FOLKLORE 100 — INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Surveys folklore in the United States and around the world, with a comparative emphasis on ways in which individuals and groups use beliefs, songs, stories, sayings, dances, festivals, and artifacts to address issues of identity, authenticity, and authority, in complex societies.
FOLKLORE/AFROAMER/AMER IND/ASIAN AM/CHICLA 102 — INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE US ETHNIC AND AMERICAN INDIAN STUDIES
3 credits.
Introduction to comparative ethnic studies, examining race, ethnicity, and indigeneity within the United States. Includes perspectives from African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Chican@ and Latin@ studies.
FOLKLORE/MUSIC 103 — INTRODUCTION TO MUSIC CULTURES OF THE WORLD
3 credits.
An introductory ethnomusicology course providing a variety of ways to approach musics typically not covered in music history courses. Active engagement with these musics within their larger world contexts.
FOLKLORE/RELIG ST 104 — SACRED PLACES AND JOURNEYS
3 credits.
An introduction to the study of religion through the lens of sacred places and journeys, including pilgrimage.
FOLKLORE/GNS 200 — FOLKLORE OF CENTRAL, EASTERN AND NORTHERN EUROPE
3 credits.
Folklore of Central, Eastern and Northern Europe and among emigrants from these regions in North America. A survey of genres of folklore, history of research, and modes of interpretation, past and present.
FOLKLORE/AFRICAN 210 — THE AFRICAN STORYTELLER
3 credits.
The oral tradition and the written word; the composition of stories, relationship between performer and audience, and transmission of tradition in various African societies.
FOLKLORE/ANTHRO/INTL ST/LINGUIS 211 — GLOBAL LANGUAGE ISSUES
3 credits.
Focuses on language and its culture, example topics include: extinction and revival, language and nationhood, how widely and deeply languages differ, language and worldview, writing systems and literacy, language discrimination and inequality.
FOLKLORE 215 — ELEMENTARY TOPICS IN FOLKLORE
1-3 credits.
Exploration of various topics in the study of folklore, folklife, myth, foodways, or music.
FOLKLORE 220 — THE FOLK TALE
3 credits.
Types of heroes, social functions, and tellers; tales from four cultures.
FOLKLORE 225 — HORROR AS EXPRESSIONS OF NATIONAL ANGST
3 credits.
Explore horror as cultural phenomenon and how it represents various forms of cultural/national angst.
FOLKLORE 230 — INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Folklore of ethnic, regional, religious, and occupational cultures, emphasizing how diverse peoples (African Americans, American Indians, Appalachians, Chicanos, Germans, Irish, Jews, Mormons, miners, service workers, etc.) use traditional festivals, artifacts, songs and stories to express their experiences within American life.
FOLKLORE/AFRICAN 270 — THE HERO AND TRICKSTER IN AFRICAN ORAL TRADITIONS
3 credits.
Two major characters in African oral tradition as treated in narrative, epic and heroic poetry.
FOLKLORE 315 — INTERMEDIATE TOPICS IN FOLKLORE
1-3 credits.
Exploration of various topics in the study of folklore, folklife, myth, foodways, or music.
FOLKLORE 317 — THE IRISH TRADITION
3 credits.
Survey of Irish folklore and folklife, including narrative, music, dance, customs, material culture, and foodways, in both Ireland and beyond.
FOLKLORE/AFROAMER/ASIAN AM/DANCE 319 — AFRO ASIAN IMPROV: FROM HIP HOP TO MARTIAL ARTS FUSION
3 credits.
An Afro Asian perspective provides a lens through which intersections between Asian American and African American dance and martial arts are studied and practiced. Asian American and African American movement genres provide tools to explore dance fusion, choreography, and improvisation, to create dances informed by African American and Asian American legacies of struggle, innovation and transformation, while cognizant of historical forces of oppression and racism. Building connections through respectful communication with others are learned through dance practice, discussion and writing about concepts learned through readings, videos, and guest artist visits. Engagement with dance as a cultural vehicle for creative problem-solving and risk-taking occurs through guided class or smaller group activities.
FOLKLORE 320 — FOLKLORE OF WISCONSIN
3 credits.
Introduction to folk cultural groups and folklore forms of Wisconsin.
FOLKLORE/DANCE/THEATRE 321 — JAVANESE PERFORMANCE
2 credits.
Technique and practice of classical Javanese dance in its musical, historical and cultural contexts.
FOLKLORE/LITTRANS 327 — VAMPIRES
3 credits.
