Ben Bridges Receives Folklore and Science Junior Prize

The Folklore and Science Junior Prize, awarded by the AFS Folklore and Science Section, is awarded to Ben Bridges (Indiana University) for the best presentation-length paper written by a junior folklorist (e.g. graduate and undergraduate students), focusing on the boundaries, intersections, and interdisciplinary exchanges between folklore and science.

The Folklore & Science Junior Prize committee was thoroughly impressed by Ben Bridges paper, “Warming Warps: Weaving Folklore, Science, and Vernacular Constructions of Climate Change,” as a balanced investigation of Alaska Native people’s localized and traditional perspectives on the environment as a core knowledge-base for constructing ethical and comprehensive responses to ongoing climate change problems. Especially, the committee appreciated Bridges inclusion of individual voices, experiences, and concerns, alongside rich descriptions and pictorial representations of traditional practices (e.g. Tlingit cedar-bark weaving practices) that foreground the issues of climate change. Taken together, the traditions and the voices of the people constitute a powerful presentation of the importance of vernacular knowledge production for ongoing reactions to climate issues.