Advanced Topics

After completing sections I–IV, you have several directional paths you can choose from, depending on your interests. These are not required for a general understanding, but they allow you to go deeper in specific areas:

V. Regional, Ethnic, and Indigenous Traditions
(focus: folklore across cultures, places, and peoples)
VI. Applied and Public Folklore
(focus: how folklore is used outside the university – museums, festivals, heritage work, public programs)
VII. Contemporary and Digital Folklore
(focus: folklore in modern life, cities, media, internet, and popular culture)

Regional, Ethnic, and Indigenous Traditions

14. Comparative Folklore

Topic	Resource
Cross-cultural comparison	*Dorson, Folklore and Folklife* (Archive.org)**

15. American and Diasporic Folklore

Topic	Resource
Occupational, ethnic, immigrant traditions	Library of Congress – American Folklife Collections

16. Indigenous Traditions

Topic	Resource
Oral traditions, ethics, sovereignty	*Brian Swann (ed.), Coming to Light* (Archive.org)**

Applied and Public Folklore

17. Public Folklore and Cultural Heritage

Topic	Resource
Museums, festivals, policy	Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage (open materials)

18. Folklore in Museums and Archives

Topic	Resource
Curation, interpretation, access	Smithsonian + Library of Congress case studies

Contemporary and Digital Folklore

19. Urban Legends and Contemporary Belief

Topic	Resource
Modern legend cycles, rumor	*Jan Harold Brunvand, The Vanishing Hitchhiker* (Archive.org)**

20. Digital and Internet Folklore

Topic	Resource
Memes, creepypasta, online communities	Trevor J. Blank (ed.), Folklore and the Internet

21. Folklore, Popular Culture, and Media

Topic	Resource
Adaptation, commodification, remix	Brunvand + Smithsonian media folklore essays