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Humanities Institute and Center for Folklore Studies Partner to Celebrate Mothman Legend

This November marks the 60th anniversary of the first Mothman sightings in Ohio and West Virginia…

Merrill Kaplan and Mintzi Martínez-Rivera

We have news about our team: Merrill Kaplan, the director for the Center for Folklore Studies, has been promoted to Professor of Folklore and Scandinavian Studies. Our CFS Affiliate, Dr. Mintzi…

Dr. Mark Bender stands in front of a slide showing a region in China

Professor Mark Bender, (Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and affiliate of the Center for Folklore Studies), presented the Richard M. Dorson Memorial Lecture in the Department of…

Dr Dorothy Noyes
By Nicholas Booker

On February 26th, the Indiana University (IU) College of Arts and Sciences presented Dr. Dorothy Noyes, director of OSU’s Mershon Center for International Security Studies, with its

Folk Narratives in Indian Literary and Performative Traditions Poster featuring Dr. Mark Bender
By Nicholas Booker

On February 25, 2026, Professor Mark Bender (Department of East Asian Languages and Literature) gave a presentation at the International Seminar on Folk Narratives in Indian Literary and…

The cover of Old Norse Folklore: Magic, Witchcraft, and Charms in Medieval Scandinavia by Stephen Mitchell (2025)
By Nicholas Booker

Center for Folklore Studies GRA Nick Booker, alongside fellow students Di Wang and Ted Nagasawa, interviewed Dr. Stephen Mitchell on Scandinavian folklore and memorial landscapes.

Listen to…

sepia stained paper with illegible handwriting

The folklore reading room (Hagerty 455A) is now open during specific hours for the autumn semester. These are the standard open hours through the end of the semester:
Mondays: 9 am – 5 pm

the recipients of the 2025 distinguished staff awards standing on stairs

Congratulations to OSU folklore alumna Puja Batra-Wells on receiving a 2025 Distinguished Staff Award. Puja is currently the Associate Director of the the Global Arts + Humanities office.

We're Hiring Post Doc

Job Title

Post Doctoral Scholar - Center for Folklore Studies

Department

Arts and Sciences | Center for Folklore Studies

Follow this link to apply

The deadline to apply is May 30.

2024 2025 student award recipients with a block O and grey buckeye leaves

At the April 22 end-of-year celebration, the Humanities Institute's center directors announced their award winners for the academic year. Undergraduate and graduate students were present to…

Folklore Studies Grants and Funding

The Center for Folklore Studies has announced this year’s recipients of the Graduate Student Travel Grant, supporting folklore scholars as they present their research at major conferences around…

sepia stained paper with illegible handwriting

The Folklore Reading Room (Hagerty 455A) is now open during normal working hours.

These are the standard open hours through the end of spring semester:
Mondays: 10 am –…

Red and white logos of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University and the Department of Folklore Studies at The Ohio State University

"Our Shared Traditions: More than Human Experiences" conference on February 28th and March 1st, was an incredible success! Graduate students from the Folklore Student Association led the way in…

Folklore Studies Grants and Funding

The Center for Folklore Studies is offering one-time, small travel grants for currently enrolled graduate students pursuing the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization to present at folklore…

Red and white logos of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University and the Department of Folklore Studies at The Ohio State University

The Folklore Student Association is hosting an art competition to design a mascot and design element for the annual Indiana University and Ohio State University Graduate Student Conference in…

fruit hanging on a branch

Creation of Outreach Theatre: The Urban Forest

This undergraduate course will give students a chance to explore performance as a means of impacting our community. Details of the…

Red and white logos of the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University and the Department of Folklore Studies at The Ohio State University

Shared Traditions: More than Human Experiences February 28- March 1, 2025 | The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH

The Indiana University/Ohio State University Graduate Student…

2024 Student Award Winners with block o

At the April 16 end-of-year celebration, the Humanities Insitute's center directors announced their award winners for the academic year. Undergraduate and graduate students were present to receive…

Corona during eclipse
By Rhiar Kanouse

CFS Director and Archivist Dr. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth gave an interview with Ohio State News to celebrate the upcoming eclipse on April 8th. In the article, Dr. Waugh-Quasebarth provides…

American Comparative Literature Association logo

Rhiar Kanouse, the Graduate Research Associate for the Center for Folklore Studies, presented at the 2024 American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) conference in Montreal, Canada. Her…

Finding the Singing Spruce book cover, which features the wooden front of a musical instrument, alongside text which reads "2023 Weatherford Award Finalist for Best Non-fiction Book About Appalachia"

Congratulations to CFS Director and Archivist Dr. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth as Weatherford Awards honors his book Finding the Singing Spruce: Musical Instrument Makers and Appalachia’s Mountain…

Appalachian Curator cover

Congratulations to CFS Director and Archivist Dr. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth on his recent article, "Appalachian Collections at the Ohio State University Center for Folklore Studies Archive." His…

Spring 2024 CFS Grad Student Travel Grant

The Center for Folklore Studies announces one-time, small travel grants for currently enrolled graduate students pursuing the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization to present at folklore…

Jasper's talk

CFS Director Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth spoke on the plenary panel of the College of Arts & Sciences Equity and Justice Symposium, which was sponsored by the office of Office of Diversity, Equity,…

Claiming Space

The Center for Folklore Studies celebrates the publication of Claiming Space: Performing the Personal through Decorated Mortarboard, a work by Sheila Bock, a folklorist and OSU alumna…

Interview with the Author of Finding the Singing Spruce,  Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth

The Center for Folklore Studies celebrates the publication of Finding the Singing Spruce: Musical Instrument Makers and Appalachia's Mountain Forests by Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth, director…

Catch up on this month's news

Click the PDF below to download this month's newsletter. Find information on upcoming events, funding opportunities and more.

$200 paper prizes

It's time to apply for our annual spring awards. The Patrick B. Mullen Graduate Prize is funded by the Patrick B. Mullen Endowment Fund, which was established in recognition of…

Billboard with folklore images on it: mothman, dolly parton, an animal

We're pleased to announce a new folklore course to be offered Spring 2023. "Folklore of the Americas: Appalachia" will be taught by Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth as an undergraduate course.

…

Student Angel Evans conducts interview

This past semester, professors Amy Shuman and Mary Hufford were awarded Discovery Field School Grant Awards, which allowed them to “take students to domestic…

Sarah Craycraft Defense Committee

On June 14th, 2022, Sarah Craycraft defended Reinventing the Village: Generations, Heritage and Revitalization in Contemporary Bulgaria, a dissertation that committee members described as…

Please Add Me to All the Mailing Lists meme

The Center for Folklore Studies is delighted to announce the launch of the newest collection in its archive: OSU Student Digital Folklore Collection (SDFC). The aim of the SDFC is to gather,…

Protest sign with butterflies and "We may  not be able to vote but we can influence those who can"

Nine students in CS 4193 Border Issues and Immigrant Rights Activism in Ohio completed their final projects, documenting their visits to immigrant communities, immigrant rights groups and points…

Dan Barnes Undergraduate Paper PRize

Call for Submissions

This is an annual $200 cash award for the year's best folklore paper by an OSU undergraduate. It honors beloved emeritus professor Daniel R. Barnes, who taught folklore and…

Cat Meme: bought a generic mug, it leaks

Since 2006, the OSU Folklore Student Association has sponsored The Dan Barnes Joke Award. This award is given to the person who submits the best response to a joke prompt.


This year's…

Pat Mullen and prize-winning student

The Patrick B. Mullen Prize is awarded annually for the best graduate student paper or project submitted during the academic year. The prize is given in honor of the significant contributions made…

Rachel Hopkin and Revell Carr in Podcast Studio

Friday's 13th Francis Lee Utley lecture featured Dr. James Revell Carr, Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology and director of the John…

Latina Stories Podcast Logo

Solimar Otero, Professor of Folklore in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University, Bloomington, was recently interviewed for the Latin@ Stories podcast. In this episode,…

Headshot of Solimar Otero

Professor Solimar Otero's recent lecture, “Archives of Conjure: Spirits, Art, and Materiality" is now online. Find it here.

Dr. Otero also was interviewed for the Latin@…

Ground Zero Monument in NYC

Human Rights On the Ground in New York City

ENGLISH 5193 | 1-credit field school | May 23-28, 2022

Sponsored by the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme

Human Rights…

Elena Foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis, Clincal Associate Professor of Spanish and Associate Director of the Center for Ethnic Studies will be one of the speakers at TedXOhioState on 26 February 2022. For more…

foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis is performing in the upcoming CATCO production of Luchadora!