Explores the development of the vampire legend in folklore, rumor, literature, cinema, television, and popular culture and in relation to topics such as colonization, race, gender, sexuality, and class.
FOLKLORE/MEDIEVAL/RELIG ST/SCAND ST 342 — NORDIC MYTHOLOGY
3 credits.
Mythology, literature, ritual, traditions, medieval folklore, and religion from Nordic areas and Scandinavia.
FOLKLORE/LITTRANS/MEDIEVAL/SCAND ST 345 — THE NORDIC STORYTELLER
3 credits.
Exploring the oral nature and performance traditions of folklore, ethnography, tales and ballads, literature and culture from Nordic areas and Scandinavia.
FOLKLORE/LITTRANS/MEDIEVAL 346 — IN TRANSLATION: THE ICELANDIC SAGAS
3-4 credits.
Gain an understanding of saga literature as a genre and of the cultural history of Iceland in the Viking Era and the Middle Ages, based on the interplay between pagan codes of honor and Christian ethics.
FOLKLORE/LITTRANS 347 — IN TRANSLATION: KALEVALA AND FINNISH FOLK-LORE
3-4 credits.
A look at the Kalevala, the Finnish creation myth and national epic of Finland, and how it affected Finnish national identity and the eventual Finnish independence from Russia.
FOLKLORE/RELIG ST 352 — SHAMANISM
3 credits.
Survey of shamanism as a religious tradition and sociocultural force in Siberian, Asian, and Native American societies. Exploration of shamanic rituals, roles, cosmology. Cultural and political uses of shamanism in traditional and modern contexts.
FOLKLORE/RELIG ST 359 — MYTH
3 credits.
The relationship between myth and tale, history, culture. Myth research; methodological approaches; world mythologies; myth and modern times.
FOLKLORE 399 — DIRECTED STUDY IN FOLKLORE FOR UNDERGRADUATES
1-3 credits.
Directed study as arranged with a faculty member.
FOLKLORE/MUSIC 402 — MUSICAL CULTURES OF THE WORLD
3 credits.
Explores the performance, transmission, and consumption of traditional and popular musics outside of the standard Euro-American context. Employs musical-analytic and critical approaches to trace transnational musical circulation.
FOLKLORE 415 — ADVANCED TOPICS IN FOLKLORE
1-3 credits.
Exploration of various topics in the study of folklore, folklife, myth, foodways, or music.
FOLKLORE/DANCE/THEATRE 421 — JAVANESE PERFORMANCE REPERTORY
2 credits.
Introduction to Javanese theatre performance in a Javanese epic tradition. Includes use of Javanese gamelan music as accompaniment for dance drama.
FOLKLORE/GEN&WS 428 — GENDER AND EXPRESSIVE CULTURE
3 credits.
Examines the relationship between dominant images of gender representation as they emerge in expressive culture in various societies.
FOLKLORE 430 — TOPICS IN AMERICAN FOLKLORE: ETHNIC STUDIES
3-6 credits.
Topics in historical or contemporary folklore and folklife pertaining to persistently marginalized racial or ethnic groups in the United States.
FOLKLORE/AMER IND/ANTHRO 431 — AMERICAN INDIAN FOLKLORE
3 credits.
An introduction to the genres of American Indian Folklore. Special attention is given to creation stories, trickster tales, and the relationship between folklore and historical memory.
FOLKLORE/AMER IND/ANTHRO/GEN&WS 437 — AMERICAN INDIAN WOMEN
3 credits.
Examines and interprets the roles of American Indian women in traditional societies, and in contemporary North America.
FOLKLORE 439 — FOODWAYS
3 credits.
Explores artistic, social, sensory, and spiritual expressions through food that convey personal, group, and place-based identities, ethnicity, gender, and class in work and play. Reviews range of food writing and scholarly perspectives including culinary historical, structural-functional, and performance.
FOLKLORE/SCAND ST 440 — SCANDINAVIAN AMERICAN FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Examines the verbal, musical, customary, and material folklore of Scandinavian Americans, with emphasis on the upper Midwest.
FOLKLORE/SCAND ST 443 — SAMI CULTURE, YESTERDAY AND TODAY
4 credits.
Interdisciplinary study of Sami (Lapp) people of Scandinavia past and present. Indigenous modes of expression and worldview, contemporary cultural and political activism. Extensive discussion of connections to Native American and Inuit experiences; rise of U.S. and other indigenous peoples' movements.
