Women’s Section quilt made by members of the section to benefit the Elli Kongas-Maranda Prize, 1993 – 1995. The quilt was designed and pieced by Laurel Horton and Jane Przybysz, and quilted by the Fairview United Methodist Church Quilters of Camden, Arkansas.
Sections
Sections serve as conversation groups and promote work in specific interest areas. Some sections sponsor panels and events at the AFS annual meeting. They also convene at in-person business meetings, in online platforms, and chat throughout the year. Activities vary greatly from section to section, but may include publications, prizes and other work.
You can easily pay your section dues or contribute to a section any time!
Log in to the AFS Member Portal to manage your section involvement. Not a member yet? Join us!
Prizes
Many sections award prizes or stipends to support work in their area of expertise.
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AFS Sections
The American Folklore Society is home to more than 30 special-interest groups that serve as gathering places and forums within the Society for people with common interests in the field.
Guidelines for Forming AFS Sections -
African American Folklore
Provides a network for folklorists who are interested in all aspects of African American folklore.
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African Studies
Brings together folklorists who attend AFS annual meetings and are interested in Africa.
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Archives and Libraries
Promotes the exchange of information on all types of archival methodology relating to folklore, folklife, and other ethnographic collections.
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British Folk Studies
Serves as a forum for all folklorists who are interested in the folklore of the United Kingdom and also for British-based folklorists who share an interest in American folklore.
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Chicano and Chicana
Devoted to the study of Chicano and Chicana folklore, this section gathers at the annual meetings of the American Folklore Society, the Latin American Studies Association, and the National Chicano and Chicana Studies Association.
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Children’s Folklore
Supports the study of the many dimensions of children’s shared culture.
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Comics and Culture Section
Explores possibilities for what comics as a medium can offer folklore as a discipline, and what folklore studies can offer cartooning.
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Creative Writing and Storytelling
Convenes folklorists with interests in creative writing and storytelling.
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Dance and Movement Analysis
Provides a forum for practitioners and/or scholars of traditional dance and movement forms.
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Folk Arts and Material Culture
Promotes and showcases research in all aspects of material culture scholarship.
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Folk Belief and Religious Folklife
Coordinates a variety of activities at the AFS annual meeting, publishes an annual newsletter for members, and sponsors three prizes for student folklorists.
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Folk Narrative
Serves as a venue to showcase our members' research into a broad variety of narrative genres (folktale, legend, myth, personal narrative, etc.) and theoretical approaches to narrative.
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Folklore and Education
Creates networking opportunities at AFS annual meetings and spotlights essential contributions to the field by sponsoring sessions at the AFS annual meetings and awarding monetary prizes.
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Folklore and Historic Preservation
Promotes folklorists’ involvement in historic preservation through research, advocacy, networking, and development of model projects.
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Folklore and Literature
Advances the study of folklore and literature and sponsors paper panels and forum sessions at the annual American Folklore Society meeting.
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Folklore and Museums
Fosters communication and cooperation among museum-oriented folklorists to advance the contribution of folklore studies scholarship and practice in museum settings.
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Folklore and Oral History
Welcomes anyone interested in oral history and folklore to participate in a meeting held annually at the AFS annual meeting, and to take part in the section’s listserv.
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Folklore and Science
Provides a long-term forum for exploring the relationships among folklore and science, whether those domains are conceived as academic fields, worldviews, practices, or discursive framings.
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Folklore Latino, Latinoamericano y Caribeño
Advances the study of Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean folklore, and works to raise awareness of issues related to those communities.
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Foodways
Publishes a journal, awards prizes for outstanding work in foodways, hosts networking receptions, and sponsors sessions at the AFS annual meetings.
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Graduate Student and Young Professional
Brings together students and young professionals to exchange ideas, to create a community of young and early-career folklorists, and to act as a unified voice for future professionals within AFS.
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History and Folklore
Advances historical approaches to the study of folklore and the history of folklore studies by publishing a journal, meeting annually, and supporting an online community throughout the year.
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Independent Folklorists
Sponsors organized panels and paper sessions on aspects of independent folklore at the annual AFS meetings as well as at state and regional folklore meetings.
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Jewish Folklore and Ethnology
Promotes studies of Jewish folklore, folklife, and ethnology, publishes a journal, and gathers annually at the AFS annual meeting.
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LGTBQIA+
Provides professional support for members of the American Folklore Society who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise queer.
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Medieval and Early Modern Folklore
Serves as a home within AFS for those interested in folklore in the art, culture, history, and literature of the medieval and early modern periods.
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Mediterranean Studies
Fosters research on the expressive culture of Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
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Music and Song
Supports the folkloristic and ethnographic study of music and song, including traditional singing and music-making, folksong texts and tunes, and singers and musicians.
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New Directions in Folklore
Promotes innovative work around issues of emergent folklore in the modern world by sponsoring annual meeting panels and a paper prize, and publishing a journal.
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Nordic-Baltic Folklore
Welcomes all who are interested in Nordic-Baltic folklore studies or the folklore of the Nordic or Baltic countries, irrespective of its origins, including the circumpolar areas and Nordic or Baltic minority groups.
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Politics, Folklore, and Social Justice
Promotes the study of the relationship of folklore to politics and the politics of everyday life, social justice, and how to apply our work to a vision of a more just, equitable world.
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Public Programs
Provides an active network of public agencies, independent non-profits, and public folklorists working to support traditional artists and communities and educate the public about folk culture.
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Socialist and Post-Socialist Area Studies
Provides a network for folklorists working in issues of ethnic identity, nationalism, and post-colonialism.
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Space, Place, and Landscape
Welcomes anyone interested in the study of folklore as it relates to space, place and landscape.
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Transnational Asia/Pacific
Supports the study of and communication about folklore and related research in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and diaspora communities in the US and beyond.
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Women
Supports inclusive participation and the study of women's issues in the field of folklore by sponsoring travel stipends, prizes, and panels and events at the AFS annual meeting.
Convener Resources
For those serving as conveners for AFS section, we have put together a collection of resources to help you in your role.