Performances take place February 17-March 6, 2022 at the Van Fleet Theatre in Columbus. More information,…

Dorothy Noyes

The Center for Folklore Studies joins the international folklore community in congratulating Professor Dorothy Noyes for being awarded the 2021 Kenneth Goldstein Award for Lifetime Academic…

Ohio State Garden of Constants

As the semester winds down and the holiday season approaches, the open hours of the Center for Folklore Studies will be by appointment. Please email us at cfs@osu.edu if you would like to arrange…

young volunteer with Friends of Scioto Brush Creek canoe with trash extracted from Creek

Katherine Borland's essay, "Slow Activism and the Cultivation of Environmental Stewardship in Rural Spaces" was published in the November special issue of Ethnologia Fennica: Rethinking…

Details of Ohio Stadium

The Center for Folklore Studies is closed the week beginning October 18, 2021, for the American Folklore Society's annual conference.

Merrill Kaplan

"How does Marvel's Thor measure up to his Norse counterpart?"

If that question has been bugging you endlessly, ponder no more, because that's the title of a recent article published on…

Ohio State Oval

The CFS is OPEN. We encourage students, faculty, friends, and the general public to drop in, say hello and use our space for study, meetings, archive access, and library consultation. Here are the…

Elena Foulis

Profe Elena Foulis has been appointed the Associate Director of the Center for Ethnic Studies.

Dr. Elena Foulis is a student-centered educator with over 15 years of…

rachel_hopkin

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Rachel Hopkin will join the staff at the Center for Folklore Studies and the Humanities Institute as our GAH DT Post Doc for 2021-2022…

What Folklorists Do front cover and promo blurb

Congratulations to Center for Folklore Studies faculty, staff, students, and alumni who contributed to Dr. Tim Lloyd's (also an alum!) recent publication, What Folklorists Do:…

Jasmine Stork

Jasmine Stork defended her excellent dissertation, "Asexuality in Avengers Fanfiction: A Mixed-Methods Folklore Study" on Friday, July 16. This innovative study uses a folklore…

mary hufford

If Eastern Kentucky wants control of how the region is portrayed to the world, what should that new narrative say about people, culture and economy? For ideas we turn to Ohio State University…

Jordan Lovejoy headshot

We wish to extend hearty congratulations to Jordan Lovejoy for a stellar defense of her dissertation: Beyond the Flood: Environmental Memory, Precarity, and Creativity in Imagining Appalachia…

wenyuan shao

Congratulations to Dr. Wenyuan Shao, who has just defended her dissertation, Unheard Voices and Alternative Pasts: Deciphering Chronicles of Southwest Yi and Its Layered Ranges of…

Katherine Borland

CFS Director Katey Borland gave the opening keynote address at the 15th SIEF (International Society for Ethnology and Folklore) Congress, “Breaking the Rules? Power, Participation, Transgression,”…

Sheila Bock

Congratulations to alumna, Dr. Sheila Bock (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), who received the Department in Honors Teaching Award from the Honors College.

[pdf] - Some links on this…

nuoso book of origins cover

The University of Washington Press has recently announced that The Nuosu Book of Origins: A Creation Epic from Southwest China (2019) by Mark Bender, Aku Wuwu, and Jjivot Zopqu, has just…

Katherine Borland

Congratulations to Katherine Borland, who has just won the Council of Graduate Students' James M. Siddens Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising! The Siddens Award was created by CGS to…

Folklore Student Association wordmark.

Congratulations to the awardees of the 2021 Folklore Student Association Covid Relief Scholarship! The one-time $400 scholarship is designed to support students who consider the discipline of…

Dorothy Noyes

Dorothy Noyes was awarded the honorific title of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor. The Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professorship is an honorific title. This award…

Lydia's video still

Congratulations to Lydia Smith (Art), who was awarded a Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Graduate Team Fellowship for the 2021-2022 academic year! This program brings…

border to columbus - toe tags hung on a wall symbolizing migrant deaths along the border of Arizona

On April 12-16, 2021 at The Ohio State University, two faculty members from the Department of Sociology (Victor Espinosa and Danielle Schoon) co-organized a virtual symposium, Bringing the Border…

Craycraft Rural Radical Imagination

Congratulations to Sarah Craycraft and her collaborators, Elena Stoycheva and Sonya Pencheva, who were awarded a Fulbright alumni grant to continue working on a collaborative…

Dahlberg-Sears headshot

Bobby Dahlberg-Sears will be performing dissertation fieldwork as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute of Comparative Culture at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan beginning in June…

Jacob Kopcienski headshot

Congratulations to Jacob Kopcienski (Music), who was awarded a Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Graduate Team Fellowship for the 2021-2022 academic year! This program…

Sarah Craycraft closely watches Tsvetana Todorova working on her needlecraft in Bulgaria.

Congratulations to Sarah Craycraft (Comparative Studies) who was awarded a Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Graduate Team Fellowship for the 2021-2022 academic year! This…

Jasmine Stork

Jasmine Stork has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Poland for 2021-2022. She will be teaching at the University of Opole in southern Poland. Opole is one…

Jordan Lovejoy headshot

Jordan Lovejoy (English) was selected as one of four OSU Arts and Sciences PhD students to proceed to the national ACLS Emerging Voices Postdoctoral Fellowship competition…

Sophia Enriquez headshot

Dr. Sophia Enriquez (Ethnomusicology) has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Music at Duke University, where she will also teach in the program for Latinx Studies in…

Amelia Mathews-Pett

Amelia Mathews-Pett, ABD, passed her candidacy exams with sprightly elegance. Her committee consisted of Angus Fletcher, Jared Gardner, Merrill Kaplan, and Dorry Noyes as chair. She now moves…

SCOPE group photo

S.C.O.P.E. (Student Community Of Progressive Empowerment) would like to cordially invite Undocumented Graduates and Allies to a Zoom Ceremony to acknowledge the accomplishments of Undocumented…

GAH+DT logo

Dr. Amy Shuman moderated Bodies in Public Space | Bridging Distance in Arts and Humanities Methods and Practices for the Global Arts & Humanities Discovery Theme. Drs…

Jasper W-Q sits with guitar in hand.

CFS Public Folklorist Dr. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth gave a talk entitled "Community Ethnography and Sustainable Engagement: Case Studies from Appalachia" at the Nanyang…

Elizabeth A Baker

Check out Jacob Kopcienski's (Musicology) article, "5 Questions to Elizabeth A. Baker about retrospectiveDisconnect" on I Care If You Listen. Learn more about Jacob's…

Dana Kletchka

Kletchka, D. C. (2021). The epistemology of the basement: A queer theoretical reading of the institutional positionality of art museum educators. Museum Management &…

sabra webber

Dr. Sabra Webber (Professor Emerita) has published three essay blog posts about folklorist Alan Jabbour's family immigration saga for the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora…

GAH+DT logo

Katherine Borland and Stephanie Aubry have secured a GAH+DT grant for a Border Issues and Activism Field School. The four day field school will visit sites of…

Dorry Noyes

Congratulations to Dr. Dorothy Noyes, who was awarded the 2021 University Distinguished Scholar Award!

Dorothy Noyes, professor of English, comparative studies and…

New Covid Conversations website logo

Covid Conversations: Life in a Time of Corona, the Center for Folklore Studies podcast produced in collaboration with Ohio Humanities by Dr. Rachel Hopkin and supported by the Global Arts…

Cassie Patterson

Dr. Cassie Rosita Patterson has been promoted to Associate Director (formerly she was Assistant Director) of the Center for Folklore Studies effective Feb 1, 2021. Congrats, Dr…

Ohio State Oval

Fieldwork & Ethnography Panel presenters, Sarah Craycraft, Jordan Lovejoy, and Syndey Varajon created the Tried and True Advice from the Field…

woke pedagogies logo

In “Woke Pedagogies: An Arts & Sciences Approach to Excellence in Teaching” podcast, hosts Elena Foulis and David Staley discuss challenges within higher ed, giving…

Elena Foulis

Congratulations to Dr. Elena Foulis, whose article "Latin@s en la Fe: Gender, Solidarity, and the Common Good Among Latin@ Christians in Ohio" was published in the Journal of Hispanic / Latino…

New Covid Conversations website logo

Episode 4: Two world-class musicians are featured from two of the world’s greatest orchestras.

Mark Kosower is Principal Cello with the Cleveland Orchestra. He has been…

Dean Bradbury, a white male wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and overalls

The Center for Folklore Studies mourns the loss of Dean "Pappaw" Bradbury, a friend of the Ohio Field School program.

