Berry, Chad

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The Graduate Program in Folk Studies 
at Western Kentucky University 
Chad Berry 
The Graduate Program in Folk Studies at West- 
ern Kentucky University is recognized interna- 
tionally for its unique curriculum in the study 
of folklore and folklife. Early on, the program 
was designed to provide a usable master's degree 
that made its graduates marketable in the bur- 
geoning field of folklore; it was not intended 
merely to be a stepping stone for the Ph.D. The 
program merges traditional folklore studies with 
a pragmatic orientation to the job market. 
While covering major genres and theoretical per- 
spectives of folklore and folklife, the student 
is also exposed to such courses as Applied Folk- 
lore, Museum Techniques and Procedures, and Folk- 
life and Preservation. 
There is a long history of the study of folk- 
lore here at Western Kentucky, beginning in 
1928, when Gordon Wilson taught the first folk- 
lore class. D.K. Wilgus taught at Western in 
the 1950's and early '60's. Robert Teske, Jay 
Anderson, Marilyn White, and Kenneth and Mary 
Clarke are among the others who have been on the 
faculty. Currently, the Folk Studies core fac- 
ulty consists of Camilla Collins, Burt Feintuch, 
Lynwood Montell, and Michael Ann Williams. 
Along with these four, the program is comple- 
mented by faculty members from a number of other 
departments. 
The Folk Studies Program also offers a spec- 
ialized degree track, unique in North America, 
that combines folklore and historic preserva- 
tion. Since 1978, students in the folklife and 
historic preservation track have focused on the 
preservation of the architectural landscape and 
on cultural conservation. Recognized by the Na- 
@Folklore Forum Volume 19:2 (1986) 
tional Council for Preservation Education, the 
historic preservation track exposes students to 
the study of material culture, museology, vernac- 
ular architecture, and to relevant historical in- 
vestigation. 
Two other degree tracks in Western's Folk 
Studies Program are the thesis and the non- 
thesis options. All students consult with their 
advisor to determine the most appropriate track 
given their interests and plans. Regardless of 
the degree track chosen, students must pass a 
written, four-hour comprehensive examination, as 
well as fulfill a research tool requirement, ei- 
ther by demonstrating competency in a foreign 
language or by taking an additional course desig- 
nated as a research tool. Folk Studies graduate 
students are required to take core courses in 
folklore genres, folklore theory, and folklore 
fieldwork and oral history. Historic preserva- 
tion students must also satisfy additional 
course requirements in other departments. Most 
thesis and non-thesis students finish the pro- 
gram in three semesters; preservation students 
finish it in four. 
Since the program's formal inception in 1970, 
Western's students have had multi-faceted educa- 
tional opportunities. The program was the first 
in the country to develop an internship network 
that provided students with academic credit and 
work experience. A wide range of institutions 
and agencies have sponsored interns, ranging 
from the Smithsonian, the National Endowment for 
the Arts, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and 
the National Park Service to numerous state and 
local museums and preservation agencies. 
Additionally, a strong folklore, folklife, 
and oral history archive is an important part of 
the Western program. Considered a "working ar- 
chive," it is based with museum and manuscript 
collections, and is the only folklore archive in 
the country based in the university library sys- 
tem and administered by library staff. In addi- 
tion, the program enjoys a strong working rela- 
tionship with the Kentucky Museum and Library, 
which often provides important research and 
practicum facilities. 
For many years the faculty has edited for the 
regional journal, The Kentucky Folklore Record. 
Recently, Western Kentucky University acquired 
the once prominent Southern Folklore Quarterly. 
Both journals will be merged into a new journal 
to be called Southern Folklore. The first issue 
will come out in the fall of 1988 under the edi- 
torship of Camilla Collins. 
For five years now, the program has had an 
endowed annual lecture series known as the Rudy- 
McNulty Folklife Lecture, which brings national- 
ly significant folklorists to Bowling Green for 
lectures and forums. Also important are the 
several colloquia held throughout the academic 
year when other important folklorists and pre- 
servationists are brought to campus, often for 
extended visits. Currently, plans are underway 
to develop a student exchange network and work- 
ing relationship in conjunction with the Centre 
for English Cultural Tradition and Language at 
the University of Sheffield. 
