Folklife and Museums: Twenty-First Century Perspectives

by C. Kurt Dewhurst (Editor), Patricia Hall (Editor), Charlie Seemann (Editor)

Overview

This cutting-edge new book is the replacement for Folklife and Museums: Selected Readings which was published nearly thirty years ago in 1987.

The editors of that volume, Patricia Hall and Charlie Seemann, are now joined by C. Kurt Dewhurst as a third editor, for this book which includes updates to the still-relevant and classic essays and articles from the earlier text and features new pioneering pieces by some of today’s most outstanding scholars and practitioners, to provide a more current overview of the field and addressing contemporary issues.

Folklife and Museums: Twenty-First Century Perspectives is a brand new collection of cutting-edge essays that combine theoretical insights, practical applications, topical case studies (focusing on particular subject matter areas and specific cultural groups), accompanied by up-to-date “resources” and “suggested readings” sections. Each essay is preceded by an explanatory headnote contextualizing the essay and includes illustrative photographs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442272910
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/28/2016
Series:	American Association for State and Local History
Pages:	478
Product dimensions:	6.24(w) x 9.32(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

C. Kurt Dewhurst, Ph.D., serves as the Director of Arts and Cultural Initiatives and Senior Fellow. University Outreach & Engagement; Curator of Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Michigan State University and Professor of English at Michigan State University. He is also Director Emeritus of the MSU Museum. His research interests include folk arts, material culture, ethnicity, occupational folk culture, cultural economic development, and cultural heritage policy.

Patricia Hall is an independent folklorist and museum consultant living and working in San Diego, CA. Previously, she served as Director of Education for the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), where she designed and led museum seminars; oversaw the Association’s Consultant Service; published and produced written and audiovisual materials (So You’ve Chosen to be a History Professional and Now That You’ve Chosen History: Here’s How to Get the Job); and presented papers and published numerous articles on the relationship of folklore and history.

Charlie Seemann is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in Folklife Studies from the University of California at Los Angeles. He was Deputy Director for Collections and Research at the Country Music Foundation/Country Music Hall of Fame for 12 years, and then Program Director at The Fund for Folk Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before coming to the Western Folklife Center in 1998. He retired from that position in July 2014.

Table of Contents

Foreword Bill Ivey ix

Introduction xv

1 Folklife and Museum Practice C. Kurt Dewhurst 1

2 Folklife and the American Museum Retrospective Robert Baron 27

3 Folklore and Museum Artifacts John Michael Vlach 53

4 Paradigm Shifts in the Study and Presentation of Material Culture John F. Moe 67

5 Folk Art in the Fine Art Museum Jo Farb Hernández 89

6 Folk Art and Social Change in an American Museum Suzanne Seriff Marsha C. Bol 107

7 Race and the Twenty-First-Century Museum Aleia Brown 131

8 Community duration as Collaborative Pedagogy Diana Baird N'Diaye 139

9 Some New Thoughts on Applying Theory to Practice Patricia Hall 155

10 From Ethnology to Heritage Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 177

11 Folklife and the Rise of American Folk Museums Howard Wight Marshall 193

12 American Folk Museums Redux Simon J. Bronner 221

13 The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Meg Glaser Charlie Seemann 245

14 Folklife and Historic Preservation Michael Ann Williams Virginia Siegel 259

15 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Daniel Sheehy 285

16 The Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Museological Perspective Richard Kurin 295

17 Museums and Ethnography in the Digital Age Marsha MacDowell Jason Baird Jackson 305

18 Public Folklore Curatorship Carrie Hertz 319

19 Folklife Museums, Sustainability, and Social Entrepreneurship Candace Tangorra Matelic 349

20 Serious Fun Susan Asbury 375

21 Folk Arts in Education and Museums Lisa Rathje Paddy Bowman 403

Resources 419

Acknowledgments 423

Index 425

About the Editors 445

About the Contributors 449

Editorial Reviews

Folklife and Museums: Twenty-First Century Perspectives is for everyone—regardless of discipline—who is in any way responsible, or is seeking to become responsible, for content, interpretation, programming, and community engagement in any museum dealing in any way with culture. An impressive array of experts explore how the field of folklore, the role of museums, changing technology, and the expectations of people and communities today intersect both to demand and to provide new approaches to advancing knowledge and understanding of human activity and relationships. The result is a fresh look and a must read.

G. Rollie Adams

Folklorists have been pioneers in museums for over half a century, moving the field toward more richly collaborative work, closer engagement with communities, and radically inclusive practices. This volume explores, from multiple angles, the significant and under-appreciated relationship between folklife and museums.

William S. Walker

If this were a culinary confection, it would be a rich and tasty stew. .. taken as a whole, it is a hearty and sustaining dish.

Journal of American Folklore

Bridging theory and practice, this collection continues the fruitful dialogue between folkloristics and museology with important thought-pieces and case studies. As the relationship between museums and their publics is being redefined, these essays remind us that folklore’s commitment to ethnographic practice, participatory ethos, and community voices continues to complicate and enrich to all aspects of museum practice.

Michael Atwood Mason