Earl Dean Bradbury, beloved husband of the late Velma…

Close-up headshot of Jared Gardener, who is a white male smiling and wearing glasses

Professor Jared Gardner, the Joseph V. Denney Designated Professor of English and the director of the Popular Culture Studies program, has been named director of the Humanities…

David Brose, a white man with a mustache and glasses wearing a white hat, sitting with a guitar in his lap

The Center for Folklore Studies mourns the loss of David Brose, 1951-2021 to cancer. David was a Columbus, Ohio, native. After an early introduction to American traditional music,…

Details of Ohio Stadium

The Center for Folklore Studies has received a $25,000 Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme (GAHDT) Centers Grant, for its project: “Revisioning Folklore Studies in the Academy and the…

Seljamaa bio pic

Alumna Dr. Elo-Hanna Seljamaa will give the plenary address at a Zoom conference on socialist/Soviet-era folkloristics from the University of Latvia.

Register here.

A…

marsden.11

Warmest congratulations to Mariah Marsden, whose sprightly oral defense capped her passing of her qualifying exams. Mariah’s committee consisted of Drs. Katey Borland, Dorry Noyes…

Elizabeth Jean MacLaughlin

The Center for Folklore Studies mourns the passing of Dr. Jean (Mayo) MacLaughlin on October 27, 2020. Trained at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University (MA 1970, PhD 1977), Jean joined the…

Routledge Handbook of Counter-Narratives cover art

Congratulations to Drs. Katherine Borland and Amy Shuman, who published a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Counter-Narratives.

Borland, Katherine and Amy Shuman. 2020. …

Elena Foulis

The Ohio Latino Affairs Commission Board recently elected its new leaders for the 44th board, including two representatives from The Ohio State University. Congratulations to …

sims

Congratulations to Dr. Martha Sims, who successfully defended her dissertation, “Illness Tattoos: A Study of Embodied Traditions and Narratives.” Her committee included Drs. Amy Shuman …

The Rendville Cemetery

During the Spring 2020 Ohio Field School, Lydia Smith and Jacob Kopcienski worked to document the cemetery in Rendville OH, a progressive and historically…

BTA Logo

2020 Ohio Field Schooler, Evan DeCarlo, published "Placemaking and Blue Blazes: The Ohio Field School Comes to the BTA" for the summer issue of Trailblazer, the quarterly…

Five different colored books stacked on top of each other representing the Publishing Workshop

Alex, Stacey and Elena Foulis. "Be the Street: The Performative and Transformative Possibilities of Oral History." US Latina & Latino Oral History Journal, vol. 4, 2020,…

Sp21 Courses

Check out folklore course offerings for spring 2021!

Some highlights for SP21 Graduate Courses include:

International Studies 4195: Selected…

NBN: Folklore Podcast

Have you listened to the New Books in Folklore podcast? Alumni, Dr. Timothy Thurston and Dr. Rachel Hopkin are hosts of the podcast and were recently joined by …

Folkwise title card

Folkwise is Youtube channel created by a group of folklorists to explore the ways folklore connects to their personal and academic interests. The main hosts are spread out across…

blank notebook

The Center for the Study of Religion and the Center for Folklore Studies invite interested faculty and graduate students to join our 2020/2021 working group on Religion, Health, and Healing…

Craycraft Rural Radical Imagination

PhD Candidate Sarah Craycraft co-curated a photographic exhibit (along with Elena Stoycheva) as part of her participation in a three-week artist's residency in Deleyna, Bulgaria…

Annie the Archivist

2013-2018 Archival Assistant Annie Craycraft is pursuing an MLIS at the University of Iowa. Annie shares, "working in the CFS archives is the entire reason I chose to pursue a…

Jordan on 100 Days in Appalachia

Congratulations to PhD Candidate, Jordan Lovejoy (English), who was featured in a live Q&A session on 100 Days in Appalachia’s Instagram! Jordan fielded the age old question, “so,…

Benjamin working at the Heritage Center at his hometown in Holmes County, Ohio.

2019-2020 Archival Intern Benjamin Beachy was accepted into the MLIS program at Kent State University and has started his first semester. Beachy shares, "this fall semester is…

Jordan Woodward and Emilio Bess interview John Winnenberg online

Congratulations to Drs. Borland, Patterson, and Waugh-Quasebarth on their recent publication about the Ohio Field School in the Journal of Folklore and Education's special issue on…

Mountaineers are Always Free cover

Congratulations to CFS Alumna, Dr. Rosemary Hathaway (English Department at West Virginia University), who recently published her book, Mountaineers Are Always Free: Heritage,…

covid conversations logo

Episode #1 of the CFS’s new podcast, Covid Conversations: Life in a Time of Corona, is LIVE! It features two wordsmiths and artists - Omope Daboiku who…

new books in folklore logo

Congratulations to alumna, Dr. Nancy Yan, and OSU-IU Student Conference keynote speaker, Dr. Rachel Gonzàlez, on their recent podcast episode for New Books in Folklore! “In this podcast, we talk…

Katherine Borland

Greetings Folklorists and Allies,

It is my pleasure to welcome you back to campus (sort of) for what will certainly be an unusual year. The volatility of the virus as well as the…

Ehsan Estiri

During this peculiar summer of 2020, Ehsan Estiri finished and defended his Dissertation, Talking Back to America: Discursive Processes in Iranian Angelino Public Events (see below for…

Tulips

Congratulations to Dr. Tessa Jacobs, who has just defended her timely dissertation, _Fire on Mountain Drive: Community Dynamics and Personal Narrative in a Wildfire-Prone Landscape_…

schoon

Congratulations to Dr. Danielle Schoon (Near Eastern Languages and Cultures) who, along with Harmony Bench (Dance), Yana Hashamova (Slavic), and Hannah Kosstrin (Dance), received…

Nathan Young

We are delighted to announce that Nathan Young has successfully defended his dissertation, entitled Modernity’s Other: Nostalgia for Village Life in Turkey, an exploration of the many…

Ziying You

Congratulations to Dr. Ziying You, CFS alumna and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies and East Asian Studies at College of Wooster, who served as guest editor for the special issue of …

Ohio State Garden of Constants

Congratulations to Dr. Joe Campbell, Dr. Cassie Rosita Patterson, and Dr. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth, all members of the OSU Advisory Committee for the Ohio Field…

Galey Modan

Congratulations to CFS core faculty member, Dr. Gabriella Modan who, along with her collaborators, Dr. Seuli Bose Brill (General Internal Medicine) and Nathan Richards (PhD…

Isaac Weiner

Congratulations to Associated Faculty member, Dr. Isaac Weiner, whose American Religious Sounds Project received funding from the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Themes.

What does…

Foulis and students engaged in performance storytelling.

Drs. Glenn Martinez and Elena Foulis, along with collaborators, Dr. Fitzgerald, and Grad student Palo Pinillos Chavez received the The Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme grant ($18,000) for…

RendvilleThumbnail

The Rendville Historical Preservation Society and the Center for Folklore Studies invite CFS affiliated students, faculty, and staff to explore voices of emancipation in Rendville Cemetery between…

rachel_hopkin

Congratulations to Dr. Katherine Borland and Dr. Rachel Hopkin, who received a $25,000 grant from the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme for Covid Conversations: Life…

Jordan Lovejoy

Congratulations to PhD Candidate, Jordan Lovejoy, whose chapter, "Redneck Memes as an Appalachian Reclamation of Vernacular Authority, Language, and Identity," was recently…

Dorry Noyes

Dr. Dorothy Noyes was recently featured on the Department of English's Research Spotlight. In her interview, she discusses some of her current projects, including…

Headshot photo of Jordan Woodward with trees in the background.

The winner of this year's Human Rights Award for the best graduate academic paper or multi-modal project related to the discourses of human rights is Jordan Woodward (Department…

kati-f

Please extend your congratulations to Kati Fitzgerald (Department of Comparative Studies) who just successfully defended her brilliant dissertation, "No Pure Lands: The…

Headshot photo of Afsane Rezaei

Congratulations to Dr. Afsane Rezaei (Department of Comparative Studies), who defended a fine dissertation in a lively discussion. Entitled “Agency Between Narratives: Women,…

ARSP logo

Dr. Isaac Weiner, one of our Affiliates in the Department of Comparative Studies and Co-Director fo the American Religious Sounds Project, has shared this call:

Call For Sounds!

Caroline Toy

Caroline Toy successfully defended her dissertation, "Wizarding Shrines and Police Box Cathedrals: Re-envisioning Religiosity through Fan and Media Pilgrimages," on Friday March 20th. An…

foulis

Congratulations to Dr. Elena Foulis who has been named a recipient of the Community Engagement Scholar Award! This honor is a part of the OSU 2020 University Outreach and Engagement Awards.

Message of Support from the Center for Folklore Studies

Dear OSU Folklorists,

While you are likely coordinating directly with your respective departments and mentors about adjustments related to the Covid-19 pandemic, CFS leadership and staff are…

Headshots of Rezaei (left) and Estiri (right).

