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Historic Preservation Home > Syllabi > 400 Level Courses > HISP 464 Laboratory in Public Folklore and Cultural Conservation

UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION
HISP 464-01 LABORATORY IN PUBLIC FOLKLORE AND CULTURAL CONSERVATION
Spring Semester 2008

Mr. Stanton
TR 12:30-1:45
Combs Hall 025

Historic Preservation 464, Laboratory in Public Folklore  and Cultural Conservation intensively examines the study, documentation, presentation, and promotion of America's folk arts and traditional cultures. Over the past thirty years, an explosion of interest in sustaining folk cultures has led to the creation of programs of folklore and cultural conservation at the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and within the governments and administrations of over fifty states and territories.  This course helps the student understand the development and activities of government supported cultural conservation by reviewing the history of applied social sciences; critically evaluating the motives, assumptions, objectives, and methods of public programming; and discussing the issues of multi-culturalism and empowerment that confront the public programming of cultural conservation.  How cultural conservation and historic preservation can work together to strengthen the planning review of contemporary communities' quality of life will be addressed.

CLASS REQUIREMENTS

TEXTS
There is one text required for purchase, the rest of  the critical literature is currently out-of-print.
Robert Baron and Nicholas R. Spitzer, eds. Public Folklore. Oxford: University of Mississippi Press, 2007.

            Other materials that are required reading will be distributed in class, or be available on the shelf in Combs 025 in the department, (noted in the syllabus as R).
These include:
Mary Hufford, ed., Conserving Culture. Urbanna: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
Michael Owen Jones, ed., Putting Folklore to Use. Lexington: University of Kentucky, 1994.
Stephen Stern and John Allan Cicala, eds., Creative Ethnicity: Symbols and Strategies of Contemporary Ethnic Life. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1991.
Ormond Loomis.  Cultural Conservation: The Protection of Cultural Heritage in the United States.
Burt Feintuch ed., The Conservation of Culture: Folklorists & the Public Sector. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1988.

TESTS

There will be a midterm, Thursday, February 28th and the Final Examination, Thursday, May 1st.  Examinations will test your knowledge concerning basic terms, concepts, or significant examples from in-class discussions, films, and required readings.  The tests will be completely essay and sample questions will be provided before the test.

OUT-OF-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

There are two out-of-class assignments for this course.  The first, invites you to use the expanding network of digital materials to describe the PF programs for a particular state and the current organizations who serve traditional communities within that state.  The paper should not be longer than three pages, but don=t count your bibliography. We will talk about citing web pages in a written source. This assignment is due on Tuesday, February 26th.
            For the second assignment our class will collectively decide upon a community heritage topic that we will collectively research. PF involves collaboration and incremental accumulation of information that then is used in developing a presentation for or about the community. In our decision we will want to consider our own resourcesBtime, transportationBas well as how we may serve an under served constituency. This is an assessment of a culturally important location drawn from the oral histories the class has collected with a particular community. Identify a site that has significance for the contemporary culture that uses it. Each student will have principal responsibility for one part of the total class project, due on Tuesday April 22th.

GRADING

Letter grade descriptions and quality point conversions quoted below are taken from the Academic Catalog.  This and the Dictionary of Academic Regulations should be consulted for further explanation of these and all other grading details and other academic regulations.

FINAL GRADE

Please note: No passing grade can be achieved in this course without completion of all examinations and out-of-class graded assignments.  Your final grade will be based on the following scores--Test I, 20%, class participation 20%, Term Projects 35%, Final Examination 25%.  The projects will be marked down by a letter grade (10 points) if there are more than three errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation.

MY OFFICE HOURS:
Monday       1:00-1:45
Tuesday      2:00-2:30
Wednesday 1:00-1:45
Thursday      2:00-2:30
Friday           1:00-1:45
OFFICE
Combs 128
Phone: 654-1313
I am happy to make an appointment to see you at some specific time that suits your needs--ask me in class, or write me an email message at <gstanton@umw.edu>

SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS, TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Tuesday 15 January 2008
Distribute syllabus and course requirements.

Thursday 17 January 2008
Decision Making
Introduction to Public Folklore
Readings: Archie Green, “PF's Name.” PF Pp. 49-63.
Robert Baron and Nicholas Spitzer, “Cultural Continuity and Community Creativity.” PF Pp. vii-xviii.

