Folklore Minor
Why minor in Folklore? There are so many reasons!
The study of folklore is not only fun, it develops important skills useful in any career. Here's what our students have to say:
- "My current employer said part of why they hired me was because my folklore minor set me apart from other applicants."
- "I would not have the background to understand the needs and expectations of people of other cultures, backgrounds, and locations without the knowledge I gained in the Folklore department.
- "Folklore is an essential skill in any career involving direct contact with other people."
- "My photojournalism gave me technical and artistic skills but my folklore minor gave me analytical skills and tactful approaches to subjects and stories."
BA in anthropology + FLK minor
Skillfully research, document, analyze, and present about cultures near and far, illuminating the cultural lives of present-day American groups and more foreign-seeming cultures.
BA in journalism + FLK minor
Be a reporter with advanced abilities to report in-depth on the perspectives of different people involved in all kinds of events and communities.
BA in computer science + FLK minor
Be a digital kiosk designer for museum displays or design digital storytelling programs for schools. Design oral history publications in multimedia formats.
BA in art + FLK minor
Create art that reflects an elevated understanding that art in all forms is deeply cultural in nature. Teach others how to recognize their own artistry in everyday life.
BA in education + FLK minor
Teach children to recognize and value their own traditional lives and those of people who are different from them. Be a more effective teacher because you understand how to handle cultural difference and minimize culture-based conflicts.
BA/BS in anything + FLK minor
Be a better professional in any career because you have training in critical thinking, ethnographic research, cultural difference in multicultural America, listening and presenting, and analyzing the bases for multiple perspectives in common and extraordinary situations.
To declare a minor in Folklore, or for more information, contact the Folklore Minor Advisor. Undergraduate students may declare a Folklore Minor in order to receive academic recognition for completing a structured program of study consisting of 21 credit hours (seven three-hour courses) from required and restricted-elective lists (see below). Students must earn a grade of C or better in all courses applied to the folklore minor.
What do folklorists do?
Depending on their particular career track, graduates of our program may answer that they are public folklorists, museum curators, educators, preservationists, doctoral students, film producers, professors, and even intelligence analysts. We pride ourselves in preparing students for both professional employment and further graduate study. Below is a sample of what some of our alumni are doing (though in some cases we've not yet updated new jobs and degree completions). We are also proud of the wide range of research activities in which our faculty are engaged.
Alexandria Truesdell, 2024
Alex majored in History and minored in folklore, supporting her interest in a career in museums. She served as a Collections Intern at WKU’s Kentucky Museum, where she assisted in preparing the “Stitches in Time” quilt exhibit, and she distinguished herself as a key team member on the collaborative course project in exhibit planning completed by Dr. Sydney Varajon’s Museum Procedures and Preservation Techniques class this spring. Alex will be attending the Museum Studies Program at University College Cork in Ireland to pursue her MA, but happily for us.
Claire Coleman, 2023
Claire first came to Folklore via Dr. Ferrell’s Oral History course, where as she put it, “there was a profound shift in the way I saw the world when I realized there was an entire group of people whose passion was to collect what it was like to be human.” She has demonstrated her commitment to ethnographic fieldwork and her keen interest in local culture in all her folklore classes, for example conducting interviews with the founder of nearby Lost River Cave. She has been a warm and welcome presence in our program, volunteering at events such as our Folklore Minor Mini-Fair. Claire is also outstanding in her Major program of History, where she will continue on to pursue her Master’s degree.
Brielle Freeman, 2022
Brielle was a Biological Anthropology major and a folklore minor. She interned with the Kentucky Folklife Program (KFP) in summer 2021, creating “Voices of Southcentral Kentucky Music: An Oral History Zine” based on the KFP’s ongoing project documental the musical legacy of Southcentral Kentucky.
Hannah Hudson, 2021
Hannah is an anthropology major (cultural anthropology track). She has a 4.0 GPA, not only in her Folklore classes but in all her classes. Hannah’s work combines a mastery of ideas with an interest in applying them to real world issues such as institutional sexism. The topics she has researched as a folklore minor, so far, include sexism in the gaming world, feminist coding in the performances of contemporary Black women rappers, and folk healing and medical tourism in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee.
Alicyn K. Newman, 2020
Alicyn is a Creative Writing major and a Folklore minor. She is from Scottsville, KY, where she grew up in a restored log house. With a 4.0 GPA in her Minor, Alicyn’s work in Folklore classes has paralleled her excellence in English, where she won 1st place in the Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing. She passed with honors in her defense of her thesis, “The Bird, the Oak, and the Stories that Build Us,” a creative recounting of her family’s oral traditions featuring the stories of her grandfather. Her future plans include a summer internship with a nonprofit organization in Louisville, KY; writing the first draft of her novel; and continuing to explore her family's storytelling traditions and Appalachian roots.
Hunter C. Ricketts, 2020
Hunter is a Biology major and a Folklore minor. He has worked as an EMT at the Medical Center EMS for two years and interned at the WeCare clinic for one year. He is attending the University of Pikeville’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in the fall, and is interested in providing medical care to underserved communities in Kentucky. With a perfect 4.0 GPA in his Folklore minor, Hunter’s work demonstrates the importance and urgency of interdisciplinary work between folklore and medicine: that is, understanding folk cultures helps make our medical systems more effective and more equitable. We wish Hunter well in his journey to his DO, and know he will carry his training of folklore forward to do great things in his career.
Hannah Banks, 2019
Hannah Banks is a Folk Studies minor and an Anthropology major with concentrations
in cultural resource management and biological anthropology. She will be graduating
in December 2019, and is currently in process of submitting an application to the
Masters program in Folk Studies at WKU. She is interested in working with the intersection
of folklore and medicine, and working to develop culturally responsive health programs
within multicultural communities. She will spend the summer of 2019 studying in Mongolia
with Dr. Houle.
Hunter J. Bowles, 2018
Hunter was a double History and Anthropology major with a minor in Folk Studies. Hunter took his first Folk Studies class with Dr. Tim Evans. We are looking forward to having Hunter as a graduate student in the Folk Studies M.A. program next year!
Jennifer Walworth, 2018
Jennifer was a Biology major with minors in Folk Studies and Outdoor Leadership. During her time in the program Jennifer has taken many classes with our department and looks forward to using her folk studies skills while pursuing a career with the National Park Service.
Ariel Moore, 2017
Although only a junior this year, Ariel has already earned distinction with a perfect
GPA in her six folklore courses. She is consistently outstanding in her contributions
to class, whether through original ethnographic research, thoughtful engagement with
assigned texts, or insightful participation in discussion with classmates. We look
forward to seeing what Ariel will do next!
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