Please extend warmest congratulations to Afsane Rezaei, who will be headed to Utah State University’s Department of English this fall as Assistant Professor of Folklore and…

Elena Foulis in a sound recording studio with audio equipment.

It is Ohio Habla’s 100th episode!! Dr. Elena Foulis started Ohio Habla November 2017 and today she published the podcast’s 100th episode.

What better way to celebrate than…

Jasmine Stork

Jasmine Stork (PhD Candidate, Comparative Studies) was hired in January as the new Program Coordinator for the Undergraduate Fellowship Office in Honors & Scholars at OSU. She has…

Moriah Flagler portrait.

Postdoc Moriah Flagler will continue on for a third year thanks to a $100,000 Community Engagement Grant from the Global Arts + Humanities discovery theme. In 2020-2021, Flagler…

Photo of a television screen with a crowd of people at Dollywood. Varajon outlined in a circle.

Our very own Sydney Varajon (PhD candidate) was spotted in the Hallmark Channel film Christmas at Dollywood which aired in December. For Sydney it was fieldwork, of…

Katherine Borland

Check out CFS Director Dr. Katey Borland’s recent article on the Be The Street project in the Folklore Fellows News. In "Beyond Content Analysis: Narratives of Belonging…

Kate Parker horigan

Alumna, Dr. Kate Parker Horigan, was the Featured Folklorist on the American Folklore Society website this December. Check out her interview on the AFS website!

Mark Bender

Dr. Mark Bender, chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, announced the publication of Meige, the translation of a version of a folk epic of the…

Sarah Craycraft closely watches Tsvetana Todorova working on her needlecraft in Bulgaria.

Sarah Craycraft will be featured in the upcoming Winter 2019 issue of OSU's alumni magazine. The story covers her participation in a Bulgaria-based program called Residencia Baba…

Rachel Hopkin with her committee after her dissertation defense

Congratualtions to Rachel Hopkin, who successfully defended her dissertation! Her committee included Amy Shuman, Advisor, Dorry Noyes, Katey Borland, and Ana Cara (from Oberlin College). The…

Christopher Johnson standing in a field.

Congratulations to Dr. Christofer Johnson, who ably defended his dissertation, Fishing in Uncertain Waters: Resilience and Cultural Change in a North Atlantic Community. Chris and Miranda…

amy shuman

During the last Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society in Baltimore, our colleague Amy Shuman was awarded the Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award. This award has been bestowed semi…

Cover of publication, "The Folklorist in the Marketplace"

Folklore alumni, faculty and staff contributed to the edited collection, The Folklorist in the Marketplace: Conversations at the Crossroads of Vernacular Culture and Economics, just out…

Cover of the essay collection, 'Chinese Folklore Studies Today.'

Congratulations to CFS alumna Ziying You, whose co-edited volume Chinese Folklore Studies Today: Discourse and Practice has just been published by Indiana University…

Sophia Enriquez

Congratulations to Sophia Enriquez, who passed her doctoral exams last week with an interdisciplinary committee consisting of Danielle Fosler-Lussier (chair), Michelle Wibbelsman, Dorry Noyes, and…

sims

Hearty congratulations go to Martha Sims, who passed her candidacy exams in August. Her committe was composed of Amy Shuman (director), Dorry Noyes, Merrill Kaplan, and Kay Halasek. She will…

Moriah Flagler portrait.

Congratulations to Moriah Flagler, a postdoctoral fellow for the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery team and the Artistic Director for Be The Street. She has been awarded the Mentor of…

Jasper W-Q sits with guitar in hand.

From CFS Director Katey Borland:

Greetings from your returning Director! It gives me great pleasure to introduce our first CFS Postdoc, Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth, who is joining us…

Students and community partners hiking Lampblack Trail in Scioto County.

We are thrilled to announce that the Center for Folklore Studies has received $25,000 from the Columbus Foundation for the Ohio Field School. An initial donation of $100,000 from the…

Mi Idioma cover

Congratulations to Affiliated Faculty, Dr. Elena Foulis, who published a new eBook, Mi Idioma, Mi Comunidad, with recent grad, Stacey Alex (Department of Spanish & Portuguese)! Mi…

Madeleine Smith

Congratulations to Madeleine Smith, who has passed her qualifying exams. She is moving forward to conduct oral history research with formerly incarcerated people, both prison reform/abolition…

Dorry Noyes

Congratulations to Dr. Dorothy Noyes who will serve as a 2019-2020 Faculty Fellow for the Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Themes! Faculty Fellows will advise on priorities and opportunities for…

Peter Laughner Box Set

Congratulations to Smog Veil Records! CFS friend/English department alum Frank Mauceri and his team have just released “Peter Laughner,” a boxed set documenting the life, music, and music…

Sophia Enriquez

Ethnomusicology and folklore doctoral student Sophia Enriquez received a Global Arts and Humanities Graduate Fellowship for the 2019-2020 academic year. The fellowship will support Enriquez's…

Ehsan Estiri

The Global Arts + Humanities Graduate Team Fellowships are financial awards made on the basis of academic merit through a division-wide competition. These fellowships are given to recognize the…

bahl

Congratulations to Dr. Erin Bahl (PhD 2018), who has won the Computers and Composition Hugh Burns Award for the best dissertation in Computers and Composition Studies for 2018. Erin’s…

ARSP logo

A one-of-a-kind resource developed by researchers at The Ohio State University and Michigan State University is breaking new ground in the area of religious studies by offering scholars and the…

Mark Bender

Congratulations to Dr. Mark Bender who published The Nuosu Book of Origins: A Creation Epic from Southwest China! The book istranslated by Dr. Mark bender and Aku Wuwu from a transcription by…

Sarah Craycraft

Congratulations and bon voyage to Sarah Craycraft, who is headed out to Bulgaria tomorrow for a summer of language study and fieldwork after ably synthesizing a considerable range of scholarship…

Lucasville community self-documentation workshop

On May 20 & 21 Dr. Cristina Benedetti and Sarah Hinkelman (graduate student in Anthropology and Ohio Field School alum) led a community self-documentation workshop with 12 juniors and seniors at…

randhawa.20.

Congratulations to recent folklore PhD, Amanda Randhawa, who will be a Visiting Assistant Professor in World Religions and Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies at Ohio University for the 2019-2020…

Nicole Nieto

Congratulations to CFS alumna, Dr. Nicole Nieto, who was named one of the Glass Breakers of 2019 by the President & Provost's Council on Women! Glass Breakers shines a spotlight…

Tony Maggio

Tony Maggio (undergraduate minor in Folklore) is the winner of this year's Daniel R. Barnes Award for best undergraduate student paper. The reviewers had the following to say about Tony's essay,…

Sarah Craycraft

Sarah Craycraft received a research fellowship from the American Institute for Southeast European Studies to support her dissertation research on youth participation in rural revitalization in…

Field school students

The Center for Folklore Studies was awarded a $15,000 grant from the Global Arts & Humanities Discovery Theme to support the spring 2020 Ohio Field School in Perry County, Ohio. This award is…

Cobb

Congratulations to Emma Cobb (Comparative Studies) who has been awarded the 2019 Patrick B. Mullen Award for best graduate student paper!

The review committee sent the following comments…

Field school students

The Center for Folklore Studies' Ohio Field School initiative has been awarded $26,035 from Ohio State's Connect & Collaborate grant, which is administered by the Office of Outreach and Engagement…

Molly Rideout

The Center for Folklore Studies received a grant from the Public Narrative Collaborative and the Arts and Humanities Discovery Theme to commission Molly Rideout for the Portsmouth Public Writing…

Cobb

The Graduate Student Service Award for service to the Comparative Studies Department and its Students goes to Emma Cobb. Emma worked throughout the year as student rep to the…

caroline toy

The Margaret Lynd Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Teaching Associate went to Caroline Toy for her outstanding work in writing instruction, in integrating fan studies into her…

Sarah Craycraft

Congratulations to Sarah Craycraft, who won the Richard Bjornson Prize for best essay by a graduate student for her paper “The Mule as Motif in the Ohio Valley Research Project,” based on a mid…

Foulis and Ponce De Leon at WOSU studio

Congratulations to Associated Faculty member, Dr. Elena Foulis (Spanish & Portuguese), and her student, Adriana Ponce De Leon, who spoke about the Ohio Habla! podcast on WOSU! Listen to their…

Ruben Castilla Herrera

We Are the Stories We Tell: Remembering Rubén Herrera

By Dr. Elena Foulis

I started documenting Latina/o/x life in Ohio in 2014 to archive the stories of our community. I wanted to…