Today, the Department of Modern Languages and 
Intercultural Studies is a hybrid department 
which merged Modern Languages and the Department 
of Intercultural Studies as a consequence of 
university-wide reorganization in the late 
1970's. The Graduate Program in Folk Studies is 
essentially a free-standing academic program 
within this hybrid department. The program ad- 
ministers its own curriculum and graduate as- 
sistantships; the latter carry stipends up to 
$4,000 and a waiver of out-of-state tuition. 
Past experience has demonstrated that stu- 
dents who do well and want a job upon degree 
completion have little difficulty finding a po- 
sition. Western graduates have been employed as 
state folklorists, state oral historians, museum 
professionals, and in Main Street Preservation 
Programs, state arts programs, and regional cen- 
ters for folklore and folklife. Additionally, a 
number have chosen to continue graduate studies 
at the doctoral level, not only in folklore/ 
folklife, but also in such fields as American 
studies, anthropology, sociology, and urban 
studies . 
Theses completed at Western Kentucky include: 
Allen, Ray 
1981 Old-Time Music and the Urban Folk Revival. 
A h ,  Jan 
1981 A Sourcebook for the Interpretation of Traditional Dance by 
Outdoor Museums and Historic Sites. 
Archbold, Annelen 
1975 The Beeson Farmstead: A Study of the Functional Aspects of 
a Black Farm in the Richland Comnity. 
Axler, David 
1977 Fandom is a Way of Life: A Folkloristic Ethnography of 
Science Fiction Fandom. 
Beatty, Roger 
1975 Chester Cornett: A Study of the Effects of Culture Change 
on a Traditional Kentucky Craftsman. 
Beisswenger, Donald Andrew 
1985 Singing Schools in South Central Kentucky. 
Boaz, Peggy 
1976 The Oral Folk History Surrounding the Life of William 
Bernard "Big Six" Henderson. 
Bulger, Margaret Anne 
1976 The Carter Family: Traditional Sources for Song. 
Cochrane, Timothy 
1982 The Folklife Expressions of Three Isle Royale Fishermen: A 
Sense of Place Examination. 
Downs, Stuart 
1978 Poetic Expression and the Folk Experience: Analysis and 
Anthology. 
Farris, Nana 
1982 Ink In My Blood: The Folklore of a Comaercial Print Shop. 
Gibson, Debbie 
1981 Folklore, Folklife and Still Photography: A Synergetic 
Approach. 
Grenier. Kate Parker 
1978 Folklore. Poetry, and Identity: A Study of the Archetypes 
in the Poetry of Leslie Silko. 
Ball, Deborah 
1983 Using Folklore to Teach English as a Second Language. 
Bansen, Gregory 
1987 "The Blankety-Blank" of Bear Creek Camp: A Rhetorical 
Analysis of a Folk Drama. 
Harzoff, Elizabeth 
1981 "They Bad the Biggest Time You Ever Saw": Square Dances as 
Settings for C m i t y  Social Interaction in Trigg County, 
Kentucky, Ca. 1920-1979. 
Hauri-Foster, Julie 
1984 Two Hairdressers: Artistry and Coamunication. 
Howard, Gilbert 
1981 Fiddle Songs and Banjo Songs: A Description and Index. 
Jureka, Theresa 
1983 Women and Work at the Turn of the Century: The Mrs. A. H. 
Taylor Dressmaking Company. 
Kaplan, Lori 
1979 The Lark on the Strand: A Study of a Traditional Irish 
Flute Player and His Music. 
Kiely , Dennis 
1983 The Loving of the Game: A Study of Basketry in the Mamnoth 
Cave Area. 
Kohn, Ira 
1976 The Use of Architectural Drawing in the Documentation of 
Log Folk Housing. 
Korn, Michael 
1979 ...AnJ the Whole Nine Yards: An Ethnography of a Kentucky 
Gunsmith. 
Krontz, Marian 
1978 A Folkloristic Look at Cockfighting. 
Landes, John 
1978 Social and Psychological Aspects of the Style and 
Repertoire of a Folk Musician. 
Laude, Jan 
1982 A Contemporary Female Psychic: A Folkloristic Study of a 
Traditional Occupation. 
Ludden, Keith 
1982 "No Bob Yet": A Collection of Narratives from Nobob, 
Kentucky. 