Tuesday 22 January 2008
Changing Folklore Definitions in an Environment of Public Administration: Advocacy and Intervention
Readings: Robert Baron and Nicholas Spitzer, “Introduction.” PF Pp. 5-14.
Roger Abrahams, "Powerful Promises of Regeneration or Living Well with History." Conserving Culture. Pp. 78-93.
Baron, Robert. “Theorizing Public Folklore Practice - Documentation, Genres of Representation, and Everyday Competencies,” Journal of Folklore Research 36:2/, 185-201, 1999.(r)
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “Mistaken Dichotomies.” PF Pp. 30-48.

Thursday 24 January 2008
Applied Fieldwork
Readings: James P. Leary, “Towards a Handbook for Self-Employed Folklorists.”  Public Programs Newsletter, 8:1 (April 1990), 31-39. (r)
Peter Bartis, Folklife and Fieldwork: A Layman's Introduction to Field Techniques.  American Folklife Center, No. 3. Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, 1982.(r)
Jim Griffith, “Feet on the Ground, Head in the Clouds: Some Thoughts on the Training of Public Folklorists.” PF. Pp. 231-242.

Tuesday 29 January 2008
Discussion of Fieldwork for Class project

Thursday 31 January 2008
State Folklife Program Administration
            Preparation for class: Go to Tapnet and look at the list of State folk arts programs. Choose             one that looks interesting and come prepared to talk about the program.
Readings: Gary Stanton, Collecting South Carolina Folk Art: A Guide. Columbia, USC, 1989. (r)
Jane Beck, “Public Sector Folklore in Vermont.” Conservation of Culture Pp. 83-94. (r)
Meg Glaser, Andrea Graham. Different Hairs of the Same Dog: The Work of a Public Folklorist. Elko, Western Folklife Center, 1999) (r)

Tuesday 5 February 2008
Cultural Intervention: Gender, Balance, and Empowerment through Public Folklore
Readings: David E. Whisnant, “Public Sector Folklore as Intervention: Lessons from the Past, Prospects for the Future.” Conservation of Culture Pp. 233-247. (r)
Robert Cogswell, “Cultural Intervention in Southern Appalachia: Agents and Agendas.” in Promoting Southern Cultural Heritage: A Conference on Impact. Peggy A. Bulger, ed. Atlanta: Southern Arts Federation, 1989. (r)
Robert Cogswell, “Doing Right by the Local Folks: Grassroots Issues in Cultural Tourism.” Tennessee Business 6:1 (1995). Pp. 3-16.

Thursday 7 February 2008
Cultural Tourism: Making Heritage Pay
Readings: Barry Jean Ancelet, “Cultural Tourism in Cajun Country: Shotgun Wedding or Marriage Made in Heaven?” In Promoting Southern Cultural Heritage. Pp. 59-65.(r)
“Cultural Tourism in the United States: A Position Paper for the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism.” (r)
Alf H. Walle, “The Festival Life-Cycle and Tourism Strategies: The Case of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 2:2 (1994): 85-94.(r)

Tuesday 12 February 2008
The Evolving Folk Artist: The Push and Pull of Government Intervention
Readings: Susan Roach, “The Journey of David Allen, Cane Carver.” PF Pp. 159-182.
“A Performer's Point-of-View.” in Joe Wilson and Lee Udall, Folk Festivals. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1982. Pp. 162-172.(r)

Thursday 14 February 2008
Who Are the Constituents?  Public Folklore and Folksingers, Storytellers, Visionary Artists and Hobbies
Readings: John F. Turner and Judith Dunham, “Howard Finster: Man of Visions.” Folklife Annual, 1985. Edited by Alan Jabbour and James Hardin. Washington D.C.: Library of Congress, 1985. Pp. 158-173. (r)
Mac Benford, “Folklorists and Us: An Account of Our Curious and Changing Relationship.” Old-Time Herald 1:7 (February-April, 1989). 22-27. (r)
Joseph Wilson, “Confessions of a Folklorist.” Old-Time Herald 1:7 (February-April, 1989). 25-31,43. (r)

Tuesday 19 February 2008
Impact and Audience:  Public Presentation, Radio, and The Rolling Stone.
Readings: Dan Sheehy, “The Folklorist and the Folk Arrival.” PF Pp. 217-229.
Charles Camp and Timothy Lloyd, “Six Reasons Not to Produce a Folk Festival.” Kentucky Folklore Record 26(1980), 67-74. (r)
Nicholas Spitzer, “Cultural Conversation: Metaphors and Methods in Public Folklore.” PF Pp. 77-103.

