WESTERN STATES FOLKLORE SOCIETY
80TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
April 08-09, 2022
University of Southern California
Live Conference at the USC campus, in the heart of LA
Virtual Attendance via Zoom
Social Media Tagging: #WesternFolklore2022 & #WSFS2022
Meeting Theme:
The Magic of the Everyday
Hosts: Tok Thompson and Kristiana Willsey
The Western States Folklore Society invites you to join us in exploring the theme of “The Magic of the Everyday,” and to exchange ideas on other topics within the field.
The 80th annual Western States Folklore Society’s Annual Meeting theme is The Magic of The Everyday, which is meant to encourage presentations illuminating the importance of everyday cultural activities, the ways that people give meaning to their everyday lives through performances of traditional culture, however big or small. If the everyday is often overlooked in favor of spectacles, festivals, and special performances, this conference attempts to draw our gaze back to the myriad ways in which we perform culture as ubiquitous and essential parts of our lives. As always, while presentations on this theme are encouraged, they are not required: we welcome all presentations on folklore-related topics for this conference.
Please note that this year’s Archer Taylor Lecture will be given by Tok Thompson, Professor of Anthropology and Communication at the University of Southern California. The title of Prof. Thompson’s lecture is Postnational Folklore, Postnational Folk: Rethinking Communities, Identities, and Politics in the Age of Global Communications
Registration: Online conference registration is under way; please see below for further information.
In person registration will begin Thursday, April 7, 2022 and continue throughout the conference, as will online registration. Papers will be presented live and online via Zoom on Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9. All those who have registered (including paying the registration fee) by the time the sessions begin will be sent invitations with links. Only those who have registered will be admitted to sessions.
IMPORTANT: This year’s Annual Meeting will be a “hybrid” of in-person (live) sessions, each of which will be available via Zoom for those who cannot attend in person. Please refer to the applicable registration page for respective fee schedules:
- For in-person (live) registration, visit the live registration page.
- For virtual (Zoom) registration, visit the virtual registration page.
Nonmembers who join the Society at the time of registration are eligible for membership benefits, including reduced registration fees and a subscription to Western Folklore. If registering by mail, please make checks out to the Western States Folklore Society and address them to:
Western States Folklore Society
17591 River Ranch Rd
Grass Valley, CA 95949
VIRTUAL NAVIGATION: For virtual sessions, please use the hyperlinks to open the zoom meeting. You will be placed in a waiting room until the session starts. Attendees and presenters follow the same link. The hyperlinks will be the name and time of the session. For example, Session 1-B (8 AM-10 AM): “Magic of Popularity” This would indicate a hyperlink to follow to the zoom room.
Archer Taylor Lecture: Delivered by Dr. Tok Freeman Thompson
Postnational Folklore; Postnational Folk
Rethinking Communities, Identities, and Politics,
in the Age of Global Communications
Prof. Tok Thompson, University of Southern California
Friday, April 8, 4:00-5:30 pm. Doheny Library, room 240.
The modern concept of the nation and the political form of the Nation-State were built largely from folklore scholarship (in tandem with print-nationalism, national languages, national citizenship, and modernity, generally). The problematic connections between folklore and nationalism have been explored at great length, but in this talk, I wish to go further, by returning to the very roots of our discipline, to try to understand what comes next. Johann Herder envisioned the nation-state as a political model made possible by keen attention to cultural communities (which the Grimms then put into practice). Now, at the end of modernity, how can contemporary folklorists come to better understand the new global communities, traditions, and identities, and their implications? Who are the postnational folk, the everyday earthlings, and what role should they have in the future of political representation? How could folklore (once again!) provide new models for identity, community, and, ultimately, governance, in the age of global communications?
Western States Folklore Society Executive Committee
President: Juwen Zhang
Administrative Vice Presidents: Tok Thompson
Rothstein Executive Vice Presidents: Sheila Bock
Secretary: Lisa Gabbert
Treasurer: Anthony Buccitelli
Student Vice Presidents: Daisy Ahlstone, Amelia Mathews-Pett,
Annamarie Morel, Alex Ziegler
Business Manager / Executive Editor: Paul Jordan-Smith
Journal Editor, Western Folklore: Rachel González-Martin
Review Editor, Western Folklore: Afsane Rezaei
Western States Folklore Society 2022 Organizing Committee
Tok Thompson, Kristiana Willsey, Daisy Ahlstone, Alexandria Ziegler
Western States Folklore Society Conference Support
Conference Sponsors
University of Southern California: Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California Libraries, Western States Folklore Society
General Conference Map
Link to Download the PDF Version of the Conference Schedule
Western States Folklore Society 2022 Schedule
