LEONARD NORMAN PRIMIANO, Professor and Chair, Department of Religious
Studies, Cabrini College, Radnor, Pennsylvania
Peace, Folklorists! I
recall reading a biographical sketch for an AFS post by my teacher Henry
Glassie a few years back in which Henry wrote –"All folklore calls me…” While I cannot say that I have answered
every call to me by folklore in the past, I have worked in this field for over
25 years with a sense of passion and joy. I earned an AB in Religious Studies
(University of Pennsylvania), Master of Theological Studies (Harvard Divinity
School), and dual PhD in religious studies and folklore and folklife under Don
Yoder at Penn. After a year in Newfoundland having the time of my life teaching
folklore at Memorial University, I found a tenure-track job at Cabrini College.
I am currently Chair of Religious Studies and Co-Director of the Honors Program.
I have always striven to be rigorous and respectful while keeping a sense
of humor about who we are, how we do our work, and how fortunate I am
as a folklorist to represent the faith and work of others. I have published my
research and book reviews in JAF, Western Folklore, New York Folklore, Ethnologies,
and Folklore, as well as the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.
I established the Cabrini Folk, Popular, and Devotional Religious Art
Collection in 2000, incorporating materials from Don Yoder’s collection in
2006. I have co-chaired with Maggie Kruesi the AFS Folk Belief and Religious
Folklife Section for 10 years. I
am particularly excited about my current involvement with
the AFS-Teagle Foundation project "Big Questions and the Disciplines.”
My love affair with our
field has been centered on religious folklife, the artistry of the everyday,
and ephemeral religious expression. I have worked with a sense of joy to
combine folklore with religious studies to study the religiosity of
marginalized groups and individuals, from gay Catholics to the believers of
Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement to Vodou practitioners. As a board
member, I would be sympathetic to the plight of students, poorly paid and
over-worked folklorists, and independent folklorists struggling to make a
living. While I am an academic
folklorist, my friendship and collaborations with so many public sector and
grassroots folklorists and artists has certainly taught me about the realities
of the professional lives, as well as the concerns, of those in public sector
work. One direction that I would
emphasize is greater attention by the Society to the new opportunities of using
digital technologies in conducting, preserving, presenting, and publishing
insightful and critical ethnographic research on the complexities of human
experience. This summer, I
participated as a Fellow at an NEH-Sponsored Workshop in the Digital Humanities
at the Center for Multimedia Literacy at USC. The Society benefits greatly by
engaging more fully in the conversation around digital humanities, especially
with the role that folklore and folklorists play in expanded notions of
literacy, multimodal communication, and nonlinear digital platforms. Monies are
out there from a variety of sources for greater AFS participation in the
digital humanities for the benefit of all the membership. Thanks for your
consideration. Peace!