I regularly teach courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level.

For the next several years, my undergraduate teaching will be focused on the development and improvement of an introductory course on folklife (”World Arts and Cultures“). This course introduces students to a sample of the world’s arts and cultures, while examining basic concepts used in folklife studies and exploring general issues in the study of phenomena such as folk medicine, foodways, vernacular architecture, clothing, and festival.

Each semester I teach a different graduate course, working through a rotation of courses that includes seminars on social and cultural theory (“Putting Cultural Theory to Use”), intellectual property and cultural policy (“Contesting Culture as Property”), museum methods (“Curatorship”), material culture studies (“Theories of Material Culture”), and American Indian art (“Native American Folklore and Folk Music”). I have previously taught an introductory graduate seminar in folklore studies (“Folklore, Folklife, and Expressive Culture”) and I anticipate teaching such a course again someday.

I presently work with graduate students pursuing studies in a wide range of fields of interest to me. Working with M.A. and Ph.D. students as they develop and implement their own research programs and as they secure professional positions in the field is one of the great pleasures of my own professional life. In the narrative given below, I try to briefly introduce some of the students with whom I collaborate. Beyond introducing some fine people with compelling interests, these sketches hopefully suggest something of the range of student projects that I am open to supporting. Of course, the exercise is intended to be descriptive rather than prescriptive and I am always eager to discuss individual student interests and goals.

For information on the graduate students with whom I am working, click here.