Australian Folklife Studies Program
Subjects on offer
Subject descriptions
X7001 An Introduction to Folklore
Students are introduced to the basic concepts, theories, terminology and methodologies of modern folklore and folklife studies. The unit concentrates on folk and lore, folklore and the past, contemporary folklore, family folklore, worklore and the lore of childhood and adolescence.
Back to the top ▲X7002 Folklore and Folklife Fieldwork
This unit guides students in the design, preparation, execution and completion of a significant folklore/folklife collecting project and an accompanying 'collect yourself' exercise. Topics covered include establishing rapport with informants, devising interviews and questionnaires, other fieldwork methods, transcription, ethics and legalities, archiving and preparation of the final report.
Back to the top ▲X7003 Advanced Issues in Folklore and Folklife
This unit considers issues including - defining folklore, the relationship between folklore and other aspects of culture and society, folklore and truth, monogenesis and polygenesis, the uses and misuses to which folklore may be put, among others. These questions are of considerable interest to folklorists and many are also relevant to other disciplines, especially history, cultural studies, literature, linguistics and anthropology.
Back to the top ▲X7004 Folklife: A Multicultural Perspective
This unit engages students in an examination of Australian folklife from a multicultural perceptive. Students are introduced to the diversity of Australia's ethnic folk heritage and guided in their consideration of the various folklore issues involved. The unit builds on the matters covered in X7001 Introduction to Folklore and X7002 Folklore and Folklife Fieldwork and include consideration of various genres, including materials culture, music, dance, custom, speech and tale.
Back to the top ▲X7005 Applied Folklore
Applied Folklore is an advanced unit in the Graduate Diploma that builds on the knowledge and understandings gained from study of the previous units in this course. It is specifically concerned with the application of those understandings to the betterment of social problems and community tensions, many of which are closely linked with folkloric expressions, practices and group identity. Students will learn about new approaches in this field and will be able to develop their own application of folklore to an observed social/cultural problem.
Back to the top ▲X7006 Community Folk Heritage
Community Folk Heritage is an advanced unit offered in the Graduate Diploma. It builds on the knowledge and understandings gained from study of the previous units in this course. It focuses on community folk heritage and family folk heritage and allows students, in consultation with their tutor, to design and carry out a significant fieldwork project on one or more aspects of these areas.
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