Jesse Fivecoate is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies. As a folklorist and cultural anthropologist who works at the intersection of traditional, historical, and digital ethnography, his work centers on rupture affected by disaster, political unrest, and other forms of social violence in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States. He studies instances of violence through the narrative forms of supernatural legend and conspiracy theory, paying particular attention to how communities invoke imagined pasts of stability as well as navigate the ongoing processes of socially remembering and forgetting these periods of conflict and cultural trauma.

Selected Publications (Peer-Reviewed)

Books 

Whispers in the Echo Chamber: Folklore and the Role of Conspiracy Theory in Contemporary Society, co-edited with Andrea Kitta. 2025. University of Wisconsin Press. 

Advancing Folkloristics, co-edited with Kristina Downs and Meredith A.E. McGriff. 2021. Indiana University Press. 

Articles & Chapters 

2026     "In the Public Eye: Conspiracy Theory, Belief, and the Responsibility of Folklorists." In Folklore in the Public Square: How the Study of Traditional Culture Can Solve Contemporary Social Problems, eds. Tom Mould and Andrea Kitta. Logan: Utah State University Press, 59–82.

2026     "Action-Oriented Response: Toward an Understanding of Ostension Beyond Narrative Event." Journal of Folklore Research 63(2): 11–38.