FOLKLORE/SLAVIC 444 — SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Oral traditional literature of Eastern Europe: ritual and lyric poetry, epic, and folktale.
FOLKLORE/MEDIEVAL/SCAND ST 446 — CELTIC-SCANDINAVIAN CULTURAL INTERRELATIONS
3 credits.
Examination of shared traditions and historical connections between the North and Northwest of Europe. Readings of medieval and pre-modern Scandinavian, Scottish, Welsh and Irish sagas, histories, talkes. Discussion of the role of folklore in modern Celtic and Scandinavian societies.
FOLKLORE 451 — THE SUPERNATURAL IN THE MODERN WORLD
3 credits.
Explores evidence of belief in the supernatural in the modern world as it appears in the context of folk religion, folk medicine, legends, folk drama, ritual and custom, and media accounts and presentations. Surveys scholarly approaches to the topic.
FOLKLORE 460 — FOLK EPICS
3 credits.
Oral nature, structure, performance traditions, and epic ideology, from various world areas.
FOLKLORE/GEN&WS 467 — WOMEN AND POLITICS IN POPULAR CULTURE AND FOLKLORE
3 credits.
How popular culture and folklore have been used by women as rhetorical tools that promote deliberation and debate, broaden political engagement, and advance particular social identities. Global content, with examples from around the world.
FOLKLORE/GEN&WS 468 — FEMINISM, FOLKLORE AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
3 credits.
Explores feminism, folklore and comparative literature from a variety of perspectives drawing from scholarship in feminist philosophy, folklore, anthropology, critical cultural studies, and postcolonial theory.
FOLKLORE/L I S 490 — FIELD METHODS AND THE PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Combines a fieldwork practicum with scrutiny of the cultural, political, and ethical dimensions underlying the documentation and public presentation of folklore through festivals, exhibitions, publications, audio-visual productions, and digital archival collections.
FOLKLORE 491 — PRACTICUM IN PUBLIC FOLKLORE
1-3 credits.
Work as an intern with a public agency or a private non-profit organization involved in public folklore projects.
FOLKLORE 510 — FOLKLORE THEORY
3 credits.
Symbolical, psychoanalytic, Marxian, structuralist and performance theory models for analyzing expressive culture. Topics include play, ritual, festival, food, customs, class and the symbolism, structure and politics of narrative.
FOLKLORE/MUSIC 515 — PROSEMINAR IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
3 credits.
Introduction to ethnomusicology, including historical survey of major works in the field, classification of musical instruments, measurement of tuning systems and concepts of scale, mode and rhythm in non-Western music.
FOLKLORE/MUSIC 516 — ETHNOGRAPHIC METHODS FOR MUSIC AND SOUND
3 credits.
Focuses on the tools (material, methodological, and ethical) for doing ethnographic fieldwork in musical contexts.
FOLKLORE 518 — THE SCOTTISH TRADITION
3 credits.
Study of the Scottish literary tradition from the Middle Ages to the present day, with an emphasis on folk culture and its influence.
FOLKLORE/ANTHRO 520 — ETHNIC REPRESENTATIONS IN WISCONSIN
4 credits.
Representation and self-representation of ethnic cultures in Wisconsin. For example: museums, mass media, ethnic theater.
FOLKLORE/COM ARTS 522 — DIGITAL STORYTELLING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
3 credits.
Explore everyday communication in social media. Learn digital recording technologies for documenting everyday communication and the use of digital content in social media.
FOLKLORE 530 — TOPICS IN FOLKLORE
1-3 credits.
Topics in Folklore in various cultures and time periods.
FOLKLORE 540 — LOCAL CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN THE UPPER MIDWEST
3 credits.
Addresses different aspects of community life and culture in the Upper Midwest; topics include ethnic groups, religious life, cultural landscapes, oral narrative, music, and material culture.
FOLKLORE 699 — INDEPENDENT STUDY IN FOLKLORE (GRADUATE)
1-3 credits.
Advanced directed study projects as arranged with a faculty member.
FOLKLORE/MUSIC 915 — SEMINAR IN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY
3 credits.
Topics in ethnomusicology within a cross-cultural framework; melodic typology, scale and tuning systems, mode, rhythm, ornamentation, improvisation techniques, oral and written traditions of composition, notation systems, and function of music society.
FOLKLORE 970 — SEMINAR IN FOLKLORE
3 credits.
Thorough study of significant folklore topics. Content will vary with each offering.