New York Field Trip

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.

New York Folklore Society
P.O. Box 764
Schenectady, NY 12301
518/346-7008
Fax 518/346-6617
nyfs@nyfolklore.org

Main Conference Page | 2005 NY Field Trip | About the Participants | Panel Discussion

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, September 23
At the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, Sleepy Hollow

5:00-7:00 p.m.	Picnic Dinner Hosted by the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center, Sleepy Hollow. Please join us when you arrive.
7:00 p.m.	Welcome and Introductory Remarks Mary Zwolinski, President, New York Folklore Society
7:15 p.m.	Folklore in Writing: The Transformation of Peter Klaus. Dr. Michael Black, Professor, Baruch College, NYC
8:00 p.m.	Keynote Speaker: Kirin Narayan Kirin Narayan is professor of anthropology and languages and cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Her books include Storytellers, Saints, and Scoundrels: Folk Narrative in Hindu Religious Teaching (1989); Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon: Himalayan Foothill Folktales (1997); and Love, Stars, and All That (1994), a novel. Narayan is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
	Discussion led by Dr. Hanna Griff, Vice President, New York Folklore Society

Saturday, September 24
At the Warner Public Library, Tarrytown

9:00 a.m.	Welcoming Remarks
9:30-10:30 a.m.	Panel: Thinking Culturally: An Insider’s Perspective Panelists: Kevin White, SUNY Oswego; Joanne Mulcahy, Ph.D., folklorist, Northwest Writing Institute, Lewis and Clark College
10:30-11:30 a.m.	Writing Workshop: Writing New York Stories Steve Zeitlin, Ph.D., Director, City Lore
11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.	Farmer’s Market in the Park, lunch on your own
1:00-2:00 p.m.	Stories from the Field Moderated by Steve Zeitlin with David Gonzalez, journalist, New York Times; Lee Ann Brown, poet; and Bushra Rehman, poet
2:15-3:15 p.m.	Writing Workshop: Writing Culturally Dr. Joanne Mulcahy, Assistant Professor, Northwest Writers’ Center How do we write about our cultural identities as members of communities, families, neighborhoods, and nations? How do we learn the unstated rules for how to live and act in a particular culture? Each culture’s unique patterns emerge in its stories and languages, beliefs and values, rituals and ceremonies. In this nonfiction workshop, we’ll write mosaics of our own cultures as well as those we’ve experienced through literature, travel and in our everyday lives. We’ll read a range of fiction and nonfiction from varied cultures to explore style, voice, and literary form and to probe what marks each culture as unique.
3:45 p.m.	Tour Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. (suggested) The last tour departs at 4:00 p.m.
5:30-7:00 p.m.	Dinner (on your own)
7:30 p.m.	Blood Type – Ragu Performance piece by Frank Ingratiatta at The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center Blood Type: RAGU is a two-act one-man play featuring over 30 characters based on the life experiences of writer/performer Frank Giano Ingrasciotta. It is a poignant and humorous story of a Sicilian immigrant family and their cultural struggle in America. A comedian and actor of ability and heart, Frank Giano Ingrasciotta invites us to witness and hear the stories of his Italian-American upbringing.
8:15 p.m.	Open Mike at The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center Come read your own work in a supportive environment. We will also celebrate the 60 years of writing found in the New York Folklore Society journals. Celebrity readers will be in attendance! Wine and Cheese

Sunday, September 25
At the Hudson Writers’ Center, Sleepy Hollow

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Special Post-conference Workshop
Special writing workshop for folklorists and ethnographers led by Joanne Mulcahy and Kirin Narayan:
Folklorists record and observe within the field. Each culture’s unique patterns emerge in its stories and languages, beliefs and values, rituals and ceremonies. Folklorists’ experiences can also become the material for writing their own stories. How do we write about our own cultural identities as well as those we’ve experienced? This workshop is for the folklorist/fieldworker who would like to better communicate their experiences through the written word.

Pre-registration required. Attendance limited.