Lecture (LEC)

Topic: Historical ethnography

Since at least the 1970s, there has been a notable rapprochement between the historical and social sciences. As history has become more ethnographic and more concerned with social theories, fields like anthropology, sociology, and folklore have become more historical and more attuned to theoretical concerns of a historical nature. This has not only meant a shift away from grand narratives toward small or microhistories, but also a broad and multifaceted reevaluation of historical research as a narrative-critical science. And yet, many scholars still treat explorations of the past as simplistic forays, and archival research as straightforward knowledge extraction. In this course, we will investigate theoretical approaches to historical ethnography and archival research. At the meeting point of folklore, anthropology, and history, students will learn how to conduct research on groups from the past and the ethics of engagement with and speaking for informants who cannot speak back. They will learn the kinds of questions with which they should approach archives and libraries, how to better understand the collections they work with, and what the archives and the historical record can and cannot do for intellectual pursuits and broader community-oriented goals.

Lecture (LEC)

• Meets with Folk-F404, ILS-Z604, ILS-399.

Topic: Fear, anger, and the internet

This course explores the darker side of Internet communication. The course seeks to equip students with critical tools to diagnose and analyze toxic content on the Internet. We will investigate instances of xenophobia and prejudice, the on-line / off-line contexts for online hate speech, and explore the motivations of trolls and internet warriors. Finally, we look at various approaches to "fixing" the Internet, including internal moderation by social media platforms and legislative approaches to setting legal limits to online hate speech. The toxic discourse on the Internet is not a new phenomenon: the discourse strategies we encounter today have ancient roots.

Lecture (LEC)

Topic: Filmmaking as ethnography

Through this hands-on, experimental course, we will explore filmmaking as ethnography and cinema as a creative and collaborative site for scholarship. The premise for this seminar is that ethnographic film itself does a visual and aural theorizing that cannot be achieved through academic books or articles. Moreover, the process of documenting with film offers the researcher / research team an alternative form of experiential learning, different but complementary to commonly accepted fieldwork practices of participant observation, interviewing, and participatory research, etc. Thus, we might consider ciné-ethnomusicology, documentary film, and ethnographic film as integral to the contemporary ethnomusicologist¿s toolbox. And as multimodal research becomes increasingly central to what ethnomusicologists do, it is now time to pursue in-depth discussions on theory, methodology, technique, and production of audiovisual documentation; publication platforms and engagement with various audiences through scholarly and public forums; and the safeguarding/archiving of ethnographic film. This seminar will combine discussion of emerging theories, consideration of contemporary and classic efforts at ethnographic documentation through film (including extensive film viewing), and workshopping as we strive to put together our own short documentaries during the semester.

Lecture (LEC)

• Meets with Folk-F363 and GNDR-G 302.

Topic: Women's folklore

This combined undergraduate and graduate course explores women's folklore. We engage with a range of cultures, locations, and practices that emphasize the central yet constructed nature of gender and sexuality. Topics include but are not limited to artistic creation, migration, trauma, family relations, the body, spirituality, and social movements. Course materials include fairytales, rituals, film, literature, visual art, and performance. Women¿s expressive culture from Kenya, Senegal, Japan, Cuba, the United States, Ancient Greece, France, (among other transnational cultural contexts), will be engaged with in this class.