The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section sponsors an annual lecture by a distinguished specialist, forums, and panels at the AFS annual meeting; publishes an annual newsletter for members; sponsors the Don Yoder Prize for the Best Graduate Student Paper in Folk Belief or Religious Folklife and the William A. Wilson Prize for the Best Undergraduate Student Paper in Folk Belief and Religious Folklife; and has an e-mail electronic conference. Membership is $10. 

Click here to join this American Folklore Society interest-group section. Click here to pay section dues.

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Don Yoder Graduate and William A. Wilson Undergraduate Paper Prizes--Call for Submissions

The Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section of the American Folklore Society invites submissions for TWO student prizes:The Don Yoder Prize for the Best Graduate Student Paper in Folk Belief or Religious Folklife, with an honorarium of $500; and NOW a second prize, the William A. Wilson Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Undergraduate Paper Prize; with an honorarium of $250.

Submissions: All research papers by undergraduate or graduate students, in English, written after January 1 of the previous year (e.g., January 1, 2015 for the 2016 Prize), published or unpublished at the time of submission, and written on a folk belief or religious folklife topic, broadly construed, are eligible.

Interested applicants must submit the following materials for consideration: 1. A cover letter specifying the date when the paper was written; the conference, colloquium, or course where the paper has been or will be submitted; or the publication in which it will be published. 2. Entries must be fully footnoted for a reading audience, using Journal of American Folklore citation style. 3. Electronic submissions are preferred, sent to the address below; however, if submitted by mail, please send three copies of the paper, which should be a minimum of 8 pages, and a maximum of 40 pages, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. PLEASE NOTE: To ensure blind judgment of papers, please remove the author's name from the paper. 4. A short (100-word) biographical statement about the author, including the author’s current graduate or undergraduate status, and about the research. 5. A letter or e-mail from a faculty sponsor endorsing submission of the paper.

Deadline: The online and postmark deadline for submissions is September 15. Any materials received after this deadline will not be considered.

Electronic submissions of papers are preferred; papers and supporting documents should be sent as Microsoft Word document attachments or pdf. Printed copies may be sent to the address below; please do not submit faxed items.

Confirmation of receipt for electronic submissions will be sent. One submission per person, please. Previous winners of the Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Student Prizes are not eligible; except for winners of the undergraduate student prize, who may later submit a new research paper for the Don Yoder Prize. The papers will be evaluated by three judges who are members of both the American Folklore Society and the Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section. The winner will be announced at the Section's business meeting at the Society's annual meeting.

Application materials should be sent to:  

Professor and Chair
Department of Religious Studies
Cabrini University
610 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087 USA
E-mail: primiano@cabrini.edu

 

Section conveners are:

Maggie Kruesi
American Folklife Center
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540-4610 USA
E-mail: mkru@loc.gov

Leonard Norman Primiano
Department of Religious Studies
Cabrini University
610 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087 USA
E-mail: primiano@cabrini.edu 

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Don Yoder Lecture in Religious Folklife

Sponsored by the Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section

Leonard Norman Primiano (Cabrini University) and

Margaret Kruesi (American Folklife Center), co-chairs

2015 

Erika Brady (Western Kentucky University)--“A Subtle Thing Withal”: Reflections on the Ineffable, the Unspeakable, and the Risible in Vernacular Religion 

Sabina Magliocco (California State University, Northridge), discussant

 

2014

Henry Glassie (Indiana University, emeritus)

Text and Icon in Religious Art

Leonard Norman Primiano (Cabrini College), discussant

2013

Don Yoder (University of Pennsylvania, emeritus)

Religion and Folk Art: Reflections on Key Concepts in Folklife Studies

Gerald L. Pocius (Memorial University of Newfoundland), discussant

2012

Donald Cosentino (University of California, Los Angeles)

Why Did Gede Let This Happen?: Catastrophe and Theodicy in

21st-Century Haitian Vodou

Glenn Hinson (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and

Kerry Noonan (Champlain College), discussants

2011

William A. (Bert) Wilson (Brigham Young University, retired)

Mormon Folklore: Mormon Folk Religion, or Mormon Vernacular Religion, or

Mormon Religious Folklore? And Who are the Mormons Anyway, and

Do They Have Any Uniquely Identifiable Mormon Folklore?

David J. Hufford (Pennsylvania State University) and

Tom Mould (Elon University), discussants

2010

Elaine J. Lawless (University of Missouri)

What Zora Knew: A Crossroads, a Bargain with the Devil, and a Late Witness

Marilyn M. White (Kean University) and

David Todd Lawrence (University of St. Thomas), discussants

2009

William Westerman (Princeton University)

Epistemology of the Flail and the Politics of Inductive Reasoning

2008

Diane Goldstein (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Kaleidoscopes, Methodological Play, and the Intrinsic Politics of Belief Scholarship

William Westerman (Princeton University), discussant

2007

Sandra Zimdars-Swartz (University of Kansas)

Perceiving the Sacred: Visionaries, Hagiographers, and Portrayals of Religious

Experience

Erika Brady (Western Kentucky University), discussant

2006

Don Yoder (University of Pennsylvania, emeritus)

Folk Religion and the Pennsylvania German Broadside

Gerald L. Pocius (Memorial University of Newfoundland), discussant

2005

Gary Laderman (Emory University)

The Cult of Doctors: Harvey Cushing and the Religious Culture of Biomedicine

David J. Hufford (Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine), discussant

2004

Marion Bowman (The Folklore Society; The Open University)

Sacred Spaces in Liminal Places: Airport Chapels and Religion in Transit

Kimberly J. Lau (University of Utah) and

Teri F. Brewer (University of Glamorgan), discussants

2003

David J. Hufford (Pennsylvania State University)

Folklife and the Triumph of Folk Medicine