Alison Furlong

Alison Furlong (PhD in Ethnomusicology 2015) has returned to OSU as the new project coordinator for the American Religious Sounds Project. Prior to her grad work in ethnomusicology and folklore,…

Elena Foulis

Elena Foulis, senior lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, has received the Provost’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer, which annually recognizes up to six lecturers,…

Merrill Kaplan

Dr. Kaplan is featured on the Department of English's Obsession Story series--read all about it!

blank notebook

The Center for Folklore Studies (CFS), within the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State University, seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher in Public Folklore to join our team. The College of Arts…

Field school students

The Ohio Field School took over the Center for Folklore Studies' Instagram account during spring break to document their experience on site in Scioto County. Follow their adventure at @osu…

Joanna Spanos

CFS alumna and honors advisor extraordinaire Dr. Joanna Spanos has just won the Arts and Sciences Staff Excellence Award, something that will come as no surprise to her students. Congratulations…

Sarah Craycraft

Congratulations to Sarah Craycraft, who is headed back to Bulgaria with a second FLAS fellowship to further her language study before she begins her fieldwork on rural revitalization in the autumn…

marsden.11

Congratulations to Mariah Marsden, who as of March 18th is MA in English, moving forward with her work on the intertwinings of print culture, agricultural work, and oral tradition in the Ozarks. …

foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis' article, "Participatory Pedagogy: Oral History in the Service-Learning Classroom" is featured as the resource of the month on

Sophia Enriquez

Sophia Enriquez, PhD student, ethnomusicology, has been selected as a 2019 National Humanities Without Walls Predoctoral Fellow. During the summer of 2019 she will attend an intensive 3-week…

Sudzys Pinup Palace Window

New digital galleries are being added to the archives website on the Center for Folklore Studies page, representing fieldwork done by students of the Ohio Field School. Check out Sudzy's Pinup…

Rachel Hopkin Citizenship Gathering

In 2013 Rachel Hopkin was awarded a rare National Interest Waiver green card on the basis that, because of her work as a folklorist/radio producer with a special focus on traditional culture…

Nathan Young

Nathan Young left for Turkey on February 1st for six months of fieldwork in Ankara. He says: "I am researching instances and means by which some Turks maintain connection to their alleged villages…

Amy Shuman

Amy Shuman has two new publications. First, with Katharine Young, “The Body as Medium: a Phenomenological Approach to the Production of affect in Narrative” in Edinburgh Companion to…

Jordan Lovejoy

Join us in congratulating Jordan Lovejoy, who passed her qualifying exams today with flying colors and will be heading to southern West Virginia for fieldwork in January. We thank the committee-…

Noyes receiving honorary degree

Dorothy Noyes, Professor in the Departments of English and Comparative Studies and former Director of the Center for Folklore Studies, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Folkloristics at the…

picture of tessa jacobs

Two CFS PhD students, Tessa Jacobs and one anonymous, were granted the Global Arts and Humanities Discovery Fellowship!

The Global Arts and Humanities Graduate Student Fellowship is a…

Mark Bender

Dr. Mark Bender, professor and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, was featured in the November 28, 2018 News & Updates from the College of Arts and Sciences. The…

Placemaking in Scioto County, Ohio logo

The launch of Placemaking in Scioto County, Ohio traveling exhibit, a project of the Center for Folklore Studies' Ohio Field School initiative, was featured by the College of Arts and Sciences…

Sheila Bock

Center for Folklore Studies alumna, Dr. Sheila Bock, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, helps us to interpret Brett Kavanaugh’s…

Kati Fitzgerald and Nathan Young

Five doctoral candidates from the College of Arts and Sciences have been selected for funding under the 2018 U.S. Department of Education Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA…

Sara Cleto

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Cleto, who defended her dissertation, "Bodies of Stories: Disability and Folklore in Nineteenth-Century British Literature." Her advisors were Ray…

brittany-warman

Congratulations to Dr. Brittany Warman who successfully defended her dissertation on July 30th. Her thesis was entitled "The Fae, the Fairy Tale, and the Gothic Aesthetic in…

Chairs chained to the race track at the Delaware County fairgrounds

Four CFS folklorists--Jess Holler, Mariah Marsden, Laura Pearce (alumna), and Sydney Varajon--will join the Delaware County…

Roderick Wilson

The Center for Folklore Studies is pleased to announce that The Columbus Foundation donated $5,000 to support preservation, digitization, and collection…

Cristina Benedetti celebrating her successful dissertation defense

Congratulations to Cristina Benedetti, who reawakened our civic fervor with her able defense of her dissertation Dreams of Democracy, Logistics of Crowds: Public Gatherings on the National…

Dana Kletchka

Congratulations to one of our Associated Faculty, Dr. Dana Carlisle Kletchka, who has been working hard to co-edit a book with colleague B. Stephen Carpenter, II, Professor of Art…

Bishal Karna

Bishal Karna successfully defended his dissertation this afternoon, titled "Skillful Ways: Soto Zen Buddhism in the American Midwest." His committee consisted of Dorothy Noyes (co-chair), Tom…

Kati

Kati Fitzgerald, a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Studies, was recently awarded a fellowship from the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies…

graduate student Tessa Jacobs

Congratulations to Tessa Jacobs, who was awarded the Patrick B. Mullen Graduate Prize for best graduate student paper for her essay, "Intertextual Storytelling within Family Narratives." Our panel…

randhawa.20.

Congratulations to Amanda Randhawa, who was selected as one of two winners of the Graduate School's Louise B. Vetter Award, which is sponsored by the Ohio State chapter of the Honor Society of Phi…

ehsan-estiri

Congratulations to Ehsan Estiri, who has published a provocative article: “Politics of Traditionalization: Justification and Framing Processes in Historical Continuity of the Iranian Fire Festival…

wenyuan shao

Congratulations to Wenyuan (Winnie) Shao, who received an Academic Enrichment Grant from the Office of International Affairs for her dissertation fieldwork: “Deciphering Unheard Voices and…

afsane-rezaei

Afsane Rezaei presented a paper based on her field work in Los Angeles at the Western Folklore Annual Meeting on April 14, 2018, entitled "The Ritual Fusion: Iranian-American Women's Faith-based…

Kate Parker horigan

CFS alum Dr. Kate Parker Horigan, Assistant Professor of Folk Studies at Western Kentucky University, has a book coming out this July from University Press of Mississippi. Consuming Katrina:…

cherry blossoms

Congratulations to our students moving on to great things! Dr. Erin Bahl will be moving to Atlanta to take up a tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Applied and…

graduate student Tessa Jacobs

Congratulations to Tessa Jacobs, who is now a candidate for the PhD after having brilliantly defended her qualifying exam this afternoon. Tessa is working with Dorry Noyes, Katey Borland, Amy…

Elena Foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis received an academic enrichment grant from OIA to collect oral histories in Oaxaca. She will be traveling there this summer. The title of her project is: Oral Histories of Im…

Joe Herr

The American Council of Learned Societies has just published Lake Erie Fishermen: Work, Identity, and Tradition (1990) as part of their Humanities E-book project, which also features…

bahl

Congratulations to Dr. Erin Bahl, who defended her dissertation “Refracting Webtexts: Invention and Design in Composing Multimodal Scholarship” this afternoon, with a committee composed of Christa…

Tim Thurston

Dr. Timothy Thurston, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at University of Leeds, conducted an interview with Dr. Dorothy Noyes for the New Books in Folklore podcast series. They discuss Dr…

schoon

Danielle V. Schoon was awarded a Common Reading Grant from UCAT for the Spring 2018 semester to support her facilitation of a book group. Faculty from NELC, Comp Studies, and Cultural Geography read…

rachel_hopkin

Rachel Hopkin's essay entitled "Poetics and Pâtisserie: Multilayered Performances of Croissants” has just been published in volume 22, issue 7 of Performance Research. Congratulations!

…

caroline toy

Caroline Toy has published an article in the Journal of Fandom Studies, entitled "Constructing the fannish place: Ritual and sacred space in a Sherlock fan pilgrimage." Congratulations, Caroline!…

foulis

Elena Foulis recorded a new episode for the podcast Ohio Habla featuring Ana Puga, a faculty member of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and a P.I. for the Be the Street project…

afs

2018 Summer Institute on Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage
June 2-12, 2018 • Santa Fe, New Mexico

The American Folklore Society invites…

shao

Congratulations to Wenyuan Shao, who advanced to candidacy for the PhD yesterday after passing her exams with a committee of Mark Bender (chair), Meow Hui Goh, Dorry Noyes, and Patricia Sieber…

Bishal Karna

Bishal Karna has accepted a tenure-track position in the department of religious studies at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, beginning this August 2018. Congratulations, Bishal!

foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis has published a multimedia article titled "Oral History in the Digital Era: Oral Histories of Latin@s in Ohio" in Public: A Journal of Imagining America.

olivia caldeira

OSU alumna, Dr. Olivia Caldeira, was a featured panelist on WOSU's All Sides with Ann Fisher program to discuss the Speak Up/Stay Safe program she runs for the Center for…

Merrill Kaplan

Dr. Merrill Kaplan was interviewed for a WebMD article titled, "Legends Aside, Moon's Health Impact More of a Myth."

