College of Letters & Science
Folklore Program
110 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706; 608-265-3514 folklore@mailplus.wisc.edu; www.folklore.wisc.edu
Professors Dubois (director), Anderson, Atis, George, Gordon, Leary, Martin, Narayan, Niles, Radano, Rao, Scheub, Sutton, Valentine, Wolf; Associate Professors Gilmore, Howard, Schenck; Assistant Professor Garlough
Undergraduate advisor for the certificate: Lecturer Scott Mellor, 1310 Van Hise Hall, 608-262-0863, samellor@wisc.edu
Faculty diversity liaison: Professor James Leary, 110 Ingraham Hall, 608-262-8107, jpleary@wisc.edu
Folklore is a multidisciplinary field of study concerned with the documentation and analysis of verbal, customary, musical, material, and performance traditions, primarily as they are practiced within cultures, but also as they are revived, modified, even invented by artists, educators, entrepreneurs, activists, communities, and states. The Folklore Program offers courses on folklore forms, practitioners, performances, theory, methods, and public presentation, with an emphasis on cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches. Students interested in folklore as an area of concentration typically major in an arts, humanities, or social science discipline. No formal undergraduate major is offered in folklore, but by planning a course of study with the program's undergraduate advisor, a student may design an individual major with a folklore concentration. Undergraduate students may also earn a certificate in folklore.
Certificate Program
The certificate in folklore is available to students working for a baccalaureate degree in any UW-Madison school or college, and to Special students. The purpose of the certificate is to acquaint students with the nature of folklore, its study, its public presentation, and its relations to a range of human experiences, intellectual currents, and professional endeavors.
The certificate requires 15 credits, including at least one course from each of the following four clusters:
- Introductions to the Field: 100, 230
- Genres of Folklore: 103, 211, 220, 237, 339, 352, 359, 450, 451, 460, 539, 655
- Folklore and Cultural Areas: 102, 210, 270, 279, 320, 326, 329, 342, 345, 346, 347, 353, 370, 374, 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 411, 431, 436, 437, 440, 443, 444, 445, 450, 453, 517, 518, 521, 535, 540, 612, 630, 640
- Issues, Theories, Methods: 344, 410, 428, 471, 490, 491, 510, 512, 515, 520, 530, 560, 639
At least four courses must be at the 300 level or above. Directed Study (399) may be used to satisfy one cluster requirement, but only with the approval of the certificate advisor and the director of the Folklore Program. Certificate seekers are urged to consult the undergraduate advisor at the earliest possible opportunity.