Folk Arts Section of the American Folklore Society

The Folk Arts Section of the American Folklore Society serves to promote and showcase research in all aspects of material culture scholarship. Members have interests that range from Tibetan altar creation to the landscape of the American west, from African American quilts to art cars. The section works to support not only the presentation of material culture scholarship via sponsored sessions at the American Folklore Society Annual Meetings but also the recognition and display of local artists at those meetings.

The Folk Arts section also sponsors an annual Warren E. Roberts Prize for Best Student Paper in Folk Art, which provides a $100 honorarium and a year's membership to AFS and the Folk Arts Section. For more information about this award, see below.

Future plans for the Folk Arts Section include the establishment of an online journal devoted to material culture studies that can best present the visual aspect of arts scholarship currently cost-prohibitive for printed media, as well as promoting more poster presentations at the AFS Annual Meetings.

For more infomation about the Folk Arts section or any of the projects it sponsors, please contact one of the sections co-convenors: Peter Harle (harle@macalester.edu) or Suzanne Waldenberger (swaldenberger@pima.edu).

The Warren E. Roberts Prize for Best Student Paper in Folk Art

The AFS Folk Arts Section is seeking submissions for this annual prize. The receipients of the Prize will receive $100 and a years' membership in the American Folklore Society. Papers written by undergraduate or graduate students on any aspect of folk art or material culture (broadly construed) within the last two academic years (2004-2005, 2005-2006) are eligible. The entrant must be a student in an academic program or have graduated within eight months of the deadline for submission, but membership in AFS or the Folk Arts Section is not required. Papers should be scholarly, incorporating solid research and analysis. Any accompanying photos or illustrations must be clearly reproduced. Previously published works will not be considered. Members of the selection committee are ineligible. The section reserves the right not to award a prize in any given year. One submission per person, please.

Interested applicants must submit the following materials for consideration:

1. Three legible copies of the paper, including all illustrations. PLEASE NOTE: To ensure blind judgment of papers, no identifying personal information should be included on these three copies.
2. A separate sheet with contact information, including name, address, phone number, e-mail, school and program, year in school or date of graduation, and title of submitted paper.

Electronic submission of papers will be accepted. Papers and other items should be sent as either Microsoft Word document or .rtf file attachments, or as PDF files. Confirmation of receipt for electronic submissions will be sent.

Send all application materials to:

Peter Harle
Department of Anthropology
University of Minnesota
301 19th Avenue South
395 HHH Center
Minneapolis MN 55455

Or to: harle005@umn.edu

Deadline: The online and postmark deadline for submissions is September 1.

To join this American Folklore Society interest-group section, please visit the AFS membership page of this web site, where you will find both a secure online and a printable, mailable membership form. You need not be a member of the American Folklore Society to join its sections.