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Unit Contributions to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion

Academic Years: 
2018-2019
Department: 
College of Arts and Sciences
Division: 
Humanities
Other
Academics
1. Faculty: 

Folklore and Public Culture is an interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate program with a core (13) and participating faculty (24) drawn from schools, departments and programs from across campus. Schools, departments and programs include English; Anthropology; German and Scandinavian Studies, Planning, Public Policy and Management; Music and Dance; Judaic Studies; Journalism and Communications; History of Art and Architecture; Historic Preservation; History; Cinema Studies; Women and Gender Studies; and Food Studies among others. Core faculty constitute the primary decision-making body of Folklore and Public Culture. Participating faculty are engaged in scholarship and teaching that touches on issues of Folklore and Public Culture.
The American Folklore Society (AFS), a US-based international learned society, is a primary professional association for members of the faculty. AFS recognizes that its members live, teach, and conduct cultural research in many countries around the world. Members of AFS are dedicated to the larger public understanding of traditional cultural expression in communities throughout the world. Scholars with the AFS take a comparative approach to tradition demonstrating that traditions circulate independently of national boundaries and that every country has diverse and complex, even contradictory traditions.

2. Staff: 

Folklore and Public Culture is supported by two staff members who are located within the English Department.

3. Graduate Programs: 

The University of Oregon offers one of the most exciting folklore graduate programs in the country. Our interdisciplinary approach allows our masters students to explore individual interests in a well-supported academic environment. Our students conduct research and delve into theoretical analyses on a variety of topics, incorporating both classical approaches to traditions with cutting-edge, modern interpretations of folklore and public culture. Current students study topics ranging from gender roles in rock music to West African drumming in suburban America; from nature pilgrimages to social media memorials; from graffiti, knitting and DIY artist movements to museum studies.
Students in the masters degree program in Folklore and Public Culture may choose from two tracks with differing emphases. The General Folklore Track provides students with a strong foundation in folklore studies while also allowing students to take elective courses in their areas of focus. The General Folklore Track requires students to take specific classes from Folklore and Public Culture program faculty in a variety of subjects including anthropology, arts and administration, English, and music, among other disciplines. The Public Folklore Track prepares students who plan to work in the public sphere by building professional skills such as ethnographic research, documentation, grant writing, administration and programming. The program also focuses on building scholarly fundamentals of folklore and establishing relationships within the folklore field. Issues of diversity, equity and inclusion are a focus across the graduate curriculum.

4. Undergraduate Programs: 

The Folklore and Public Culture Program offers a bachelor of arts with a major in Folklore and Public Culture. An undergraduate minor is also available. Courses cover an extensive range of interdisciplinary topics: cultural heritage, ethnicity, subcultures, popular culture, performance, gender, film, religion, public folklore, and issues of diversity and globalization. Folklore and Public Culture graduates work in public and private agencies as educators, archivists, editors, arts and humanities consultants, museum curators, and festival planners. Issues of diversity, equity and inclusion are a focus across the curriculum.

Staff
1. University Service: 

Core and participating faculty in Folklore and Public Culture provide extensive internal and external service. Internal service incudes search committees, curriculum committees, Diversity Action Plan (DAP) committees, work groups on teaching and learning, and academic unit directorships. Service to the profession is guided by the AFS’s commitment to cultural diversity.

2. Departmental Contributions: 

Goal One: Create an Inclusive and Welcoming Environment for All

Folklore and Public Culture regularly brings lecturers to campus who specifically focus on issues of equity and inclusion in their work or are engaging in scholarship that reinforces the importance of equity and inclusion in those fields associated with Folklore and Public Culture.

2017-18 List of Folklore Guest Speakers:

Folklore Initiated
Nov 9, 2017 Jodi Wile, Film Screening - "The Source Family: Gender and Representation in a 70s Occult Commune"
Jan 24, 2018 Lisa Gilman, Film Screening – “Grounds for Resistance, ” A documentary about Coffee Strong and the anti-war activism of U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: and Andrew McLaughlin Film Screening – “Veterans Speak: Identify Community, Resistance, Disruption”
May 8, 2018 A Book Discussion with Charlie McNabb, Author of
“Nonbinary Gender Identities”

Folklore Co-Sponsored
2017-18 SOMD World Music Series
Apr 9, 2018 SOMD Dema 2018 week-long events
Oct 1, 2018 CLLAS’ events for Latinx Heritage Month, filmmaker Peter Bratt for the screening of his film Dolores (about Chicana activist Dolores Huerta).

Goal Two: Increase the representation of diverse students, faculty, staff, and community partners at all levels of the university.

Folklore and Public Culture is benefitting from the implicit bias training required of search committee members at the UO because of the number of Folklore faculty on search committees.

Each year, the Graduate School sends the Folklore and Public Culture Program a national list of McNair scholars participants and National Name Exchange Participants. The lists include participants from each program who indicated an interest in a topic area matching our program’s area expertise. These materials are used in recruiting efforts towards admitting a diverse incoming class of graduate students. The students on these lists qualify for Graduate School Application fee waivers.

Goal Three: Facilitate access to achievement, success, and recognition for underrepresented students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Through a competitive process, Folklore and Public Culture is offering two 500.00 awards (1 faculty / 1 student) for initiatives that advance equity and inclusion within the Folklore and Public Culture Program and in the fields associated with Folklore and Public Culture.

3. Community Service and Outreach: 

Closely associated with Folklore and Public Culture is the Oregon Folklife Network (OFN). The OFN is the state of Oregon’s Folk and Traditional Arts Program, made up of a network of statewide culture and heritage partners that operate on state, regional, county, and community levels to document, support, preserve, and celebrate Oregon’s cultural traditions. Headquartered at the University of Oregon, OFN is located in the Knight Library and administered by the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Folklore and Public Culture students routinely work with this network as Graduate Employees or in an internship capacity.
In addition, the undergraduate and graduate students interested in public folklore routinely do internships at cultural organizations within the region.