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Displaying records 1 through 8 of
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Summer Session 2, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221)
 FOLK (221) 101 920, TR 10:00-2:00, Jenner
Introduction to Folklore
Fulfills Distribution Requirement II: History
& Tradition
Folklore is expressive culture in everyday life. We will explore the
meaning(s)of the term "folk" and "lore," the discipline
as defined by the study of verbal genres (proverbs, folktales, tall
tales, fables, legends, ballads, epics, jokes, riddles), and the
expansion of the term "folklore" to include, among other things,
cultural heritage sites, contemporary beliefs, and alternative health
systems. We will read folklorists' collections of oral and material
culture (for example, German fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Indian
animal fables of the Pancatantra, folk art of Philadelphia), noting the
evolution of collection procedures from the past to the present. In
addition, we will draw on written studies that analyze and interpret
expressive forms, ethnographic film, and the world wide web in order to
fuel our lively in-class discussions. The course will include a
fieldwork project in which you will collect a form of folklore from your
own culture, perhaps from a friend or family member. The collection and
the subsequent write-up of the fieldwork will give you personal insight
into how each of us participates in artistic cultural expression in
various folk groups today.
Summer Session 1, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 231 910, MW 10:00-1:00, Samper
American Popular Culture
Cross-Listed with: SOCI 229 910
The course will explore the history and practice of popular culture
and cultural studies in the United States. We will begin by challenging
the concepts of "folk", "mass", and "popular" as
well as "American" and "culture." Through analysis of
audience response to performed or viewed events we will explore how and
why people actively negotiate and interpret popular materials. This
class will attempt to situate popular culture within a larger social,
cultural and political framework. Some areas of popular culture we will
investigate incude MTV, talk shows, fashion, club cultures, rap and other
music, pro-wrestling, professional sports, Hollywood movies, television,
advertising, and there will be room to explore areas students may find
interesting. We will end by looking into the exportation of American
popular culture and its reception, interpretation, adaptation and
consumption around the world.
Summer Session 2, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 250 920, MW 10:00-1:20, Gregory
Urban Environments: Philadelphia
In this class we take seriously the artistry and creativity of
everyday city life. The streets of Philadelphia are our primary
text--streets that have come a long way from William Penn's intended
"greene country towne." Through in-class fieldtrips and
individual research projects, we'll explore the contemporary urban
landscape, looking for signs of life in an environment too often
dismissed as merely the unfortunate byproduct of industrialization, a
place insensitive to human needs: Philadelphia's famous (or infamous)
grid. How do people create a sense of place in the city? We'll consider
environmental perception and the problem of "nature" in the
city. We'll contemplate remembered landscapes, narrated landscapes, and
personal alterations of the built environment in the creation of multiple
urban environments within the gridiron of one metropolis. We'll sharpen
sensory skills of looking, listening, and even tasting, using heightened
awareness of our own presence in the world as a springboard for engaged
research, developing writing and analytical skills directly applicable to
a variety of academic and career goals.
CGS Evening Session, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221) In addition to these courses offered
on campus, Folklore courses are also offered in our Summer Abroad
Program. See Penn Summer Abroad for descriptions.
FOLK (221) 290 900, W 5:30-8:40, Winick
Urban Legends and Society
We've all heard about the homicidal maniac with a hook hand, lying in
wait at Lover's Lane. We've heard of the babysitter getting threatening
calls from a man who is already in the house. We've heard about the
hitchhiker who vanishes into thin air, the car haunted by the smell of
death, and the killer hiding in the backseat. We've heard about
alligators in the sewers, spiders in the hairdo, and mice in the Cola;
about stolen kidneys, restroom castrations and babies sold for spare
parts; about evil corporations, heartless governments, and even a vast
organized network of Satan worshippers looking for blonde virgins on
Friday the 13th. This course applies tools of folklore, psychology,
sociology, literature and film criticism to our understanding of such
urban legends, asking the questions: what do these stories mean? How do
they help us make sense of the world? And why do we love them so much?
Come prepared to ask challenging questions, to consider unsettling
possibilities, and (of course) to tell fun stories!
CGS Evening Session, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 406 900, T 5:30-8:40, Griswold
Folklore and the Supernatural
Cross-Listed with: RELS 406 900
Beliefs about the supernatural have developed new popularity through
mass media, especially through such television shows as "The
X-Files" and "Unsolved Mysteries," but what are the
traditions behind these beliefs? Does anyone actually believe them? Some
beliefs in the supernatural have not diminished appreciably in
"modern" cultures, in spite of many predictions that they would
do so. This course will examine traditional beliefs about supernatural
beings, supernatural realms, and humans who interact with these, as well
as the historical development of Western ideas of "the
supernatural" itself. Beliefs and ideas about the supernatural are
recorded, developed, transformed, and transmitted in folk tales, legends,
urban legends, ballads, and personal experience narratives. We will
explore these forms, groups who create and maintain them, and their use
in everyday life through a selection of folkloric theories and methodologies.
CGS Evening Session, Master of Liberal Arts
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 406 900, T 5:30-8:40, Griswold
Folklore and the Supernatural
Cross-Listed with: RELS 406 900
CGS Evening Session, School of Arts & Sciences
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 535 900, M 5:30-8:40, Beresin
Children's Folklore
Fulfills Distribution Requirement I: Society
Cross-Listed with: EDUC 550 900
This course examines the folklore of children's peer culture. Folk
games, stories, rhymes, jokes, ceremonies and play forms will be our
focus as we explore childhood cross-culturally. Classic texts by
folklorists, anthropologists, sociologists, and developmental
psychologists will serve as a framework for the analysis of the student's
own fieldwork. Readings include: Step it Down: Games, Plays, Songs, and
Stories from the Afro-American Heritage by Jones and Hawes; Children's
Folklore: A Sourcebook edited by Sutton-Smith; and One Potato, Two
Potato: The Folklore of American Children by Knapp and Knapp. We will see
several ethnographic films in order to help us critique the literature.
CGS Evening Session, Master of Liberal Arts
Folklore and Folklife (221)
FOLK (221) 535 900, M 5:30-8:40, Beresin
Children's Folklore
Fulfills Distribution Requirement I: Society
Cross-Listed with: EDUC 550 900
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