Sydney Varajon

A new online journal of Greek America, Ergon, co-edited by Ohio State folklore affiliate Yiorgos Anagnostou, features an extended interview with Tarpon Springs folklorist Tina Bucuvalas…

caroline toy

Congratulations to Caroline Toy, who successfully passed her Candidacy Exams today. Committee members Merrill Kaplan, Isaac Weiner, Katey Borland and advisor, Hugh Urban, were impressed with the…

welcome to hilltop

Faculty and graduate students from five departments, including Katherine Borland, Tessa Jacobs and Sydney Varajon from Folklore, are collaborating on a performance-based outreach project in the…

marsden.11

Mariah Marsden (English) took part in OSU's graduate student grade-in, held as part of the #SaveGradEd movement, and is pictured in Time Magazine's article about graduate student…

Sheila Bock

OSU Alumna Dr. Sheila Bock is featured in "Signs of the Times," an article that explores the decoration of graduation mortarboards. Sheila's project, titled “Decorated Mortarboards: Forms and…

stork.8

Congratulations to Jasmine Stork, who has passed her candidacy exams and is now ABD! Jasmine's committee is comprised of Amy Shuman (English), Miranda Martinez (Comparative…

randhawa.20.

Congratulations to Amanda Randhawa, who was awarded the Presidential Fellowship to complete her dissertation: Being Punjabi Sikh in Chennai: Women’s Everyday Religion in an Internal Indian…

Ohio habla logo

Dr. Elena Foulis started a podcast called Ohio Habla, as part of her oral history project about Latin@s in Ohio. This podcast explores the Latin@ experience and it will be recorded in English,…

foulis

Congratulations to Elena Foulis on her recent publication, titled "Historias: Latin@ Voices in Ohio." Elena's article comes out of the oral history project "Oral Narratives of Latin@s in Ohio,"…

Katherine Borland

Check your mailboxes for the JAF Special Issue on Family Folklore (130(518) Fall 2017), edited by Katherine Borland. In addition to co-writing with Patricia Sawin and Diane Tye the…

Dorry Noyes

Dorry Noyes, President of the American Folklore Society will deliver the annual Richard M. Dorson Memorial lecture on Thursday, April 12th, 2018 at Indiana University. Go Dorry!

Ana Marina Alvarenga

Ana Marina Alvarenga, FMLN deputy in the El Salvador Legislature, will be visiting the Center for Folklore Studies archives on November 3rd, 2017. Deputy Alvarenga will be accompanied by José…

cfs staff

Director Katherine Borland, Assistant Director Cassie Patterson, and Graduate Students Assistants Jordan Lovejoy and Sarah Craycraft presented at the 2018 Appalachian-Carpathian…

foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis attended the Engagement Scholarship Consortium conference in Birmingham, AL to give an oral history workshop. The title of her workshop is “Oral History as a Tool for Community…

henochowicz

Congrats to alumna Anne Henochowicz for her recent hire as Commissioning Editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books!

rachel_hopkin

Folklore graduate student in English, Rachel Hopkin, has been hard at work this summer! Hopkin presented Country Down Under, her BBC radio programme about Australian Aboriginal…

alan govenar

OSU Folklore Alum, Alan Govenar (B.A. with distinction in American Folklore), who worked with emeritus professor, Patrick Mullen, has produced a new documentary film about NEA National Heritage…

human rights in transit group photo

As part of the Humanities and Arts Discovery Theme Project, Human Rights in Transit, eight Ohio State students observed human rights work in New York City over the summer. Facilitated by…

Yücel Demirer

OSU folklore alum Yücel Demirer has co-edited a special issue of the Turkish journal Praksis on Symbolic Politics (42, 2017). With articles by some of his students, the issue…

Elena Foulis

Affiliated faculty member, Dr. Elena Foulis, attended the NEH Summer Institute on Translation titled, "What's Gained in Translation," at Kent State Univeristy. Elena presented on…

Jasmine Stork

Congratulations to Jasmine Stork, who graduated with her Masters in Public Health this summer! Her thesis is titled, "Blogs as a Public Health Research Tool: Lived Experiences of People of Size."…

Tim Thurston

On June 24th, Tim Thurston was featured in the podcast “Coffee and Cocktails” on “Early Career Researchers and the Job Market.”

Listen to the podcast episode!

Dorothy Noyes

Dorry Noyes participated in an Allegra Lab virtual roundtable, “'Collaborative Dilemmas' in the Age of Uncertainty,” considering how young researchers reconcile scholarly and policy agendas in…

Tim Thurston

Tim Thurston has completed a two year postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where he worked with a team…

Bethani Turley

Congratulations to Bethani Turley for winning the 2017 Daniel R. Barnes Prize for her outstanding paper, "After the Spill: Environmental Justice and Disaster Relief in West Virginia."

Jordan Lovejoy

Congratulations to Jordan Lovejoy, who won the 2017 Patric B. Mullen Award for her outstanding paper, Magic Wands, Moral Geographies, and Narrative Imagingings: Dwelling in the Desires of the…

Dorothy Noyes

Professor Dorothy Noyes was recently interviewed by Mershon News, a publication of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, about her new book, Sustaining Interdisciplinary…

kati-f

Kudos to Kati Fitzgerald (Comp Studies), who has passed her exams and is now ABD! Kati's committee was composed of Hugh Urban, chair; Mark Bender, Melissa Curley, and Dorry Noyes.

ehsan-estiri

Congratulations to Ehsan Estiri (NELC), who has passed his qualifying exams this afternoon! Ehsan's committee was composed of Morgan Liu, chair; Erik Nisbet, Dorry Noyes, and Sabra Webber.

afsane-rezaei

Hearty congrats to Afsane Rezaei (Comparative Studies), who passed her candidacy exams and is now ABD! Afsane's committee was composed of Dorry Noyes, chair; Katey Borland, Morgan Liu, and Sabra…

patterson

CFS Assistant Director, Dr. Cassie Patterson, is a recipient of one of six 2017 Arts and Sciences Outstanding Staff Awards. The award recognizes staff members in the arts and sciences who have…

kati-f

Kati Fitzgerald was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for dissertation fieldwork in China during the 2017 - 2018 academic year. Congratulations, Kati, and best of luck in your fieldwork!

Caroline Toy

Caroline Toy (Comparative Studies) is the 2017 recipient of the Iles Award for the Graduate Study of Myth! This grant, administered through the Center for the Study of Religion, will fund…

zhao

Congratulations to Dr. Yuanhao (Graham) Zhao, who successfully defended his dissertation in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures! Graham’s dissertation, "Space of mortality:…

neh

March 14 is Humanities Advocacy Day! A record-breaking number of humanities advocates will be in Washington DC, to meet with hundreds of Members of Congress to make the case for federal funding…

group award photo

Folklorists, CFS alumni, and current OSU alt-ac staffers, Dr. Joanna Spanos, Dr. Nicole Nieto, and Dr. Cassie Patterson were honored by their students for their mentorship at the Sphinx and Mortar…

sims

Congratulations to Martha Sims, who is a recipient of The Ohio State University…

selijamaa

Elo-Hanna Seljamaa (PhD Comparative Studies 2012), current Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu, created a new English…

afs logo

On February 1, 2017, the AFS Executive Board issued the following statement:
The Executive Board of the American Folklore Society (AFS), a US-based international learned society whose members…

patterson

Congratulations to Cassie Patterson, whose chapter was recently published!

Patterson, Cassie. "Performance, Frame, and Identity in Harriette Simpson Arnow's 'The Goat Who…

chinese ornaments

Congratulations to Rachel Hopkin and Afsane Rezaei, who recently published articles in folklore journals!

