by Krystie Herndon

On the evening of Tuesday, March 10, 2020 the Walter Center for Career Achievement hosted a Liberal Arts Impact event for the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. The purpose of the event was to introduce undergraduate students to the benefits and advantages of adding Folklore and Ethnomusicology to their degree programs. Students in current Folklore and Ethnomusicology courses were encouraged to attend. Even though COVID-19 closures were beginning to be introduced on campus that very afternoon—dropping a blanket of uncertainty over all campus events—28 students showed up to participate in this event. Molly McCurdy, Assistant Director for Strategic Alumni Engagement, kicked off the evening by introducing the audience to the career readiness services of the Walter Center. Dr. Pravina Shukla, Professor Folklore and Ethnomusicology and the department’s Director of Graduate Studies, delivered a captivating talk on folklore and ethnomusicology as disciplines designed to connect students to the vital aspects of themselves and of the people around them—people’s backgrounds, traditions, and cultures, all of the things individuals bring with them to any social encounter. After being treated to pizza, the students gathered to meet and interact with five professionals who had earned their bachelor’s degrees from the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology:

• Bobby Eugene Davis Jr., 2nd-year PhD student in African American and African Diaspora Studies, and Graduate Assistant of the Archives of African American Music and Culture
• Andrea Hadsell, Education Manager, Monroe County History Center
• Jenn Jameson, Program Manager and Media Director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts
• Cat Spratt, Associate Director, Hamilton-Lugar School Living-Learning Center
• Anna Polovick Waggy, Manager-International Communications, NYC & Company