“Part of my teaching and service is to support the curriculum and
programs in Folklore and Latinx Studies. This position allows me to
combine my two intellectual loves. Moreover, at OSU I have the
privilege to directly work with students (both undergrad and grad).
Our folklore community at OSU is small but mighty, and I am honored
and privileged to be part of this community, and to contribute to the
brilliant legacy of folklore studies at OSU.”

In addition to her work at OSU, Mintzi serves the discipline of folklore in
a variety of ways. Most recently, she was a member and co-chair of the
American Folklore Society’s Cultural Diversity Committee (CDC), a
member of their Executive Board, and as a member of the Conference
Review Committee. At the time of this article, Mintzi is serving as a
member of the Editorial Board, as well as the Book Reviews Editor of
the Journal of American Folklore (JAF). Mintzi says, “through this work, ,
I aim to support and make space for a new generation of people
interested in folklore and ethnomusicology.”

"Being of service and supporting our field is of upmost importance, especially in our challenging and precarious times.”

Mintzi recently published a book, Creating Culture, Performing
Community: An Angahuan Wedding Story. “The book is also
the first of Solimar Otero’s book series Underground Cultures—which
is a great honor. In this manuscript I present a deep ethnographic
account of ritual practices to analyze the creation, performance, and
transformations of wedding rituals in Angahuan, a P’urhépecha
community in Michoacán, México. Furthermore, I explore how people
in Angahuan create and curate their vernacular ernacular cultural
practices, and, by doing so, perform what it means to be an active
member of their P’urhépecha community.”

This is one of the projects that Mintzi is most excited for, particularly
because the book is Open Access and will be translated into Spanish.

“I firmly believe that knowledge (in all shapes and forms) should be
free and accessible. I am also in process of translating it into Spanish,
so the book can make its way home to the communities that
inspired it.”

Mintzi is also working on a project tentatively titled, “Boutiques in
Unexpected Places: P’urhépecha Fashion and Creativity”. This project
focuses on P’urhépecha (female) attire. “I focus on the fashion industry
in the P’urhépecha area, and I showcase the agency that young
women have over their attire, and the different fashion trends
developed in the last couple of years, to argue that contrary to ideas
that limit and encase Indigenous people as unchanging, and
“traditional,” by analyzing P’urhépecha fashion trends I highlight
patters of creativity, change, ownership, and aesthetics.” This project is
still in the preliminary stages, so stay tuned!