Independent Folklorists & Cultural Practitioners
Need for Advocacy
Independent folklorists and cultural practitioners often need to advocate both for themselves and for the communities with which they work. If you don’t broadcast information about your work, no-one will think to hire you as an independent folklorist. Cultural practitioners also need both advocacy support and the willingness to present their work in public forums.
Strategies for Advocacy
- Consider media and social media coverage of the work, especially culminating events and projects as a form of advocacy
- Send Letters and invitations to funders and supporters to see the work in progress
- Present at conferences and regional gatherings
- Publish and co-publish
Resources
Included to the right are some of the grant and fellowship opportunities available to independent folklorists and community scholars. The American Folklife Center also sponsors several awards which can be found at the Library of Congress.
Students and community scholars in search of funding for public folklore projects can find a list of state folklore agencies on the Public Programs List. To contact folklorists working at the state level for information about potential contract work and for projects which may involve community scholars, see the Public Programs Section of the American Folklife Society.