The Folklore Field School Folklore Studies faculty team with the Library of Congress to provide distinct learning opportunities. By Debra Lattanzi Shutika, MA ’93
FOLKLORE
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Debra Lattanzi Shutika
Laura Remis snaps a photo during the West Virginia field school.
20 SPRING 2013
tudents at George Mason University are often drawn to folklore studies to explore storytelling, fairy tales, and long-held traditions, not realizing that folklore is part of the contemporary everyday experience. The summer Field School for Cultural Documentation offers students a firsthand opportunity to learn about the work that professional folklorists actually do, such as ethnographic research and cultural documentation, and then provides them an opportunity to replicate a field research project. Students who enroll in the course receive real-world research experience under the guidance of scholars from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress (LOC). A collaborative effort between the LOC and the Folklore Studies Program at Mason, the field school is entering its third year. Researchers and archivists from the LOC work with Mason Folklore Studies faculty to train students in ethnographic documentation and professional archiving practices that conform to LOC practices. It is the only course of its kind and has attracted students from Mason and other universities. The field school allows students to apply what they’ve learned in their conventional courses in folklore and related fields. In a typical folklore class, students are asked to complete an oral history interview as the basis of their term project. It is the foundation of ethnographic fieldwork, but it is only part of the ethnographic process, which
includes participation and skilled observations of cultural contexts to gain in-depth knowledge of a community or group. Many academic disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and nursing, employ ethnographic field methods as part of their research agenda. Working closely with faculty to create an authentic research project, the field school focused on the Columbia Pike neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia, during the summers of 2011 and 2012. “This field school enabled me to not only practice the basic skills in folklore that I had, but also learn a number of new methods and practices within folklore,” says Hannah Powers, a senior English major. “Through interviews, field notes, and firsthand experience in the community, I learned so much about Columbia Pike, the cultures represented there, and the effects of the new revitalization plans.” Katie Kerstetter, a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, noted that participating in the field school was a great experience. “Not only did I get to engage in an applied research project, but I received research training in interviewing techniques, audio-recording, and documentation, which have helped me become a better qualitative researcher,” she says. “The skills I learned in the field school have been incredibly helpful in the research projects I have pursued over the past year, and I will continue to draw on them as I begin my dissertation research this spring.” After a week of intensive classroom training, students work with Folklore Studies and field school faculty (myself and LOC colleagues Guha Shankar, Stephen Winnick, Todd Harvey, and Maggie Kruesi) to develop a professional documentation project that can be completed within the six-week summer term. Months before the field school begins, I conduct preliminary fieldwork, including a history of local neighborhoods and a list of potential research informants or subjects. This step allows students a lead once they begin their research. From those initial contacts, students work in teams and are expected to develop independent research goals and select informants in consultation with their instructor. Students conduct oral histories using broadcast quality digital recording
PHOTOS BY DEBRA LATTANZI SHUTIKA UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED