Several members of The Ohio State University folklore community participated in the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society in New Orleans, Louisiana from October 24th-27th. The theme for the conference this year was "The Continuity and Creativity of Culture" and OSU students and faculty presented the following papers:

• Justin Acome - Virtuous Gimmickry and Uncomfortable Familiarity: Family, Improvisation and Bluegrass
• Cristina Benedetti - Volunteering, Aesthetic Engagement and Alternative Economics
• Katherine Borland - The Crime of Passion: La Llorona in Song
• Matthew Alan Campbell - Reel-to-Real: Sounds of Intimacy and the Phenomenology of the Voice in Amateur Tape Exchange During the Vietnam Conflict
• Ray Cashman - Selective Retrieval in the Construction of Self and Society
• Sara Cleto - Beauty and the Beast Within: New Visions of Monstrosity in an Old Tale
• Benjamin Gatling - Historical Narrative and Re-Imagining the Islamic Past in Tajikistan
• Kate Parker Horigan - How Do Survivors Study Disaster? From Evacuation to Dissertation
• Merrill Kaplan - Trollspotting: Face to Face with the Internet's Most Notorious Monster
• Margaret Lyngdoh - Experiencing Belief: Family Narratives in the Context of Community Identity
• Wesley Merkes - "Dirty Hippies": Peace, Love, and Disenfranchisement
• Margaret Mills - To Transgress or Not to Transgress, or How to Know Which (Witch) is Brewing
• John F. Moe - Folklore of Falling, the American Nightmare: Narratives of Terror and Survival After 9/11
• Nicole Nieto - Recipes, Rebirth and Community: Recipes in Post-Katrina New Orleans
• Martha Sims - Word on the Flesh: Text-Based Contemporary Tattooing
• Brittany Warman - Reclaiming the Scandalous History of "Sleeping Beauty"
• Nancy Yan - Framing Authenticity in Context

Members of the group from OSU also chaired panels, chaired and participated in forums, and served as discussants. Dr. Ray Cashman hosted a special conversation with folklorist Henry Glassie as well.

On Friday, October 26th, the OSU Center for Folklore Studies hosted an evening Dessert Reception for current community members, alumni, and prospective students. The event attracted a large number of people and there were many great conversations!