Thursday 21 February 2008
The National Endowment for the Arts: Federal Support for Folk Arts
Readings: The National Endowment for the Arts, 1965B2000: A Brief Chronology of Federal Support for the Arts. (2000).(r)
Folk Arts Application Guidelines at [www.arts.endow.gov/grants/apply/GAP07/Folk.html]
Loomis, Cultural Conservation. All (r)
Carl Fleischhauer, “Cultural Conservation and Government Planning.” in Cultural Heritage Conservation in the American South. Benita J. Howell, ed. Pp.118-124. (r)

Tuesday 26 February 2008
Protecting Arts or Protecting Arts Administration: What are the issues in the fight over the Endowments?
Readings: Gary O. Larson, American Canvas. Washington D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts, 1997.
Assignment #1 is due

Thursday 28 February 2008
            Midterm examination

SPRING BREAK

Tuesday 11 March 2008
Apprenticeships and the sustaining artistic traditions
Readings: Susan Auerbach, In Good Hands: A Portrait of State Apprenticeship Programs in the Folk and Traditional Arts, 1983-1995. Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the Arts, 1996.(r)

Thursday 13 March 2008
Grant Writing for Folklife and Folk Arts
Readings: Elizabeth E. Peterson. “Cultural Policy Research in Progress.” AFS Public Programs Bulletin, (Fall 2001): 4-10.(r)
Fund For Folk Culture, “Grantwriting Tips and Sample Proposals”(r)
NEA Folk and Traditional Arts, Grant Guidelines(r)

Tuesday 18 March 2008
Project Discussion and task review

Thursday 20 March 2008
Folklife Research in the Museum Context
Betty Belanus, “Serving the Public,” in Michael Owen Jones, ed.  Putting Folklore to Use.  Publication of the American Folklore Society. New Series. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1994. pp. 201-213.(r)

Tuesday 25 March 2008
Dimensions of cooperation in Heritage Preservation

Thursday 27 March 2008
Folk Arts in the Classroom
Required Readings: Steve Zeitlin and Paddy Bowman, Folk Arts in the Classroom: Changing the Relationship Between Schools and Communities. New York: City Lore with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 1993. (R)
Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students. Web page for CARTS: www.carts.org/

Tuesday 1 April 2008
Representation, Exhibition, and Presentation
Readings: Robert Cantwell, “Conjuring Culture: Ideology and Magic in the Festival of American Folklife.” Journal of American Folklore 104(1990), 148-163. (r)

Thursday 3 April 2008
Public Events and the Art of Presentation:  Festival of American Folklife and State Programs
Readings: Richard Kurin, “Why Do We Festival.” In Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Culture Of, By, and For the People. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1998. Pp. 48-63. (r)
Richard Kurin, “Producing the Festival.” In Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Culture Of, By, and For the People. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1998. Pp.64B98. (r)
Richard Bauman, Patricia Sawin, Inta Gale Carpenter, Reflections on the Folklife Festival: An Ethnography of Participant Experience. Folklore Institute, Indiana University Special Publications, No. 2. Bloomington, 1992. Pp. 14-50. (r)

Tuesday 8 April 2008
Building Community Consensus for Cultural Conservation: Folk Groups and the Presentation of Ethnicity
Readings: Gerald L. Davis, “‘Fixing' the Ineffable, Ineluctable African American.” PF Pp. 105-118.
Susan Auerbach, “The Brokering of Ethnic Folklore: Issues of Selection and Presentation at a Multicultural Festival.” in Creative Ethnicity, Stephen Stern and John Allan Cicalla, eds. Logan: Utah State University Press, 1991. Pp. 223-238. (r)

Thursday 10 April 2008
“Partnering” a concept for the 21st Century
Readings: Folk & Traditional Arts Infrastructure Partnerships
National Trust for Preservation, Working Together: Achieving Cultural Resource Management Through Partnerships. Washington, DC: National Trust, (n.d.)(r)
Patricia Parker, Keepers of the Treasures: Protecting Historic Properties and Cultural Traditions on Indian Lands. Washington, DC: National Park Service, 1990. Pp. 53-65. (r)

Tuesday 15 April 2008
Reporting on interviews for class project

Thursday 17 April 2008
Identifying and Predicting Impact upon Traditional Cultures within the Planning Process
Readings: Place Matters. At <http://www.placematters.net/>
Ormond Loomis, “Links between Historic Preservation and Folk Cultural Programs.” Conservation of Culture Pp. 183-195. (r)
Michael Ann Williams, “The Realm of the Tangible: A Folklorist's Role in Architectural Documentation and Preservation.” Conservation of Culture Pp. 196-205.(r)
Miriam Camitta, “The Folklorist and the Highway.” Conservation of Culture. Pp. 206-216. (r)

Tuesday 22 April 2008
Presentation of Oral History Interviews
Assignment #2 is due

Thursday 24 April 2008
Review and Presentations

Thursday 1 May 2008
noon-2:30 p.m. Final Examination