Dr. John A. Burrison
975 General Classroom Building
404-651-2904
jburrison@gsu.edu
Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 3:00p-5:15p and by appointment

---

Texts

Robert A. Georges & Michael Owens Jones, Folkloristics: An Introduction. Indiana University Press paperback. Read during Weeks 1-4.

Optional Texts

John A. Burrison, ed., Storytellers: Folktales and Legends from the South. University of Georgia Press paperback. Recommended as a concrete way to understand this region through its folklore.

On Library Reserve

Ronald Baker, Folklore in the Writings of Rowland E. Robinson	PS2719.R68Z6
Jan Brunvand, Folklore: A Study and Research Guide	Z5981.B78
Jan Brunvand, The study of American Folklore, eds 3 & 4 (basic to preparation of oral presentations)	GR105.B7,1986 & 1998
Jacqueline Carmichael, Trumpeting a Fiery Sound: History and Folklore in Margaret Walker's Jubilee	PS3545.A517J834,1998
Tristram Coffin, ed., Our Living Traditions (basic to preparation of oral presentations)	GR105.C6
Tristram Coffin & Hennig Cohen, eds., Folklore in America	GR105.J65,1966
Richard Dorson, ed., Folklore and Folklife: An Introduction (basic to preparation of oral presentations)	GR65.D57
Burt Feintuch, ed., The Conservation of Culture: Folklorists and the Public Sector (may be borrowed for 7 days; recommended for Heritage Preservation students)	GR105.C66,1988
Robert Georges & Michael Jones, Folkloristics: An Introduction	GR40.G46,1995
Edward Ives, The Tape-Recorded Interview	GR45.5.I93,1995
Bruce Jackson, Fieldwork	GR45.5.J33,1987
Ormond Loomis, Cultural Conservation (recommended for Heritage Preservation students)	GR105.C84,1983
Nick Spitzer & Robert Baron, Public Folklore (recommended for Heritage Preservation students; may be checked out for 7 days)	GR105.P84,1992
Barre Toelken, The Dynamics of Folklore	GR40.T63
Barre Toelken, "The Folklore of Academe" (REQUIRED); multiple copies)
N.I. White, gen. ed., The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore, 7 vols.	GR110. N8D8

Course Objectives

This course will survey, from an international perspective, the genres (types of forms) constituting folklore, including selected bibliography and issues of folklore study. To develop some depth, the traditions of the South -- the region in which we live -- will be featured for illustration, thus making the course both a graduate-level introduction to folklore and an examination of southern folk culture.

It is designed as a service course, offering the materials and perspectives of folklore study as tools of potential use to graduate students in a variety of fields. At the least, you should gain a better understanding of the role of folk traditions in people's lives and an appreciation of folklore as a valuable stream of our culture, operating in the (usually unselfconscious) behavior of all of us. (This syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary).

Following a foundation section on folklore study, the South as a distinctive region, and research methodologies, the course will proceed by a series of student oral presentations on the various folklore genres, in some cases amplified by me with examples from the South or otherwise focused discussions. This structure, combining the lecture and seminar formats and supported by audio-visual media, offers models for the effective teaching of the subject.

Requirements

Your grade will be based on:

1. An in-class midterm exam
2. An oral presentation synthesizing library readings into an overview of a folklore genre of your choice, with no geographic limitations (30 minutes, or 45 if genres are doubled up in a smaller class)
3. A typed research paper -- either a field-based "collecting" (documentation) project, or library investigation and analysis (e.g., a particular author's use of folklore in literature) -- the topic to be selected and research begun in consultation with me by week four of the semester, at which time guidelines for both types will be given; and
4. A take-home final exam based on learning both in and outside the classroom.

Each of these components will be weighted equally; in addition, attendance and class participation will be considered in assessing your course grade. You should plan for at least one office consultation and several extended visits to GSU's Pullen Library.

Oral Presentations

Guidelines and a schedule assigning dates will be distributed after students have signed up for their genres.

Research Paper

Due the last day of classes