K. Brandon Barker

K. Brandon Barker

Assistant Professor, Folklore and Ethnomusicology

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Editor, Children’s Folklore Review

he/him

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Louisiana, 2012
  • M.A., Middle Tennessee University, 2007
  • B.A., Maryville College, 2002

Research interests

  • cognitive folkloristics 
  • folk illusions 
  • material culture and embodied cognition 
  • American country music 
  • children's folklore 
  • American foodways 
  • folklore and diversity in the southern United States 
  • science of animal folklore

Courses recently taught

  • Embodying the Humanities 
  • Illusions in Culture 
  • Introduction to Folklore 
  • Folklore and Science of Childhood 
  • American Country Music 
  • Folklore of the South 
  • American Foodways 

Awards & Distinctions

  • David and Cheryl Morley Early Career Award for Outstanding Teaching, 2023
  • Indiana University Bloomington Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, 2023
  • Iona and Peter Opie Prize for Books on Children’s Folklore, for Folk Illusions: Children, Folklore, and Sciences of Perception, 2020 
  • Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, 2019
  • Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, 2017