JAF thanks the new Editorial Board and new review editors who have agreed to serve for the next five years.
AFS News
News about the American Folklore Society
This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Francis James Child, ballad scholar and first president of the AFS. To commemorate this occasion and to explore the present-day state of scholarly studies in folksong and ballad, the History and Folklore section and the Music and Song section of the AFS in conjunction with the Traditional Song Forum and the Kommission für Volksdichtung are proposing to sponsor a series of panels at this year’s AFS annual meeting. The deadline for submitting a proposal is March 10, 2025.
The American Folklore Society invites you to submit a proposal for its 137th Annual Meeting October 18–21, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia with the Virtual Meeting sessions taking place November 12–14, 2025. The proposal window is February 12 through April 1, 2025.
The AFS Folklore and Science Section will host a virtual presentation to feature Dr. Anna Beresin for her prize-winning study "Techno-mischief: Negotiating exaggeration online in quarantine" via Zoom on Wednesday, February 12, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET.
The theme for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society is Restoring and ReStorying: Missing Stories and Moving Forward. The Local Organizing Committee is excited to offer this framework for the conference, but adhering to the theme is optional and will not affect acceptance.
The American Folklore Society will sponsor a session in the 2026 MLA Convention themed Family Resemblances. AFS@MLA invites proposals on this theme that may help illuminate the field of folklore for the non-folklorists who constitute the bulk of the MLA’s membership. Deadline for submitting a proposal is March 15, 2025.
The 2024 Annual Meeting brought together nearly 900 US and international specialists in folklore and folklife, folk narrative, popular culture, music, material culture, and related fields to exchange work and ideas and to create and strengthen relationships and networks.
Our 2024 Annual Meeting Participant Survey has collected valuable insights into attendees’ responses to the Albuquerque meeting and is a window into the priorities and needs of our participants in the present moment.
Through March, you can freely access Traci Cox’s essay in JAF’s Special Issue on Folklore Studies and Disability that received the "Best Article of the Year" Award from the Brothers Grimm Society of North America.
The second edition of the Folklore Advocacy Toolkit, produced by the Media and Public Outreach Committee, is now available for download from the AFS website. The Folklore Advocacy Toolkit is a guide to promoting and sustaining folklore work in the United States, including tips and case studies specific to nonprofit organizations, higher education, independent folklorists, and community scholars.