The Folklore of Home Ground

A panel discussion featuring four Iowa State University faculty members: Michael Whiteford, a professor of anthropology and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has conducted research in alternative curing practices and health-care decision-making processes in Latin America; James Dow, emeritus professor of German in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, is known for his research on the Old Order Amish of Kalona, Iowa, and the political use of folklore during the Nazi era in Germany and Austria; Nikki Bado-Fralick, an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, has scholarly interests in ritual pedagogy and has conducted research on initiation rituals and the construction of sacred space within the Wiccan tradition; and Zora Zimmerman, a professor of English and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has conducted research on the preservation and transmission of customs and beliefs, oral composition of narratives (particularly epic poetry in the Balkans), orality theory, and on the impact of folklore on ethnic identity. Panelists will consider several perspectives on "home ground" within the context of folklore and cultural study. Part of the Third Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination.