Course Description
This
innovative Graduate Diploma is a program of Curtin University of Technology, Western
Australia. Drawing on existing courses and research on folklore and folklife
conducted by the Australian Studies Program at Curtin and folklore expertise
around the country, the course is available nationally and internationally by
distance delivery.
The degree consists of
six units, as follows.
- Introduction to
Folklore
- Folklore and Folklife
Fieldwork
- Advanced Issues in Folklore
and Folklife
- Folklife: A Multicultural
Perspective
- Applied Folklore
- Community Folk Heritage
- Flexible delivery means
that students may take the units that constitute the degree at their own
pace.
- Units may also be taken
independently for personal interest and/or professional reasons.
- Students may take the
course through either of the partner institutions or through Open
Learning Australia.
Folklore and Folklife
Folklore
and folklife (the terms are used interchangeably) involves the study of
informal culture - verbal, non- verbal, behavioral and material. Although
this course concentrates on the Australian experience, folklore is a
phenomenon found in all societies in all places and in all times. The
Graduate Diploma in Australian Folklife emphasises the application of the
understandings gained from a study of folklife to a wide variety of social,
cultural, organisational and human needs. It will be of interest to anyone
wishing to understand some fundamentals of the human condition and especially
to professionals involved in human services, heritage studies, organisational
behaviour, human resources, tourism, museology, cultural planning,
librarianship and teaching.
Structure of the Graduate Diploma
Introductory
Units
- these are taken as prerequisites or as co-requisites with the three
Advanced units.
- Introduction
to Folklore
- Australian
Folklife: A Multicultural Perspective
- Fieldwork
Advanced Units
- Folk
Cultural Heritage
- Applied
Folklore
- Advanced
Issues in Folklore and Folklife
1. INTRODUCTION TO FOLKLORE
|
UNIT TITLE
|
|
An Introduction to Folklore
|
|
CONTENT
|
Students are introduced to the basic concepts, theories,
terminology and methodologies of modern folklore and folklife studies. The
unit concentrates on 'folk' and 'lore', folklore and the past, contemporary
folklore, family folklore, worklore and the lore of childhood and
adolescence.
|
|
ASSESSMENT
|
6 chapter exercises for 10% each, a total of 60% Final
essay 2500-3000 words for 40%
|
|
SET TEXTS
|
Set text provided as reader
|
|
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
To introduce students to the basic concepts and methods of
contemporary folkloristics. Students will engage with the definitions of
'folklore' and will examine these definitions in relation to a number of
important facets of past and present folklore and folklife.
|
|
DETAILED CONTENT
|
1 Folk and lore
2 Folklore and the past
3 Folklore and the present
4 Family Folklore
5 The Folklore of Childhood and Youth
6 The Folklore of Work
7 Final Assignment
8 Conclusions
|
BACK
2. FOLKLIFE: A
MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
|
UNIT TITLE
|
|
Folklife: A Multicultural Perspective
|
|
CONTENT
|
An examination of Australian folklife from a
multicultural perceptive. Students are introduced to the diversity of
Australia's ethnic folk heritage and guided in their consideration of the
various folkloric issues involved. The unit builds on the matters covered
in the units 'Introduction to Folklore' and 'Fieldwork' and include
consideration of various genres, including material culture, music, dance,
custom, speech and tale.
|
|
ASSESSMENT
|
Assignment 1: 13 X 300 word responses
Assignment 2: Fieldwork project and essay (total 3000 words)
|
|
SET TEXTS
|
Seal, G. The Hidden Culture (2nd. Edn. 1996)
Readings and extracts from Oxford Companion to Australian Folklore
provided.
|
|
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
Students will attain an appreciation of the diversity of
Australian folk cultures in languages other than English and will have the
opportunity to involve themselves in appropriate, accessible activities.
|
|
DETAILED CONTENT
|
1. Introduction and Overview
2. Australia's International Folk Heritage
3. International Studies in Folk Culture
4. Folk music and dance in multicultural Australia: the colonial heritage
5. Folk music and dance in multicultural Australia: the contemporary scene
6. Folk art in multicultural Australia
7. Traditional building and handcrafts in multicultural Australia
8. Folk custom, ritual and belief in multicultural Australia
9. Festivals and celebrations in multicultural Australia
10. Children's folk culture in multicultural Australia
11. Folk speech in multicultural Australia
12. Storytelling and humour in multicultural Australia 13. Foodways in
multicultural Australia
|
BACK
3. FOLKLORE FIELDWORK
|
UNIT TITLE
|
|
Folklore Fieldwork
|
|
CONTENT
|
This Fieldwork unit guides students in the design,
preparation, execution and completion of a significant folklore/folklife collecting
project and an accompanying 'collect yourself' exercise. Topics covered
include establishing rapport with informants, devising interviews and
questionnaires, other fieldwork methods, transcription, ethics and
legalities, archiving and preparation of the final report.
|
|
ASSESSMENT
|
Exercise 1: 30% (due at end of unit)
Exercise 2: 70% (due at end of unit)
|
|
SET TEXTS of their own.
|
Set text provided as reader
|
|
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
|
Willingness and ability to engage with human groups.
|
|
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
To introduce students to the skills and techniques of
folkloristic ethnography. On completion, students will have an
understanding of the fieldwork methods and skills of folklore and folklife
and will have had the opportunity to devise, execute and write up a
fieldwork project
|
|
DETAILED CONTENT
|
This study unit consists of two major projects carried
out over the duration of the unit, with the final results submitted at the
end. Assignment 1 is a 'Collect Yourself' exercise designed to make
students aware of the folklore that you bear. It is completed over the
duration of the unit and submitted at the end. Assignment 2 is a collecting
project that involves learning and applying the basics of fieldwork practice.
