Cecelia Ottenweller Wins 2021 Joint Women’s and Independent Folklorists’ Sections Travel Award

The AFS Women’s Section and Independent Folklorists’ Section gave their 2021 joint travel award to the independent folk arts consultant and researcher Cecelia Ottenweller.

Ottenweller demonstrated a commitment to significant work as an independent folk arts consultant and engagement in issues pertaining to gender equity. Ottenweller was a panel participant at the 2021 AFS Annual Meeting in Harrisburg, in the session led by Amy Skillman entitled: “Magnificent Healing: Mending the Healthcare System through Stories,” which focuses on antidotes to systemic racism and the “single story” told within health care culture that creates inequities in care, particularly among African American women. 

Now based in Houston, Texas, Ottenweller earned her MA in the Cultural Sustainability program at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, where her thesis won the college’s annual Rory Turner Academic Prize.