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Nordic-Baltic Folklore

The Nordic-Baltic Section is open to all who are interested in Nordic-Baltic folkloristics or the folklore of the Nordic or Baltic countries, irrespective of its origins, including the circumpolar areas and Nordic or Baltic minority groups around the world. The purpose of the Nordic-Baltic Section is to advance folkloristic studies connected with any and all of these fields of interest and connect scholars all over the world whose work bears on those subjects. Both members and non-members of AFS are welcome to join the section.

The section sponsors sessions on Nordic and Baltic folklore at the AFS annual meeting, hosts occasional events, and awards an annual student prize.

Section dues help support the Barbro Klein Prize in Nordic and Baltic Folklore, awarded to a student for an outstanding conference paper, article-length essay, or research-based media production on a folklore topic having to do with Northern Europe and/or the diasporas of its various peoples. Submissions of articles may be at any stage of the publication process: unpublished, under review, accepted for publication, or already in print (if published since the most recent AFS meeting); should not exceed 10,000 words; and must be written in English. Please include relevant images, such as figures, tables, illustrations, or presentation slides. Media productions (films, radio features, documentary sound recordings, websites, and the like) must be completed and fully accessible in English. Submissions are due every year by September 15.

The prize consists of a $150 award. Students who wish to be considered must send their work to the chair of the Prize Committee, who will distribute it for blind evaluation by a panel of three. In order to be considered for the prize, please submit publications by email (with PDF or Word attachments) or submit links for media productions by email, by September 15 to Tok Thompson with “Barbro Klein Prize in Nordic and Baltic Folklore Submission” in the subject line.

Section dues are $15 per year, $10 discounted rate for contingent faculty, independent folklorists, and student members.

The conveners of this section are Anna Rue from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Carrie Hertzfrom the Museum of International Folk Art, and the  section’s graduate student co-conveners, Micah Ling from Indiana University and Mirva Johnson from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Contact the section conveners at [email protected].

You can also join us on Facebook in the AFS Nordic-Baltic Section group.

Get Involved

Sign in to the AFS Member Portal to join the section and ensure you’re receiving section communications. All of your section involvement can be managed under My Info.

Click here to pay section dues ($15 regular, $10 underwaged).

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