Hopkin, Rachel. "The Critical Conservationist George Gibson and…

georgi-anagnostou

Georgios Anagnostou, professor, modern Greek and classics, received The Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program award to work with an interdisciplinary team at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki…

Dorry Noyes

We are pleased to announce that Dorry Noyes has been elected President of the American Folklore Society (AFS) for the 2018-2020 term. Dorry has been a stalwart defender of folklore studies at OSU,…

brittany-warman

Hearty congratulations to Brittany Warman, who was awarded the Department of English's Dissertation Completion Fellowship for Spring 2017. The fellowship offers a semester off from teaching to…

rachel_hopkin

Congratulations to Rachel Hopkin, who achieved tanguicity on her candidacy exam this morning! Her committee included Amy Shuman, Katey Borland, Barry Shank, and Dorry Noyes as chair. Amy will lead…

Merrill Kaplan holds a sign saying, "This makes me feel unsafe"

Dr. Merrill Kaplan, core CFS faculty, engaged in discussion with open-carry protesters on Monday, December 5th, holding a sign that said "This makes me feel unsafe." Her comments are included in…

blank notebook

Congratulations to Gregg Vaillancourt, who with professorial demeanor passed his PhD qualifying exams this afternoon! His committee was chaired by Drew Jones, with Leslie Lockett, Merrill Kaplan,…

Chris Johnson

Congratulations to Christofer Johnson, who today passed the oral of his qualifying exams with flying colors and is now ABD. Chris is planning a dissertation on the adaptation strategies of fishing…

Merrill Kaplan

Core folklore faculty member Dr. Merrill Kaplan provides insight into the origins of Halloween for the College of Arts and Sciences in a Q&A session!

Dorry Noyes

Professor Dorothy Noyes recently published a book entitled Humble Theory: Folklore's Grasp on Social Life.

Dr. Noyes offers an unforgettable glimpse of her craft and the many ways…

yucel and derya

On Thursday, September 1st, Ohio State alumni Yücel Demirer and Derya Keskin-Demirer were permanently dismissed from their positions at Kocaeli University in Turkey under the statute of exception…

Katherine Borland

CFS Director Katherine Borland was awarded a Service-Learning Grant from the College of Arts and Sciences for the Ohio Field Schools project. These grants support the development of new and…

georgi-anagnostou

Affiliated faculty Georgios Anagnostou was interviewed by the Greek News Agenda on Greek America studies, Greek America and the role of the diaspora in rethinking Greece. Dr. Anagnostou is a…

Dr. Batra-Wells with committee members

Congratulations to Dr. Puja Batra-Wells, who just defended her dissertation, “Art/Work: Place-Making, Precarity, and the Performance of Artistic Occupational Identities in Columbus, Ohio.” Puja’s…

Lonnie w/ Muffler Man, Muffler Shop & Welding/Tire Station, New Rome, OH

The Center for Folklore Studies is pleased to announce that the Columbus Foundation donated $100,000 to support two Ohio Field Schools that will take place in summer 2017 …

Elena Foulis

Dr. Elena Foulis will give a talk titled, Latin@ Stories Across Ohio: Oral History in the Digital Age, on Thursday, March 3 at the University of Arkansas. Foulis will discuss how she draws on…

shuman

We are delighted to announce that Amy Shuman has received the prestigious 2016 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. This is the university’s most prestigious teaching award, and recognizes a…

Katherine Borland

Congratulations to Center for Folklore Studies Director, Katherine Borland, for being elected to the Executive Board of the American Folklore Society for the 2016-2018 term!

Katherine…

Bishal Karna

Congratulations to Bishal Karna, who successfully passed his candidacy exams yesterday! Bishal's committee included Katey Borland, Melissa Curley, Tom Kasulis, and Isaac Weiner. Way to go, Bishal!…

Congratulations to Dr. Amy Shuman, who received a $20,000 Arts and Humanities Larger Grant for "Cartelami: New Discoveries from Northern Italy in the Allied Arts of Theater,…

Merrill Kaplan

Friend-to-folklore Lesley Ferris is directing a production of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People at OSU Theatre from Thursday, November 5 through Sunday, November 15th at the Thurber Theatre …

Carole Whitacare

Vice President for Research, Caroline C. Whitacre, will feature the work of The Appalachian Project, Ohio in her State of Research Address this Thursday, October 22nd at 8:30am in the Ohio Union,…

 Banjo Pickin' Girls and Fiddlin' Women

Congratulations to Rachel Hopkin, whose audio documentary Banjo Pickin' Girls and Fiddlin' Women will air on Australia's National Radio on Wednesday, June 24, 2015. The show focuses on…

Cristina Benedetti

Congratulations to Cristina Benedetti, who completed her PhD candidacy exam process with the oral defense. On her committee were Shilarna Stokes (Theatre), Isaac Weiner, Katey…

Cassie Patterson

Chocolate cake and flowers were enjoyed in the Folklore Archives on Friday, July 17th, in celebration of CFS Assistant Director Cassie Patterson’s successful dissertation defense. Dr. Patterson’s…

Ziying You

New PhD Ziying You and Professor Dorothy Noyes contributed to a special issue of the Journal of Folklore Research (52:2-3), UNESCO on the Ground: Local Perspectives on Global Policy…

Katey and Dorry at SEIF

CFS faculty Dorry Noyes and Katherine Borland delivered talks at the International Society for Ethnology and Folklore Conference in Zagreb, Croatia on June 22nd. Their panel, entitled Gesturing…

Elena Foulis

Congratulations to Dr. Elena Foulis, who has published Latin@ Stories Across Ohio, an iBook available for free on iTunes. Latin@ Stories Across Ohio is a bilingual oral history book that documents…

Sheila Bock

Folklore alumna Sheila Bock has published an article based on her dissertation fieldwork: “Grappling to Think Clearly”: Vernacular Theorizing in Robbie McCauley’s Sugar,”

Cristina Benedetti

Cristina Benedetti, Graduate Archivist for the Center for Folklore Studies, has received a Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons Fund Grant from the American Folklife Center to conduct…

Isaac Weiner

CFS Associated Faculty Dr. Issac Weiner was a guest on WOSU's All Sides with Ann Fisher! Dr. Weiner discussed the recent Pew Research Center report on America's Changing Religious…

Matthew Campbell

Congratulations to Matthew Campbell, who defended his qualifying exams this morning with a committee headed by Ryan Skinner and Danielle Fosler-Lussier and completed by Barry…

Marissa Wieneke and Dr. Katherine Borland at CFS annual spring potluck

We are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2015 Patrick B. Mullen Paper Prize for best graduate student paper and the 2015 Daniel R. Barnes Prize for best undergraduate student paper in…

Chris Hemmig

Congratulations to Dr. Chris Hemmig, who successfully passed his oral examination on Tuesday, April 14th for his dissertation entitled: What Development? Poverty and the Struggle…

Tim Thurston

Double congratulations to Dr. Tim Thurston, who this morning defended a groundbreaking dissertation on Tibetan-language sketch comedy in the A mdo region of China, and who in July…

Kati

Kati Fitzgerald of the Department of Comparative Studies has been chosen as a recipient of the 2015 Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth, which is administrated by the…

alison furlong

Congratulations to Dr. Alison Furlong, who today defended her dissertation “Resistance Rooms: Sound and Sociability in the East German Church”for the Program in Musicology/Ethnomusicology. Alison…

Ziying You

Ziying You has accepted a two-year position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at The College of Wooster. This position is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral…

Ziying You

Congratulations to Dr. Ziying You, who successfully defended her dissertation "Competing Traditions: Village Temple Rivalries, Social Actors, and Contested Narratives in Contemporary China” today…

David Thomas

Columbus Alive featured an article about David Thomas and his performance-talk on February 27th hosted about the CFS.

Ghost Cult Magazine also featured an article about the performance.
…

Christofer Johnson

Congratulations to Christofer Johnson, whose advisory committee agreed this afternoon to confer on him the degree of Master of Arts in English. Chris will continue in the PhD program while he moves…

Amy Shuman Award

Please join us in congratulating Amy Shuman, who is a recipient of this year’s Distinguished Scholar Award. The Distinguished Scholar Award, established in 1978, recognizes exceptional scholarly…

Danille Christensen

Congratulations to Danille Christensen, who has just accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Public Humanities at Virginia Tech! She'll be teaching courses on material culture, folklore…

Tim Thurston

Our very own Tim Thurston has recently performed in a comedic sketch entitled "When worshipping at the Snow Mountain Labtse" that was aired as part of Qinghai Tibetan Television Station's New Year…

Isaac Weiner

Tune in to hear one of the Center's associated faculty members, Isaac Weiner, Assistant Professor of Comparative Studies, discuss his book, Religion Out Loud: Religious Sound, Public Space,…

Erika Bourguignon

Erika Eichhorn Bourguignon, 90, died in Columbus, Ohio, February 15, 2015. She was professor emerita of anthropology at The Ohio State University, where she taught…

Richelle Schrock

Congratulations to Richelle Schrock who has received tenure at Ohio Wesleyan. Dr. Schrock completed her PhD in Folklore and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2008 under the direction of Amy…

Stephany Aubrey and Dr. Katey Borland at SOAW Vivil

On November 23, CFS Director Dr. Katherine Borland and folklore graduate student Stephanie Aubry traveled to Fort Benning, just outside Columbus, Georgia to…

Global Folklore Video Conference

On November 12 and 19 Comparative Studies undergrads in Professor Katherine Borland's Global Folklore course embarked on a global conversation about global folklore in film with students from Prof…

awards

Association for the Study of Food and Society's student paper prize competition. Deadline for Annual Submission: February 1. Electronic submissions ONLY! The ASFS…

Dorothy Noyes

Professor Dorothy Noyes recently published an article entitled "Aesthetic Is the Opposite of Anaesthetic: On Tradition and Attention" in The Journal for Folklore Research.

