The final conference of the Swiss project “Claiming Folklore – Politics and Practices of Folk Music on Swiss Television (1960s-1990s)” at the University of Zurich has extended the deadline for presentations on the theme of Media, Modernity, and the Transformation of Tradition(s) – The Role of Audiovisual Media from an International Perspective until April 10, 2025.
The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section of the AFS invites submissions for the annual Leonard Norman Primiano Book Prize on Vernacular Catholicism. Works submitted must be book-length monographs in English published in the 24 months prior to the annual submission deadline of May 1, 2025.
The American Folklife Center will host “Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes, and Insights from the Community Collections Grant Program”—a symposium on April 10th and 11th at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. AFS Members are invited to attend.
The American Folklore Society (AFS) is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Lisa Rathje by the AFS Executive Board to serve as a member of the Board from 2025–27. She brings extensive advocacy and leadership experience in both academic and public sector settings, and knowledge of K-12 education and diverse learning spaces in her work to support folklife education across the U.S. Please join us in welcoming Lisa Rathje to the AFS Executive Board!
Academic and musician Ellen Stekert releases her first independent album, Go Around Songs, Vol. 1, on March 28, 2025. Stekert is a contemporary of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Dave Van Ronk but eventually chose to pursue academia. She is professor emerita of English and American Studies at the University of Minnesota and served as President of the AFS in 1976–77.
The 2025 National Humanities Conference will be held November 12–16 in Detroit, Michigan. This year’s theme is “Roots of Invention, Innovation, and Revitalization.” The Planning Committee invites proposals for sessions that highlight connections across the humanities and other disciplines and practices. Submissions are due by April 10th at 11:59 p.m. PT.
The 42nd Perspectives on Contemporary Legend conference has extended the deadline for abstracts for papers on the themes of Threats, Rumors and Legends in Contemporary Society until March 31st, 2025.
What does comedy look like when the wrong punchline can land you in jail? Timothy Thurston's Satirical Tibet (University of Washington Press) offers the first-ever look at zurza, the Tibetan art of satire. Focusing on the region of Amdo, Thurston introduces the vibrant and technologically innovative comedy scene that took shape following the death of Mao Zedong and the rise of ethnic revival policies. This book is available as an open access edition.
Longtime AFS member Louie Attebery died on August 21, 2024, at the age of 97.
On Friday night, the Trump administration issued Executive Order (EO), Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, targeting the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Support campaigns to save the IMLS.
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