Summary

The Folklore Studies curriculum is a complete education in Folklore Studies using online materials.

Organization

This repository is organized into 2 main components:

Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;

Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.

For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.

Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.

How to contribute

Communities

You can interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):

Curriculum

How to use this curriculum

Core Path

The following sections form the essential foundation of the discipline. Study them in this exact order to develop a coherent general understanding of what folklore is, how folklorists think, and how the field works:

I. Foundations of Folklore Studies
II. History and Theory of Folkloristics
III. Methods, Ethics, and Documentation
IV. Core Folklore Genres

These four sections (I–IV) give you the basic concepts, historical context, theoretical toolkit, research methods, and major categories of folklore. Finish them first, in sequence, before moving to anything else.

Foundations of Folklore Studies

1. What Is Folklore?

Topic	Resource
Definitions, scope, folk groups, tradition, variation	*Richard M. Dorson (ed.), Folklore and Folklife: An Introduction* (Archive.org) + Alan Dundes, “Who Are the Folk?” (Archive.org)**

2. Genres of Folklore

Topic	Resource
Verbal, customary, material, belief, and expressive forms	*Barre Toelken, The Dynamics of Folklore* (Archive.org)**

3. Folklore vs. Myth, Legend, Literature

Topic	Resource
Disciplinary boundaries and overlaps	Dorson, “Is Folklore a Discipline?” (open-access)

History and Theory of Folkloristics

4. History of the Discipline

Topic	Resource
Antiquarianism, nationalism, performance turn	Dorson, Folklore and Folklife

5. Major Theoretical Approaches

Topic	Resource
Functionalism, structuralism, performance, context	*Toelken, The Dynamics of Folklore* (Archive.org) + Dundes (selected essays, Archive.org)**

6. Performance Theory

Topic	Resource
Framing, emergent meaning, audience	*Richard Bauman, Verbal Art as Performance* (Archive.org)**

Methods, Ethics, and Documentation

7. Folklore Fieldwork Methods

Topic	Resource
Interviewing, observation, transcription	American Folklore Society – Fieldwork Guides (official site)

8. Ethics and Representation

Topic	Resource
Consent, power, indigenous knowledge	American Folklore Society Ethics Statement

9. Archives and Documentation

Topic	Resource
Oral history, metadata, preservation	Library of Congress – Folklife & Oral History Guides

Core Folklore Genres

10. Verbal Folklore

Topic	Resource
Folktales, legends, myths, personal narratives	*Stith Thompson, The Folktale* (Archive.org)**

11. Narrative Structure and Motifs

Topic	Resource
Tale types, motifs, morphology	*Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale* (Archive.org)**

12. Customary and Belief Folklore

Topic	Resource
Ritual, festival, superstition	*Toelken, The Dynamics of Folklore* (Archive.org)**

13. Material Culture and Folklife

Topic	Resource
Crafts, foodways, vernacular architecture	Henry Glassie, Material Culture

Congratulations

After completing the requirements of the curriculum above, you will have completed the equivalent of a full bachelor's degree in Folklore Studies. Congratulations!

Code of conduct

Hocbigg's code of conduct.

Hocbigg - Folklore Studies

Contents