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Folklore Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow The Folklore Society's AGM Conference 2015

  • 17th — 19th April 2015
  • Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

In Britain, as elsewhere, folklore is currently in a peculiar position. Popular interest has rarely been greater. Scholarly research and publication continue. Given its foundation in comparative methodologies, folklore is ideally placed to be at the centre of the interdisciplinary research approaches being championed across academia.

However, declining academic funding has marginalised folklore in regard both to other disciplines and to our own colleagues internationally.

This conference, therefore, sought to address key questions within our discipline in terms of its identity and self-definition, its practices and, by extension, its future. Placing British folklore scholarship in its broader international framework, the conference sought to identify and strengthen the reciprocal relationships that exist throughout our discipline. The conference brought contributions by scholars both from the UK and other parts of the world, in a bid strengthen the links between British folklorists and the discipline more widely.

We aimed to focus on the following:

  • The history of Folklore
  • Theoretical questions within Folklore
  • Popular and scholarly understandings of Folklore
  • Theoretical questions raised by fieldwork and other research
  • The place of British folklore scholarship in the discipline internationally, and the impact of international scholarship on the development of folklore in Britain
  • Applications of Folklore, including its place in interdisciplinary scholarship
  • Reflections on the future development of Folklore and folklore research

Here’s the programme:

Conference registration 14.00 Friday 17 April at Halifax Hall, University of Sheffield, Endcliffe Vale Road, Sheffield S10 3ER, tel. +44 (0)114 222 8810. The conference included the Folklore Society’s AGM (everyone welcome but only FLS members could vote) and The Folklore Society Presidential Address by Professor James H. Grayson: ‘Chumong and Tan’gun: The Politics of Korean Foundation Myths’. There was a wine reception on Friday, followed by an optional conference dinner. Saturday’s proceedings began 9.00 a.m. The afternoon sessions ended at 5.30. Sunday’s proceedings began at 9.00.

Conference fees: Standard Rate: £150.00; Concessionary Rate (Conference speakers, FLS members, students, pensioners, unwaged): £110.00; Optional conference dinner: £30 extra. Day rates available. Conference participants must book and pay for their own accommodation. Halifax Hall offers rooms at £75 per night single, £85 per night double. (To book rooms, contact Halifax Hall, and quote our conference reference 29020, on +44 (0)114 222 8810 or email stay@halifaxhall.co.uk). A list of alternative accommodation will be available on request.

To book for the conference, please complete and return the booking form with your deposit.

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