The Folklore Program at the University of Oregon is one of a few major centers of folkloristic research in the United States. With more than thirty participating faculty, our program provides an interdisciplinary approach to a Masters Degree, allowing students to create a focused course of study in their areas of interest.

The Folklore Program offers perspectives on ethnic, regional, occupational, gender, and other traditional identities of individuals in specific societies. Students study the extent to which tradition continues to enrich and express the dynamics of human behavior throughout the world. Folklore courses examine the historical, cultural, social, and psychological dimensions of such expressive forms as mythology, legend, folktale, music, dance, art, belief, foodways, ritual and ceremony.

Theoretical analyses, research methods, and fieldwork techniques are integral parts of the program's curriculum. Graduate courses cover an extensive range of interdisciplinary topics: cultural heritage, ethnicity, subcultures, popular culture, performance, gender, film, religion, community arts administration, local culture and issues of diversity and globalization.

Folklore graduates work in various public and private agencies as educators, archivists, editors, arts and humanities consultants, museum curators, festival planners and more.

UO Offers New Folklore Undergraduate Degree!

The Folklore Program at the University of Oregon is excited to announce its new undergraduate program, which now includes a major and a minor in Folklore Studies.  Theoretical analyses, research methods, and fieldwork techniques provide students with comprehensive training in the documentation and interpretation of traditional arts and expressive cultural practices in the United States and abroad. 

To learn more about the new UO Folklore major, please visit our webpage.

Read an article about the Folklore major.

In addition to the undergraduate major and minor in Folklore, the UO’s Folklore Program has introduced two new tracks to its existing graduate Master’s degree program.  The General Folklore Track offers students a strong foundation in Folklore Studies while also allowing them to take elective courses in their areas of focus, such as anthropology, arts and administration, English, comparative literature, and music,.  The Public Folklore Track prepares students who plan to work in the public sphere by building professional skills such as ethnographic research, documentation, grant writing, administration, and programming.  For more information about graduate studies in Folklore at the University of Oregon, please visit our: Graduate Studies page.

Folklore Archives News

The Archives of Northwest Folklore is nearing completion of a project to improve public access to the records of the Oregon Folklife Program, which was the state’s folklife program from 1988 to 2009.  The Oregon Folklife Program records comprise approximately 35 collections documenting folklife and folk arts in rural and urban communities in Oregon.  The records include slides, photographic prints, sound recordings, and videotapes, in addition to paper records.  The Archives of Northwest Folklore’s archivist and student archivists are reprocessing the collections, developing a collections database in the Archivists' Toolkit data management system, and publishing collection guides to the Northwest Digital Archives, an online database of guides to primary source collections in the region.  The project is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Oregon State Library.  Get more information about the Archives.

Archives Open House, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 4-6 PM

The Archives of Northwest Folklore will hold an open house on Wed. April 24, 2013, 4-6 PM to celebrate the completion of a project to improve public access to the records of the Oregon Folklife Program. Please join the archivist and student archivists in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, Room 453 to mark the completion of this year-long project and partake in regional foods and beverages. 

2013 Oregon Folklife Network Update

The Oregon Folklife Network (OFN) is the State of Oregon’s official Folk & Traditional Arts Program. Headquartered at the University of Oregon, the OFN is housed at the Knight Library and lives administratively in Academic Extension. Although the OFN became a part of the University in 2010, Oregon has long had a public folklife program, which was based for many years at Lewis and Clark College and then at the Oregon Historical Society. 

With our charge to educate the next generation of public folklorists, OFN staff members, Riki Saltzman (Executive Director) and Emily West Afanador (Program Manager), encourage student involvement in our mission to make a meaningful difference in Oregon communities and Tribes by documenting, supporting, and celebrating our diverse cultural traditions and by empowering tradition-bearers.  We have a wide range of possibilities for involvement, including internships, practica, and fieldwork opportunities.

The Oregon Folklife Network continues collaborations at Grand Ronde (language/basket apprenticeship) and Warm Springs (digitization of audio collections), management of Oregon’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, and the development of our relationships with Operational Partners (Oregon Arts Commission, Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Humanities, and the Oregon State Library) and our UO Academic Partners (Folklore Program, Arts and Administration, and Special Collections and University Archives). 

Keep up with OFN happenings on Facebook and Twitter, and watch our website for updates on such projects as the McKenzie River Interpretive Center, Arts in the Parks, the Culture and Education Alliance in the Eugene/Springfield area, and the Self-Documentation Tool Kit.

To be a part of our efforts to nurture Oregon’s diverse cultural heritage, please consider a tax-deductible contribution to the Oregon Folklife Network Fund.