CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIA
2011 New York Folklore Society Annual Conference
Theme: Legends and Tales
November 12, 2011
Academic A Building, Room G-7, Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY
For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with Binghamton University’s English Department, we invited graduate students to present their work on legends and tales. In this way, students were given a platform at a local conference to share their work and connect with other young academics from around the state. The NYFS seeks to encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more. This conference presented students with the opportunity for feedback on works-in-progress and mentorship from the academy.
Besides paper sessions by graduate student scholars, the conference featured a panel discussion called “Folklore in Practice.” Folklore in Practice was the portion of the New York Folklore Society conference dedicated to the practice of public sector folklore in New York.
In 2011, the chosen topic was “Collecting Narratives after Disaster Strikes,” and we were pleased to invite two esteemed panelists to discuss their work. Since 9/11, Dr. Kay Turner has been documenting the spontaneous memorials which have dotted New York’s urban landscape. Her ongoing documentation has resulted in her most recent program on the tenth anniversary of the attack on New York’s Twin Towers. Dr. Constance Sullivan-Blum has been documenting the Southern Tier’s Flood of 1972, when Hurrican Agnes caused widespread flooding. Transformation from Tragedy: Survivors Remember the Flood of 1972, is a local history project capturing the stories of the flood and will result in a documentary film in 2012.
The conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Elizabeth Tucker on the legends of the Southern Tier and a reading by novelist Jaimee Wriston Colbert from her work, Shark Girls. Both Tucker and Colbert are on the faculty of Binghamton University.
Internationally known storyteller Milbre Burch performed her one-woman show at 6:00 p.m. Changing Skins: Folktales about Gender, Identity, and Humanity, is performed research on the wealth and persistence of gender-bending folktales and cultural expressions around the world. Drawing on a background of dance and movement theater, Milbre Burch shapes and colors her stories with an artful language of gesture and movement. An experienced touring and resident artist, she has performed throughout the United States and Europe, including performances at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York and at Edition Neues Marchen in Austria. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for her spoken word album for children, Making the Heart Whole Again: Stories for a Wounded World and is the recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network. The Circle of Excellence Award is given to those who have created a body of work which is nationally recognized as a shining example of quality in the art form of storytelling performance. In addition, Burch has appeared more than six times as a featured teller at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN.
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A heartfelt Kudos to Dr. Elizabeth Tucker for a wonderful conference at Binghamton University on November 12, 2011. The student panels were provocative and the afternoon presentations by Libby Tucker, Jaimee Wriston Colbert, Kay Turner, and Connie Sullivan-Blum provided a focused look at New York’s Southern Tier and its narratives. Milbre Burch’s performance was spell-binding and was a wonderful conclusion to a very full day.
QUESTIONS? Please contact: Dr. Lisa Overholser, nyfs@nyfolklore.org, 518-346-7008
READ Lisa’s Report on the 2011 Annual Conference in Voices, 37:3-4, 2011.
VIEW pages on previous conferences.
RETURN to the Main Conference Page.
Download the Call for Proposals/Proposal Submission Guide and Form.
New York Folklore Society Graduate Student Conference
Legends and Beliefs
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
November 12, 2010
Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
Students are encouraged to submit proposals by August 15; the final deadline for submission is September 15.
Theme: Legends and Tales
Legends and tales present characters under duress in extraordinary circumstances. They preserve cultural patterns and facilitate social change. Legends such as “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” and “The Killer in the Back Seat” have a kernel of truth; tales such as “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Armless Maiden” are clearly fictional but have complex layers of meaning. When legends and tales inspire literature and films, they bring richly resonant traditions to the minds of readers and viewers.
This multidisciplinary conference welcomes papers about legends and/or tales from graduate students in literature, folklore, anthropology, American studies, cultural studies, film studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, social and cultural history, and other fields. We especially encourage papers related to the cultural traditions of New York State.
For more information, download the Call for Proposals/Proposal Submission Guide and Form.
Questions? Please contact: Dr. Ellen McHale, nyfs@nyfolklore.org, 518-346-7008,
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| The New York Folklore Society’s programs are made possible in part with public funds from the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. |  |
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