Folklore Courses and Programs in American Colleges and Universities

Abstract

IN THE FALL OF 1968, when I proposed a second course in folklore at Indiana State University, Dr. George E. Smock, chairman of the Department of English, suggested that I take a brief survey of folklore courses in other English departments to find out what courses generally follow an introductory course. After I began looking through catalogs of universities similar in size and purpose to Indiana State, Richard M. Dorson, then President of the American Folklore Society, learned of my project, and at the 1968 meeting of the Society he appointed me to survey folklore courses and programs in the United States. Since college catalogs are not always current and do not answer all the questions I wanted to knowespecially those concerning proposed folklore programs, degrees, and coursesI sent out questionnaires to folklorists and English department chairmen throughout the United States.' Around 1,800 questionnaires were mailed, and about 6oo were returned. The questionnaires solicited only factual information about folklore courses and programs and not opinions about such things as the place of folklore in the university curriculum. Moreover, the survey was concerned with only straight folklore courses and not with classical mythology or with literature or anthropology courses with some folklore content. Of course, units on folklore, especially folktales and ballads, are often included in survey courses of English, American, world, regional, and children's literature. A typical reply to my questionnaire was, Our various survey courses (English, American, World Literature, e.g.) include units in ballads and folklore in general. This is the extent to which we go in this field. The results of this survey would be much more impressive if such courses were included; however, since usually neither the material nor the approach in these units is strictly folkloristic, often the nature of folklore is distorted and the development of real folklore courses impeded, just as the development of anthropology courses and programs is hindered when anthropology is taught within sociology.