It involves constructing and carrying out a fieldwork project and
submitting the results at the end of the unit in (usually) a report format.
Before beginning though, students are asked to complete and submit to the
tutor within two weeks of commencing this unit a 'Fieldwork Project
Feasibility Form' that allows BOTH student and the tutor to determine the
practicality of the proposed project before it begins When completed,
fieldwork will be written up in a format that is most appropriate for the
subject matter - usually a report - and submitted, together with any other
relevant materials such as photographs, audio/video tapes, artefacts, etc.,
for final assessment.
|
BACK
APPLIED FOLKLORE
|
UNIT TITLE
|
|
Applied Folklore
|
|
CONTENT
|
Applied Folklore is an Advanced unit in the Graduate
Diploma that builds on the knowledge and understandings gained from study
of the previous units in this course. It is specifically concerned with the
application of those understandings to the betterment of social problems
and community tensions, many of which are closely linked with folkloric
expressions, practices and group identity. Students will learn about new
approaches in this field and will be able to develop their own application
of folklore to an observed social/cultural problem.
|
|
ASSESSMENT
|
There are two assignments in this unit:
Assignment 1 outlines community tensions over calendar or periodic customs
and asks you to suggest ways and means of defusing these tensions before
they develop into serious conflict, as they have done in other countries.
(2000 words. 30%)
Assignment 2 asks you to identify a social problem that might be
resolved, or at least improved, by the application of folkloric knowledge
and to develop a prescription for dealing with it. (3000 words plus. 70%)
Total 100%.
|
|
SET TEXTS
|
All materials provided in Study Guide
|
|
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
To introduce students to some of the methods and
techniques by which folklore and folklife can be applied to social and
cultural problems. Students will finish the unit with an understanding of
the problems, issues ad possibilities involved in this field and will have
designed and justified an applied folklore project of their own.
|
|
DETAILED CONTENT
|
1. Applied Folklore: Introduction
2. Case Study: Roadside Shrines
3. Cultural Diagnostics (CD)
4. Blue Star Acid - A CD Scenario
5. The Clash of Calendars and the Colour of Santa (Assignment 1)
6. Devising a CD Scenario (Assignment 2)
|
|
TEACHING APPROACH
|
This unit consists of examples, case studies and
scenarios . Students will read these materials and be introduced to a selection
of possible ways to apply folklore. As stressed at various points, these
are not the only ways of applying folkloric knowledge, simply some that
have worked or which are likely to work in the given situations. Because of
the practical constraints involved, students will only be required to
develop such solutions in a hypothetical manner. In other words, they will
not be asked to actually carry out the application, simply to identify a
cultural problem, research its background and develop a coherent program
that could be applied to its resolution or improvement.
|
BACK
COMMUNITY
FOLK HERITAGE
|
UNIT TITLE Assignment
|
Community Folk Heritage
|
|
CONTENT
|
Community Folk Heritage is an Advanced unit in the Graduate
Diploma that builds on the knowledge and understandings gained from study
of the previous units in this course. The unit focuses on community folk
heritage and family folk heritage and allows students, in consultation with
their tutor, to design and carry out a significant fieldwork project on one
or more aspects of these areas.
|
|
ASSESSMENT
|
There are two assignments in this unit:
Assignment 1 outlines community tensions over calendar or periodic customs
and asks you to suggest ways and means of defusing these tensions before
they develop into serious conflict, as they have done in other countries.
(2000 words. 30%)
Assignment 2 asks you to identify a social problem that might be
resolved, or at least improved, by the application of folkloric knowledge
and to develop a prescription for dealing with it. (3000 words plus. 70%)
Total 100%.
|
|
SET TEXTS
|
Set text provided as reader
|
|
AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
Students have the opportunity to apply their knowledge
of folklore and folklife to a community heritage project of their own
devising. Those who complete the unit will understand the concept of
community folk heritage and will have designed and executed a community
folk heritage project. They will also have engaged with the various
ethical, economic, political and related issues that invariably attend such
undertakings.
|
|
DETAILED CONTENT
|
1. What is Community Folk Heritage?
2.Some Community Folk Customs: Blessing of the Fleet, Fremantle WA,
Shinju Matsuri, Broome WA, Halloween
3. Regional Community Heritage - Barossa Journeys
4. Issues in Community Folk Heritage: Folk Cultural Heritage and
'Folklorism, Revivalism
5. Family Folk Heritage
6. Major
|
BACK
ADVANCED ISSUES IN FOLKORE AND FOLKLIFE
This reading and
essay-writing unit allows students to deal with theoretical and definitional issues
relating to:
·
Foundational
concepts of folklore
·
Inventing
traditions, folklorism
·
Tourism,
heritage and folklife
·
Who
owns folklore?
·
Threats
to children’s play
WANT MORE DETAILS?
For further information contact:
Dr Graham Seal
Australia Research Institute,
Curtin University of Technology
tel: (08) 9266 3234
e-mail: G.SEAL@exchange.curtin.edu.au Open
Learning Australia
BACK
|
