By Nicholas Booker, PhD, Archivist

Collection Name/Title, Dates: Student Ethnographic Projects, 1967-present

Summary of the Collection

Collection ID: CFS. SEP.

Language: English 

Physical Description:

There are now over 11,000 OSU folklore student research projects in the SEP collection. They cover almost every genre of folklore, including regional oral traditions (such as contemporary and historical legends, anecdotes, jokes, and oral history), beliefs, customs, festivals, material culture, and traditional ways of living.

Repository/Location:

Hagerty 472 or Hagerty 468, Center for Folklore Studies, The Ohio State University   

Abstract   

The Student Ethnographic Projects (SEPs) comprise one of the Folklore Archives most important and continually evolving collections. The earliest SEPS date from 1967 and contributions have been made almost every year since, as OSU students regularly carry out fieldwork assignments for their folklore, writing, and other courses, then submit their final projects to the Archives. 

Content  

Biographical and Historical Notes  

The Folklore Archives began accepting Student Ethnographic Projects in 1967, five years after the archive was founded by Francis Lee Utley. Student collecting are substantially in the 1970s when folklore professor Patrick B. Mullen introduced the Introduction to Folklore Class and included ethnographic projects as part of the coursework. Because this period pre-dated the establishment of the Center for Folklore Studies in 1992, it is difficult to gain a holistic understanding of the highly varied uses of the collection from 1967 to 1991.

Projects on printed paper were accepted through 2014. Digital submissions began in the early 2010s. Starting in 2015, all SEPs have been digitally accessioned. In most cases, students have also been asked to document material culture in digital form (i.e. with photographs) since 2015.

Audio has at varying times been digitized by CFS archivists, though archival engineer Steve Green digitized many of our tapes on a contract basis. In 2021 and 2022, Rachel Hopkin, PhD, did substantial work to catalogue SEPs and their accompanying materials, but the process remains incomplete do to unlabelled materials.

Throughout the history of the SEP collection, archivists and student associates at the Folklore Archives have endeavored to effectively catalogue SEPs and make them easily accessible for researchers, but this has been a monumental task. Consent forms submitted with the projects have varied widely, and as ethics rules and norms have developed since 1967, it has been difficult to determine what writing and data can be shared with researchers seeking to utilize the SEP collection. The collection also spans myriad genres and topics, making categorization a challenge, particularly where students have not titled or otherwise identified the nature of their projects.

Scope  

With over 11,000 projects in the SEP collection, there are materials relating to a wide variety of genres and topics in the field of folklore studies.

Research Strength/Suggestions

The SEP collection most strongly represents topics that are convenient for undergraduate students. Ohio folklore, Columbus folklore, and campus folklore are the most strongly represented areas of focus. Since the projects were completed as part of undergraduate folklore classes, the analysis is often less useful than the data itself. Folklore researchers in every stage of their careers are likely to find that data useful, and undergraduate students will find the SEP collection to be particularly helpful.

Access and Use

Arrangement notes

The SEP collection is currently housed in Hagerty Hall and in offsite storage. The digital collection is housed on two external hard drives kept in archival spaces, while paper copies of projects are currently all preserved in 166 boxes measuring 10.375"H x 12.875"W x 16.5"D.

Administration

The collection was received and organized through the collective efforts of instructors, students, and staff from 1967 through the present. As of October 6th, 2026, not all SEPs from recent years have been fully accessioned into the Folklore Archives, but every SEP that has been accessioned has been assigned a unique SEP number.

Using the collection  

Please use the catalogue below to search for projects of interest. If you are unable to find projects relating to your search terms, please email the CFS Archivist at cfs@osu.edu to inquire about SEPs relating to your research topic.

Digital access to materials can typically be facilitated through secure Microsoft Teams folders. The collection can also be used in the Center for Folklore Studies in Hagerty Hall at the Ohio State University. Contact the office at cfs@osu.edu for more information.

Preferred Citation  

Student Ethnographic Projects, (1967-prexent), Center for Folklore Studies Archive, The Ohio State University

More Information  

Student Ethnographic Project materials have varying types of release forms. While archivists do their best to make users aware of informed consent and ethical usage of materials, users are ultimately responsible for carefully reading and adhering to consent paperwork related to the Student Ethnographic Project materials they access.

The Ohio State University Center for Folklore Studies does not own the copyright to all of the materials in its collections. Copyright may belong to the creator, their estate, or assignee, although some materials may fall into the public domain. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, securing appropriate permissions for use and publication of reproduced materials, and fully crediting sources as required under the Research Registration & Handling Policy. If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction of a copyright protected work for purposes beyond those permitted by the copyright owner or any statutory exception, including fair use, that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The Ohio State University Center for Folklore Studies does not make any representations as to the validity of third-party copyright claims.

When accessing these materials in person, food and drink should be removed from the room when interacting with this collection.

Keywords  

folk, folklore, university, student