Course Description
One or more folk groups, folklore genres, or topics concerning folklore.
Athena Title
FOLKLORE STUDIES
Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, a student should be able to recognize what constitutes folklore (including identifying specific genres), to explain basic theories of transmission and function, to discuss how folklore functions in the students' own lives and in others' lives, to appreciate how a community expresses and perpetuates its values through folklore, and to think about folklore in its full socio-historic context. Depending on the specific course topic, the student should also be able to address all of these concerns with special attention to the folk group or genre under consideration.
Topical Outline
Topical outline: The choice and sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester. The topics will consist of primary materials in both oral and printed forms and secondary writings to be read outside of class and discussed in class, examined individually and comparatively with consideration of their function, genre identification, and socio-historic context. Periodically during the semester, students will perform a number of graded tasks including some combination of tests, out-of-class papers, and fieldwork. A possible series of topics and assignments for the topic "Folk Narrative" might resemble this: Structure and taxonomy: David Pace, "Beyond Morphology: Levi Strauss and the Analysis of Folktales" Role of the individual tale-teller: Ilhan Basgoz, "The Tale-Singer and His Audience" Role of folktales in society: Carl Lindahl, "Jacks: The Name, the Tales, the American Tradition" Gender issues in folktales: Marcia K. Lieberman, "'Some Day My Prince Will Come': Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale" Introduction to legend: Linda Degh and Andrew Vazsonyi, "Legend and Belief" Historical legend: Elissa R. Henken, National Redeemer Supernatural legend: Patricia Lysaght, "Women, Milk and Magic at the Boundary Festival of May" Contemporary Legend: Patricia A. Turner, I Heard It through the Grapevine