Folklorists focus on a broad spectrum of social expression, examining the forms and ways of living through which communities shape their reality. Those forms include language, work, food, play, dance, song, gestures, beliefs, and so forth. Folklore tends to focus on those cultural forms that permeate the everyday, which are passed from generation to generation, usually orally, with no one author or creator. Folklorists might study such activities as riddles, bell ringing, ethnic joking, or urban legends, apparently trivial practices which, when examined in context, reveal themselves as significant performances: constructions of identity, presentations of self, strategies of control or resistance, manipulations of resources, exercises of virtuosity, spaces of reflection upon the nature of things.
The minor in folklore requires a minimum of 15 credit hours in folklore courses drawn from several departments. All students must take English 2270 OR Comparative Studies 2350, Introduction to Folklore, and four additional courses, for a total of 15 credit hours. One course from the “Ethnography and Writing” category is recommended. At least one of the following courses is required: English 4577.01, 4577.02, 4577.03, or Comparative Studies 5957.01 or 5957.02. No more than 6 credit hours may be taken at the 2000 level. Overlap with the GEC is permitted where appropriate. For the folklore minor, students take a minimum of 15 hours of coursework in folklore, including at least 9 hours at the 3000-level or above and no more than 6 hours at the 2000-level. 
Folklore Minor Sheet [pdf]
Required Course (3 credits)
- English 2270/Comparative Studies 2350 Introduction to Folklore
Elective Courses (12 credits)
One of the following is required:
- Comp Studies 5957.01, 5957.02
- English 4577.01, 4577.02, 4577.03
Fieldwork and Ethnographic Writing Courses
(One of the following is recommended, but not required):
- Arabic 2367
- Anthropology 4650H
- Comp Studies 4655, 5189-S
- English 2367.05, 4571
Additional electives:
- ANthropology 3334, 5625
- Arabic 2367, 3301
- Chinese 5400
- Comp Studies 3657, 4658, 4597.03, 4655, 5668, 5957.01, 5957.02
- East Asian 3457
- English 2367.05, 4571, 4577.01, 4577.02, 4577.03, 4597.02
- International Studies 4800
- Japanese 5400
- Modern Greek 2680
- NELC 5568
- Persian 3700
- Scandinavian 3350
- Slavic 2230
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