WKU Folk Studies

08/27/2026

Students! Stop by for donuts!

SCCJS, please join us for Donuts with the Department September 2nd & 3rd!

🗓️: September 2nd & 3rd

🕚: 8:30 am - 10:30 am

📍: 2nd Floor FAC, Outside Room #229

07/30/2026

This is going to be an excellent panel tomorrow, and last chance to see this traveling exhibit here in BG!

This Thursday, please join us for an evening with three fantastic Kentucky-based artists. Starting at 5:30, Bowling Green’s own Alice Gatewood Waddell will be leading a discussion with Ken Burney and Kim Dixon. Both Ken Burney and Kim Dixon are Lexington based artists whose work is featured in the traveling exhibit “Celebrating the Black Experience.” Doors open at 5:00 for a special viewing of the exhibit before the artist talks begins at 5:30.

"Celebrating the Black Experience" is a traveling exhibit presented by our long time partners, the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage and the Kentucky Arts Council.

07/26/2026

Congratulations to the producers of Jonesville: When Sunflowers Fall on their Emmy win in the Historical Documentary category! This fantastic group includes Folk Studies MA grades Josh Niedwick, Brent Bjorkman, and Camille Acosta (not pictured here) and Community Scholars/Folk Studies friends Alice Gatewood Waddell, David Greer, Alisha Townsend Eaton. Kentucky Folklife Program Western Kentucky University WKU Department of Society, Culture, Crime, & Justice Studies WKU Potter College of Arts & Letters WKU PBS

06/19/2026

Check out this post from the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress in celebration of Juneteenth. The link leads to a really interesting read and several wonderful sound clips. Scroll to the bottom to hear "Free at Last."

On or about June 19, 1934, Alan Lomax arrived at Lake Arthur, Louisiana, to record the “Two Sweet Singers,” Becky Elzy and Alberta Bradford. The formerly enslaved spiritual singers had provided over a hundred songs for a previous collector's book, but they had not been recorded in an audio format. Alan and his father John A. Lomax had first sought the singers at Avery Island, but when they arrived, they found that Elzy had moved to Lake Arthur, which presented a problem. Alberta and Becky always sang together, so the Lomaxes needed both of them to get good recordings. But the previous day’s torrential rainfall had left the roads awash with mud. The recording equipment and batteries were heavy. Though Alan Lomax was a slender youth of 19, John and Alberta were both rather stout. The result was that the Lomaxes couldn’t be sure the car could carry all three of them as well as the equipment as far as Elzy’s new home and back without breaking down or getting stuck in the mud. The course of action was clear: the heftier Lomax was left behind, and Alan and Alberta drove off together. They found Elzy at her new home and recorded ten songs. These recordings of Bradford and Elzy may well be the first recordings Alan Lomax made alone without his father.

The date, of course, was Juneteenth, and it's remarkable that among other songs, Bradford and Elzy sang "Free At Last." We think hearing that song on Juneteenth, sung by people born in slavery, is a uniquely moving experience. Find all the songs and the story at the link!

https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2018/02/becky-elzy-and-alberta-bradford-spiritual-folklorists/?loclr=fbafc

05/30/2026

Hanging in the Swag Zone at the Kentucky Birthday Bash at the Kentucky Museum. The Bash is happening until 2! Kentucky Folklife Program

05/28/2026

Come out to the Kentucky Museum this Saturday! It’s gonna be a bash! Kentucky Folklife Program

Join us for our KENTUCKY BIRTHDAY BASH Saturday, May 30, 2026, 10AM-2PM. This FREE event has activities & performances for all ages. Visit event webpage for schedule & information https://ow.ly/i0o750YZzLA

Please help us get the word out by sharing with friends and family!

Western Kentucky University WKU Potter College of Arts & Letters WKU Department of History WKU Folk Studies Kentucky Folklife Program WKU Herald WBKO News WNKY Television Visit BGKY America 250KY

05/08/2026

WKU Folk Studies is happy to present this year's Cam Collins Outstanding Folklore Minor: Ellen Swenson! Ellen graduates TODAY with majors in Anthropology and History and plans to pursue a Ph.D. Congratulations Ellen! We look forward to seeing you continue to pursue your passions! Anthropology at WKU WKU Department of History WKU Department of Society, Culture, Crime, & Justice Studies WKU Potter College of Arts & Letters

04/24/2026

Check out this article by WKU Folk Studies alum Allison Cate ('23) in the Smithsonian Folklife magazine. Congratulations, Allison!

Each year on a Saturday afternoon in early April, dozens of people in homemade robot costumes shuffle down the road to Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue.”

04/21/2026

Kentucky Folklife Program Folklife Specialist Camille Acosta recently guest lectured in FLK 373 Folklore and the Media, sharing her film on La Llorona as a starting point for talking about folklore and film. Camille and the students were equally SO impressed with one another! Thank you, Camille!

04/21/2026

WKU Folk Studies and the Kentucky Folklife Program are proud of our recent Collins-Bramham events. 🎙️

This included the Collins-Bramham Public Folklore Workshop led by Ellie Dassler (WKU Folk Studies MA ’21), who recently returned from fieldwork with sled dog veterinarians in Alaska, supported by an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center. She discussed her fieldwork as well as lessons about fieldwork in general. 🐶

This also included a roundtable featuring three incredible WKU Folk Studies alumni: Brielle Freeman (Brielle Freeman - folklore minor ’22), Delainey Bowers (MA ’19), & Ellie Dassler (MA ’21), who each described how they found folklore studies and the many ways that their folklore training is important to their current work and careers. 📖

These events were supported by funding from the Bramham/Collins Visual and Performing Guest Artist Endowment. WKU Folk Studies and the KFP appreciate the generous support that makes such programming possible each year, and we thank all the participants and attendees. 🌟

Looking forward to the next one! 🥳