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Spaces and Places of Fieldwork
The Department of Folklore and Ethnology are delighted to host folklorist and ethnomusicologist John Fenn, Head of Research and Programs at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress since 2017, for a lecture on 'Spaces and Places of Fieldwork'. Join us in the CACSSS Seminar Room, ORB G_27, on Monday 03 November from 1-2pm. All are welcome at this face-to-face event.
Description
In this talk I will walk through the many facets of connection between place, meaning-making, and creative expressions that we encounter through fieldwork. Drawing on examples from my own ethnographic projects from the past two decades I will offer reflections on how our developing skills and attentions within fieldwork settings are also portable, serving us in a range of personal and professional settings.
Bio
John Fenn is the Head of Research and Programs at the American Folklife Center, where he leads a team involved in public programming, publications, researcher support, and collections discovery. He holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University (2004), and his dissertation project emerged from ethnographic exploration of rap and dancehall musical cultures in Malawi (SE Africa). Prior to taking his position at the Library of Congress he was an Associate Professor in the Arts and Administration Program at the University of Oregon, and alongside Dr. Lisa Gilman he co-authored the Handbook for Folklore and Ethnomusicology Fieldwork (2019). Throughout his career he has merged training in folklore and ethnomusicology with a commitment to documentation, public presentation, stewardship, and interpretation of cultural forms and expressions.
Spaces and Places of Fieldwork Poster