Lyne, David 
1976 What Are They Saying? A Study of the Jargon of 
Hilltopping. 
Marshall, John 
1981 Barbecue in Western Kentucky: An Ethnographic Study. 
Martin, Charles 
1974 Parallelisms in Attitude of Vietnam Veterans and Veterans 
of the Indian Wars as Reflected in Memoirs and Oral 
Traditions. 
Martin, Katherine 
1974 A Comparative Study of German and Kentucky Moon Beliefs. 
Mason, Ervin 
1982 A Study of the Biblical Narrative of Saul, Including 
Investigation of the Folktale and Proverb as Genres of 
Folk Narrative. 
McCurley, Edward 
1982 A History of the Bowling Green Fire Department: A Look at 
Two Traditional Methodologies. 
Middleswarth, Victoria Lynn 
1977 A Folkloristic Approach to Storytelling Performance by a 
Contemporary Librarian. 
Morse, Michael 
1975 The Hensley Settlement: An Oral Folk History of Material 
Culture. 
Morse, Rebecca 
1979 Tinsley Bottom, Tennessee: An Historical Reconstruction 
Utilizing Oral Narrative Traditions. 
Ostrofsky 
1982 0. Henry's Use of Stereotypes in Bis New York City Stories: 
An Example of the Utilization of Folklore in Literature. 
Parker, Carol 
1975 A Study in Oral History -- Cedar Grove Co~ununity. 
Poyser, Stephen 
1978 Latent Didactic Functions of Tlingit ~thology: A Re- 
evaluation of Raven's Role in Northwest Coast Culture. 
Riley, Sheila 
1986 Mam-Ma: A Oral Life History of Mona Baldwin. 
Reynolds, George 
1980 Home, Loved Ones and Heaven: Folk Expression in the Songs 
of Katherine O'Neill Peters Sturgill. 
Rufty, Ruby 
1976 The Paper Repertoire of the Students in One Elementary 
School. 
Sadewasser, Judith 
1976 The Reliability of Selected Weather Beliefs. 
Schofield, Albert 
1977 Oystering in Kent Narrows, Maryland. 
Steed, Daniel, Jr. 
1977 A Folkloric Perspective on Traditional Auctioneering. 
Stoner, Michael 
1976 "If I'd Been Polish, I'd Be Playing Polkas": An 
Examination of the Social Contexts of Traditional Irish 
Music in Rochester, New York. 
Sutherland, David 
1973 The Little People of Pea Ridge. 
Taft, Ann 
1986 At the Spiritual Grass Roots: An Analysis of Visionary Art 
and Artists. 
Taylor, David 
1978 They Like to Sing the Old Songs: The A.C. Phipps Family 
and its Music. 
Taylor, Robert 
1973 Drowned at Turnhole: A Study of Western Kentucky Epitaphs. 
Umberger, Eugene, Jr. 
1975 Tobacco Farming: The Persistence of Tradition. 
Vincent, Benjamin 
1977 The Price of Folk: The Progression of Two Decoy Makers' 
Work from Folk to Non-Folk. 
Waggoner, Gayle Anne 
1977 "They Made Us Dance in the Pig Trough!": Mrs. Blanche 
Story's Oral Acccounts of Dating, Courtship, Marriage, and 
Sexual Attitudes in Northcentral Nebraska, 1885-1910. 
Webb, J. Vaughan 
1977 Traditional Elements in the Selected Colunms of Allan M. 
Trout. 
Weldy, Mary Helen 
1980 A Study of the Usefulness of Folkloric Topics in a 
Remotivation Technique Program with Institutional Elderly 
Persons. 
Whie, Linda C. 
1976 "I Love Ta Plow": The Role of Traditional Farm Women in 
Peytonsburg, Kentucky. 
Willett, E. Henry, I11 
1975 A Case Study of the Tradition of the Chanted Sermon in 
Virginia. 
Those interested in further information about 
the Graduate Folk Studies Program at Western 
Kentucky University should write Burt Feintuch, 
Coordinator, Programs in Folk Studies, 
Department of Modern Languages and Intercultural 
Studies, Western Kentucky University, Bowling 
Green, KY 42101. 


The Graduate Program in Folk Studies at Western Kentucky University

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The Graduate Program in Folk Studies at Western Kentucky University

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