Resources

The Anthropology Lab, located in Cherry Hall, houses teaching and research collections, field and laboratory equipment, and library resources. It is directed by Dr. Jean-Luc Houle.

The Ethnographic Visual Production Laboratory, located in FAC 244, houses audio and visual equipment, multimedia computer banks, and a host of audio and visual resources.

The department has ethnographic field equipment available for graduate and undergraduate students to borrow for course projects and independent research, including Digital SLR cameras, digital audio and Marantz field recorders.

There is also equipment available via the Ethnographic Visual Production Lab for students taking classes in ethnographic video production. Arrangements to borrow equipment can be made through the staff in the departmental office, FAC 237.

The Folklife Archives contain WKU student and faculty research projects on traditional and modern folk traditions. The Archives include a large number of sound recordings of interviews and musical performances. They are also home to the Lynwood Montell Collection, featuring hundreds of interviews with people in south central and southeastern Kentucky; and to the Sarah Gertrude Knott Collection, documenting forty years of the annual festival of the National Folk Festival Association (later known as the National Council for Traditional Arts).  

The Gardner House is an early 19th century brick hall-and-parlor house located on the WKU Green River Preserve. It is one of the oldest standing buildings in Hart County. Since 2003, faculty and students in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology have been active in researching and documenting the building and archaeological evidence of its construction and occupation. Read more about ongoing work at the Gardner House on our Projects page.

Our current Folk Studies graduate students compile an annual guide to help students coming into the Master's program transition more smoothly to life in Bowling Green and at WKU. It includes tips on things like housing, course registration, and groceries and other services. 

American Folklore Society 

http://www.afsnet.org/

Local Learning, The National Network for Folk Arts in Education

http://www.locallearningnetwork.org/

American Folklife Center

https://www.loc.gov/folklife/

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

https://folklife.si.edu/

National Endowment for the Arts Folk Arts Program

https://www.arts.gov/artistic-fields/folk-traditional-arts

Open Folklore

https://openfolklore.org/

Folk Streams

http://www.folkstreams.net/

Publore

https://list.unm.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=PUBLORE

Kentucky Arts Council

http://artscouncil.ky.gov/

Vermont Folklife Center Equipment Guide

https://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/field-recording-equipment-guide

Kentucky Oral History Commision

https://history.ky.gov/resources/kentucky-oral-history-commission/

American Folklore Society Advocacy Toolbox

http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.afsnet.org/resource/resmgr/Advocacy_Toolkit/Advocacy_Toolkit_Print_Versi.pdf

Folklore Wiki

http://www.afsnet.org/?page=FolkloreWiki

 

The Morgan Room (FAC 248) is named in memory of a deceased graduate of our Folk Studies program, who donated equipment and books to the department. The substantial library in the Morgan Room is available for Folk Studies graduate student use and is partially circulating. The room currently serves as the primary classroom space for graduate students, as well as a meeting and informal gathering space. 

The designated WKU subject librarian for our two disciplines maintains targeted research guides for our students and faculty, including one for Anthropology, and one for Folk Studies. 

Designed by Louisville architect Brinton B. Davis, who built many of the historic structures on WKU's campus, the 'pioneer log cabin' was constructed in the mid-1930s to commemorate and interpret Kentucky's pioneer life. In 2004, the building was restored for use for the Folk Studies Program and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in June 2013, it became home to the Kentucky Folklife Program. The cabin continues to provide an intimate setting for classes, concerts, and events. (Need directions to the cabin?)

Both the Anthropology and Folk Studies programs offer a regular series of workshops to facilitate our students' professional development. These workshops include topics such as applying to graduate school, preparing resumes and cover letters, submitting conference proposals, and finding internships. See our calendar for upcoming topics and dates.

We encourage our students to attend as many professional conferences as possible, and typically offer financial support for these professionalization and networking opportunities. Folk Studies graduate students are especially encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society. There is also an annual WKU Student Research Conference which our students are very active in. See our calendar for dates of these and other upcoming conferences!

WKU offers financial aid to students.

There are competitive graduate assistantships and other sources of funding available for qualified Folk Studies graduate students.

The Anthropology Program offers the Drs. Du-Powell Scholarship in Anthropology to support student research and study abroad. The application deadline for the 2024-2025 scholarship cycle is February 29, 2024.     [to complete the application, open the document as read-only then save-as or duplicate the file with a new name]

Our Anthropology program houses archaeological and ethnographic collections of artifacts such as stone tools, animal bones, ceramics, and fossil primate cast collections used in teaching undergraduate students.