Past Course Offerings
Spring 2007
English 270 Introduction to FolkloreAmy Shuman (shuman.1@osu.edu)
MW 1:30-3:18
#08385-6
This class explores forms of traditional, vernacular culture--including verbal art, custom, and material culture--shared by men and women from a number of regional, ethnic, religious, and occupational groups. At the same time, we will consider various interpretive, theoretical approaches to examples of folklore and folklife discussed, and we will investigate the history of folklore studies and the cultural contexts in which this field has flourished. Recurring central issues will include the dynamics of tradition, the nature of creativity and artistic _expression, the construction of personal and group identity, and the relationship between folklore and worldview. N.B. English graduate students wishing to fulfill their 903 requirement with this class, please contact Amy Shuman.
Comparative Studies 475 Studies in Ethnography: Theory and Practice in Ethnographic Fieldwork
Margaret Mills (mills.186@osu.edu)
MW 1:30-3:18
#05572-7
A hands-on introduction to ethnographic field research, from project design to research ethics, equipment and data management, and presenting your research. While carrying out a short field research project, students read and discuss key works on ethnography (theory and method) and meet a selection of experienced field workers. One weekly session will be for visiting speakers and reading discussion, the other a lab on class members' work in progress. There will be one group project available within which students can work on different aspects of documentation as members of a team, or you may do a solo project with people and a topic of your own choice. Final product: a 20-minute live presentation and a written report.
English 577.03 Irish Folklore
Ray Cashman (cashman.10@osu.edu)
MW 9:30–11:18
#08462-1
For whom does the banshee howl? Why do mummers want room to rhyme? How are wakes more fun than weddings? This course introduces the popular beliefs, vernacular customs, material culture, and oral traditions of Ireland, north and south. Although much Irish folklore has roots in the prehistoric past, we will focus on those traditions documented from the late 18th through 21st centuries--a period when folklore inspired the Irish literary revival and served the nation-building project of a newly independent republic. We will conclude with an investigation of the politics of culture, identity, and heritage in contemporary Northern Ireland where the legacy of British colonialism remains most pronounced. Students will work with and help process as-yet unreleased audio materials from the archives of the Ulster Folk Museum. Other assignments will include a research paper, class presentations, and exam.
Comparative Studies 677.03 Approaches to Festival and Dance: Comparative Studies of Movement Traditions
Katherine Borland (borland.19@osu.edu)
W 3:30-6:18
#05583-1
Folk festivals, popular celebrations, ritual movement, sport and social dancing are potent expressions of cultural identity that have just begun to be theorized in folklore and anthropology. These popular entertainments are often key sites for the expression of social and political conflicts. In some circumstances they may contain or mute underlying hostilities; in others, they provide a prelude to violence. In this course we will explore the rich ethnographic record on collective performances as we engage in a critical reading of the major theories and interpretive models for the study of popular ritual. This course will be run as a seminar. In addition to reading and discussing key theoretical statements about festival, ritual, movement, and dance, students will take considerable responsibility for surveying and presenting new ethnographic studies of popular ritual from a variety of cultural traditions. Our class goal will be to develop a comparative framework for understanding the socially and historically contextualized studies student groups present. In addition, students will be expected to pursue their own research and connect it with at least one of the theoretical approaches we cover in class.
English 770.03 The Ethnography of Communication
Ray Cashman (cashman.10@osu.edu)
M W 1:30 – 3:18
#08648-1
This seminar treats language as social action and investigates how people from a range of speech communities "do things with words" (J.L. Austin). Through close attention to specific speech events we come to appreciate how the meanings of verbal messages are negotiated by speakers and listeners employing and enacting culturally specific models of performance, expectation, and interpretation. We will consider perspectives from linguistic anthropologists, sociolinguists, folklorists, and performance studies scholars to better appreciate the interdisciplinary "ethnography of communication" approach pioneered by Dell Hymes. We will give special attention to longer stretches of oral discourse in their performance contexts, in particular narratives from several genres (e.g., personal experience narratives, jokes, legends, myths). Assignments include an ethnography of a speech event, transcription exercises, class presentations, and a final exam.
