University of Pennsylvania - Folklore and Folklife - Center for Folklore and Ethnography

For more information about the Center for Folklore & Ethnography,at UPenn, contact Professor Mary Hufford at mhufford@sas.upenn.edu.

To be added to the CFE mailing list, contact Joyce Roselle, at jroselle@sas.upenn.edu

For assistance with the Folklore and Folklife website, contact Linda Lee at lindalee@sas.upenn.edu.

Exploring Memory and Tradition in Philadelphia Communities

This ongoing program of community-based ethnographic fieldwork in Philadelphia was begun by Meltem Turkoz, a graduate of the Program in Folklore and Folklife, with support from the CFE and the Center for Community Partnerships. Her field research in West Philadelphia led to a partnership with the Agape African Senior Center and an ABCS service learning course, Folklore 321/UrbSt 327, Exploring Memory and Tradition in Philadelphia Communities. Grounded in ethnographic research that identifies a role for service learning in a particular community, the course is taught in partnership with community center and school where elderly Liberian refugees learn to read and to write. Through the service learning course and related work study opportunities, the CFE is documenting traditional foodways and stories in the community. Elders have participated in two community storytelling events on campus, one at the Folklore Archive in 2005, the other at the Kelly Writer's House in 2006. This fall the seniors will again be our guests, sharing community stories on November 16 and December 1 in the Penn Humanities Center at 3619 Locust Walk.

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