation sculptures of Mary Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, Emancipation, (below) and their brilliant visualizations of the Black emancipation experience. Lewis’ and Fuller’s personal experiences as Black female artists shaped their visual narrative, and their insight into the lives of a newly emancipated people influenced their historical narrative.

Read more about her book on our website! https://folklore.gmu.edu/articles/18927

04/23/2023

Who will be there?!

The 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival invites visitors to experience this country’s diverse cultural landscape in two featured programs: “The Ozarks: Faces and Facets of a Region” and “Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the U.S.”

“This year marks a much-desired return to programs featuring cultural stories found throughout the U.S.,” says Festival director Sabrina Lynn Motley. “The opportunity to look within presented us with a timely challenge, requiring our partners and staff to bring fresh eyes to the familiar, push beyond tired stereotypes, and highlight diverse sources of creativity and community.”

Read the official press release: https://s.si.edu/3H0KhMl

04/13/2023

MASON UNDERGRADS - registration starts today!

What folklore courses are you signing up for?

Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and course registration is about to open! We hope that Mason students will enjoy these dynamic and...

04/11/2023

Do you know which folklore courses you plan on taking in the fall? We're excited to bring you a wide array of options.

Registration starts today for graduate students!

09/14/2017

Full 'Lore' Series Trailer Looks Like 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' for Adults

Lore, the series, takes on the telling of folklore in the style of campfire tales

Amazon is adapting the popular podcast Lore into a live-action horror series of terrifying tales that looks like Are You Afraid of the Dark? for adults.

09/14/2017

West Virginia is celebrating Braxton County Monster day! What monsters have you encountered in life or through story?

in 1952, news concerning the sighting of a monster in Braxton County, WV began to spread nationwide. The evening before, on September 12, 1952 in Flatwoods, a group of young boys were playing outside when a fireball soared overhead, coming down at a nearby farm. The boys, bringing along one of their mothers, went to investigate the site where they were met by what they described as an eight foot robotic monster with a green head and red eyes. Following the sighting, newspapers nationwide began reporting the “Flatwoods Monster,” and people began to swarm into the small town in search of evidence.

Interested in West Virginia folklore? Stop by to see some of our books on the subject!

09/12/2017

Information for AFS 2017 Annual Meeting First-Time Attendees - American Folklore Society

If you'll be attending AFS for the first time this year, they've compiled this useful guide just for you.

Resources for folklorists