The Center for Folklore and Ethnography at the University of Pennsylvania hosted its 40th Anniversary Conference and Reunion last Friday in Logan Hall. The conference was entitled "Gathering/Place: Folklore, Aesthetic Ecologies and the Public Domain."
Drawing together many prominent figures from the world of public folklore, the convention allowed the group of around 30 folklorists to reflect on the state of the Program in Folklore and Folklife at Penn, as well as look ahead to improvements in practices throughout the field.
The event included a welcome speech from Joseph Farrell, associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, two panel discussions concerning moving folklore and Penn's tradition in folklore, as well as a keynote speech presented by M.D. Muthukumaraswamy, executive trustee and director of the National Folklore Support Centre.
The second panel, entitled "Learning the Vernacular: Penn's Tradition in Public Folklore," was led by Nick Spitzer, professor of Folklore at Tulane University and creator and host of American Routes, a weekly two-hour public radio program devoted to vernacular music and culture.
Other speakers included Robert Baron, Folk Arts program director at the New York State Council on the Arts; Peggy Bulger, director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress; Steve Zeitlin, founding director of City Lore Inc., an organization dedicated to the preservation of New York City's -- and America's -- living cultural heritage; and Debora Kodish, director of the Philadelphia Folklore Project.
Spitzer opened the panel outlining his concerns for the longevity of the folklore program at Penn.
The session continued with Baron quickly reviewing the history of Penn, including the inception of the folklore program, and then discussing the need for a balance between theory and practice of folklore in the academic environment.
"My Penn training gave me an expanse of interdisciplinary grounding in a field which has had multiple applications to my work life for years," Baron said.
He also stated that Penn saw the community-based aspect of folklore as a "service to what is being created, not what is transmitted." Because of this, Penn places less emphasis on the practice of folklore training, as opposed to the academic side of folklore, according to Baron.
Zeitlin commented on the underappreciation of the folklorist in today's society.
"In fact, in a culture known for Hollywood, television and other forms of mass media, American culture continues to be described by an endless creativity, and that creativity has generally come from the interplay of folk and popular culture, and in many instances, folklore has played a role," he said.
One of the most compelling statements from the panel came from Bulger.
"I think that our work resonates in many spheres, and much of the work could not be done if there had not been a Penn program," she said.
The Folklore program is currently geared toward master's and Ph.D. students, but also offers a selection of classes to undergraduates.
