Key issues in heritage studies and public folklore will be explored in a webinar presented by the Fellows of the American Folklore Society (AFS) on March 10th, 1 – 3 PM Eastern Standard Time that will launch a new initiative, Heritage, Folklore and the Public Sphere.
Speakers will outline current ways of thinking about topics which include sharing authority with communities, culinary tourism, museums as a vehicle for social transformation, relationships between heritage and environmental sustainability, nature tourism and diverse approaches to constructing heritage. Their presentations and discussion with webinar participants will be illuminated by their experiences with public practice, field research and policy. The webinar is co-sponsored by the AFS Public Programs Section.
Speakers will include:
Valdimar Hafstein (University of Iceland), Approaches to Cultural Heritage
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (New York University, emeritus, and POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews), Museums, Heritage and Social Transformation
Lucy Long (Bowling Green State University), Heritage Tourism through Folklore
Diana Baird N’Diaye (Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage), Sharing Authority, Co-curation and Enabling Community Cultural Self-Determination
Owe Ronström (Uppsala University), Heritage, Nature Tourism and Entrepreneurship
Jeff Todd Titon (Brown University, emeritus), Public Folklore, Heritage and Environmental Sustainability
This webinar will be the first in a series to be organized in collaboration with AFS sections. The Heritage, Folklore and the Public Sphere initiative will also include panels, a conversation with Owe Ronström, and co-sponsorship of local events at the 2021 AFS annual meeting in October.
Pre-registration for this free webinar is available here.
