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  1. Home
  2. School of Humanities
  3. Folklore and Ethnography (Graduate Certificate)

Courses Overview

The Folklore and Ethnography certificate program prepares students to do culture-focused work of all kinds. The program offers two tracks which allows graduate students the flexibility to tailor coursework in different areas of specialization.

The ethnography track consists of three core courses. The first is “Ethnography and Society,” a general seminar in the history and practice of ethnographic research. The second is “Ethnography of Technology and Media,” a more specialized course that prepares students to do ethnography in media environments and using digital tools. The third is “Topics in Folklore,” a variable seminar that introduces ethnographic subject matter around topics such as “storytelling,” “aging,” and “the family,” among others. Along with these core courses, students can choose electives that focus on areas of public heritage, curation, or preservation that are relevant to ethnographic work, or further courses on ethnographic methods or topics.

The folklore and folklife track also consists of three core courses. These include, the “Topics in Folklore” seminar, the “Ethnography and Society” seminar, and a content seminar on “Material Culture and Folklife.” This last core course studies tangible cultural products, ranging from food to quilts to custom cars, in the context of our everyday lives and practices. Along with these core courses, students can choose electives that focus on folk groups and genres, folk tales and literature, or beliefs and myths in American society.

Courses in the Folklore and Ethnography Graduate Certificate program are principally taught by experienced folklorists and ethnographers, whose research has appeared in leading national and international research journals, and in books published by respected scholarly presses. Practical courses may also be taught by area specialists drawn from educational, governmental, or public heritage institutions in the region.


For course descriptions and requirements, see the University Bulletin.

Folklore and Ethnography (Graduate Certificate)

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A comprehensive college in southcentral Pennsylvania offering more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programs.
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