Amy Shuman and Bridget Haas (Case Western University) received a grant of $16,000 from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research to hold a workshop titled “Political Asylum and the…

Dr. Borland receives Ratner Award

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Dr. Katherine Borland has been named one of the inaugural Ratner Teaching Award winners! The Deans of Arts and Humanities, Comparative Studies…

Photos from the Ohio Arts Council collection

The Center for Folklore Studies is pleased to announce that we received a generous $25,000 gift from donors at The Columbus Foundation. The anonymous gift will fund research, archival preservation…

Photo Mason Pierce

Congratulations to former Appalachian Project volunteer and OSU alum, Mason Pierce on his new job as a full-time Economist for the U.S. Department of Labor in the Bureau of Labor Statistics in…

photo Elena Foulis

Congratulations to Dr. Elena Foulis, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, who recently produced a video introduction to her Oral Histories of Latinos/as in…

Dr. Katherine Borland

Congratulations to Dr. Katherine Borland who is the new Director of the Center for Folklore Studies

Hayley Kick

Congratulations to Appalachian Project member Kayley Kick, who received an internship this year with the Governor's Office of Appalachia! Hayley is now the second AP student to fill this role,…

Rachel paiscik

Congratulations to former Center for Folklore Studies Office Assistant Rachel Paiscik (B.A. in Folklore and Arabic, 2013) who has recently started her job as International Student Advisor at Case…

sabra webber

We are pleased to announce the happy news that the Board of Trustees have approved the promotion of Sabra Webber to full professor. We all know Sabra as a leading scholar of vernacular North…

Dorothy Noyes

Professor Dorry Noyes recently published an article entitled "Heritage, Legacy, Zombie: How to Bury the Undead Past" in Cultural Heritage in Transit: Intangible Rights as Human Rights,…

Cassie Bower

Congratulations to Cassie Bower, who has just completed her MA in English and Folklore! Cassie and her partner Jim are moving shortly to Rhode Island, where Jim will be studying…

Book cover of Fat Gay Men: Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma, written by Jason Whitesel

Jason Whitesel, one of Professor Amy Shuman's former students, recently published his dissertation, titled, Fat Gay men: Girth, Mirth, and the Politics of Stigma. Congratulations,…

Ziying and Zuchao Shen's newborn son, Enle Lucas

Congratulations to Ziying and Zuchao Shen on their new son Enle Lucas Shen, who was born on May 29, 2014 at 7lbs 13.6oz, and 21" long! Ziying reports that he is healthy and happy.

Warm…

2014-2015 FSA Exectuive Committee

Join us in welcoming next year's Folklore Student Association Executive Committee!

Graduate Co-Chair: Sara Cleto, English
Undergraduate Co-Chair: Mantej Sandhu…

Female student displaying award

On April 26 at the Center for Folklore Studies end-of-year potluck, Patrick Mullen presented our annual student paper prizes: the Patrick B. Mullen Prize for Best Graduate Student Paper and the…

Party hats representing the word, kudos

Several folklorists were honored in year-end departmental celebrations.

At the Department of Comparative Studies Awards Ceremony:

Katey Borland received the student-chosen…

Amy Shuman

On Friday, April 18th, Professor Amy Shuman was surprised in the middle of class by a delegation of administrators, colleagues, and students and informed that she has won the…

Elizabeth Bell

Dr. Elizabeth Bell, currently Senior Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. In the fall Liz will take up a position at Ball State University as Assistant Professor…

Northern aerial view of Ohio Stadium

Dr. Amy Shuman and Susan Hetrick (from the Center for Disability Empowerment), who were awarded a grant from Employment First for $137,000 to promote self-advocacy and employment…

Martha Sims

Folklorist, author, and Senior Lecturer in English Martha Sims was featured on the English Tumblr earlier this month.

Orange flowers representing the word, kudos

Congratulations to Cassie Bower, who passed her Advisory Meeting today and is now an MA in English!

Congratulations to Danille Christensen and to

Ben Gatling

Ben Gatling (PhD, NELC 2012), currently a post-doc in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University, will be starting in the fall as Assistant Professor in the Department of…

Kate Horigan

Kate Horigan (PhD, English 2013), currently Visiting Lecturer at the Folklore Institute at Indiana University, will become Assistant Professor in the Department of Folk Studies…

Ziying You

Folklore Graduate Student Ziying You has been awarded the 2014 Tien-Yi Li Award by the Chinese Faculty in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, a prize given annually to an…

Daniel R. Barnes

This is an annual $200 cash award for the year's best folklore paper by an OSU undergraduate. It honors beloved emeritus professor Daniel R. Barnes, who taught folklore and literature courses in…

Emblem representing the Folklore Student Association

The Center for Folklore Studies has a small number of one- or two-semester fellowships available for post-candidacy PhD students during the 2014-2015 academic year. The fellowships provide the…

Chinese Folk print title Treasures Fill the Home, from Yangjiabu, China

An exhibit of colorful Chinese folk prints hung around doors and in homes during Chinese New Year is now on display in the Hagerty Hall Lobby. The exhibit of over 40 prints is curated by Dr. Ji…

Sheila Bock

Congratulations to alumna Sheila Bock on her recent publication in Health, Culture & Society, titled "Staying Positive: Women's Illness Narratives and the Stigmatized Vernacular" …

Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto

Eerika Koskinen-Koivisto just completed her Ph.D. at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland). Her dissertation was titled "A Greasy-Skinned Worker – Gender, Class, and Work in the…

Kaitlyn Berle standing with a sheep dog

OSU Alumna Kaitlyn Berle is currently in her first year of the Folk Studies Masters Program at Western Kentucky University, working as a Graduate Assistant on the Allen County…

Dorothy Noyes

Center for Folklore Studies Director, Dorothy Noyes, published an article titled "Salomonova presuda: globalna zaštita tradicije i problem vlasništva zajednice." (Trans. of "The…

Book cover for Salsa World, a Global Dance in Local Contexts

Congratulations to Dr. Katherine Borland, whose chapter "From Hip-Hop and Hustle to Mambo and Salsa: New Jersey’s Eclectic Salsa Dance Revival" appears in the recently published book Salsa…

Cassie Patterson

Congratulations to CFS Assistant Director Cassie Patterson on receiving a Critical Difference for Women Professional Development Grant! Cassie received $1000 towards her dissertation research in…

Kelly Schultz

Congratulations to Kelly Schultz on the defense of her MA thesis! Kelly is a Folklore GIS student, and her areas of study include Folklore, Religious Studies, Refugee Studies,…

Three colored balloons (red, blue, yellow) representing the word, congrats

Congratulations to Puja Batra-Wells on passing her qualifying exams! Her exam areas were Popular Culture and Critical Theory, Material Culture, and Visual Culture. Puja is now ABD…

Four cross-hatched stripes (two maroon, two gold) representing the American Folklore Society Annual Meeting

Ohio State faculty, staff, and students presented at the 2013 American Folklore Society Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island October 16-19, titled "Cultural Sustainability." Their names and…

Christofer Johnson

Congratulations to our incoming student, Christofer Johnson, who presented his paper “‘And aa That’s Scotch Aboot it is the Name’: A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistleand the Disappearance of Scottish…

Joanna Spanos

Congratulations to Dr. Joanna Spanos, who today successfully defended her dissertation, "Redeeming Susanna Cox: A Pennsylvania German Infanticide in Community Tradition." Her…

Justin Acome

Congratulations also to Dr. Justin Acome, who defended his dissertation on Bluegrass Nonsense Politics. Sonja Amadae from political science was the chair, and the committee…

Kate Horigan

OSU alumna Kate Horigan was interviewed about urban legends this week on Indiana public radio! Dr. Horigan is a visiting professor at Indiana University's Department of Folklore and…

Levi Gibbs

Congratulations Levi and Aida Gibbs, who welcomed their baby daughter, Rose Gibbs, at 11:14pm on Sunday, August 18, weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz.