The Folklore Program at the University of North Carolina focuses on the study of creativity and aesthetic expression in everyday life, and on the political implications of that expression as it unfolds in the contested arenas of culture. Not bound to traditional definitions of folklore, and committed to preparing students for ethical practice in a multicultural world, the Program offers a flexible M.A. program that readies students for both public practice and further academic study.

The new millennium marks six decades of the Program ’s presence at UNC. Founded with an eye to regional study, and deeply integrated with the University’s long-standing focus on Southern history, literature, and culture, the Program maintains its commitment to the study of regional folklife. This commitment, however, in no way limits the Program’s vision. Though students and faculty still do much of their fieldwork in the South, they are just as likely to be working with poets in Chicago, shamans in Siberia, or master-level science fiction costumers in Boston. Faculty interests tend to cluster in the areas of music, narrative, African American culture, material culture, public folklore, performance theory, occupational folklife, and the politics of culture. In keeping with the latter of these interests, Program members work extensively in the public sphere, pursuing projects with museums, arts councils, media production companies, and a range of other organizations.

The Folklore Program now resides structurally within the Department of American Studies. Some of our faculty hold appointments in American Studies, others in the sister departments of Anthropology, English, History, and Religious Studies, in keeping with Folklore’s interdisciplinary nature. The program offers an M.A. in Folklore and a minor in Folklore at the B.A. and Ph.D. levels for students majoring in other departments. Undergraduates who wish to major in Folklore may currently do so by creating their own study plan for an Interdisciplinary Studies major (http://www.unc.edu/depts/uc/ht_idst.html and http://www.unc.edu/ugradbulletin/depts/interdisciplinary.html). We are working on plans for a Ph.D. in American Studies (within which students could focus on a Folklore topic) and a formal B.A. in American Studies: Folklore.