Graduate Field School 2013: Quidi Vidi

Folklore 6020: Field and Research Methods

REQUIRED COURSE FOR ALL INCOMING GRADUATE STUDENTS

Under the direction of Dr. Gerald L. Pocius, the Folklore 6020 field school will introduce beginning graduate students to ethnographic documentation methods related to landscape, buildings, narratives, and place. The school will focus on one Newfoundland community: Quidi Vidi, a small village within St. John’s. Twenty years ago, a moratorium on cod fishing was imposed throughout the province, resulting in a massive upheaval of daily life in rural communities. Increasingly, outmigration, coupled with a gentrification of coastal communities such as Quidi Vidi, has altered traditional cultural landscapes. Quidi Vidi has gone from a small fishing community to a gentrified romantic icon of Newfoundland culture—coping with increased tourism and changing land uses. This course will document evolving village spaces, focusing both on buildings and landscapes, and how the place has been imagined and used over recent generations. Working with long-time residents, students will learn how to conduct interviews, record buildings, and describe the places in the Quidi Vidi of both past and present.

Dates: The field school begins with an introductory class on campus at Memorial around September 6th. Classes will begin in Quidi Vidi on September 9th, and continue there for three weeks.

Schedule:

WEEK 1:	Classes on interviewing, ethics, audio and visual recording techniques.
WEEK 2:	Measuring and drawing buildings. Interviews with local residents.
WEEK 3:	Students conducting their own interviews and research. Presentation to the community of the project.

 

Special guest lecturers will likely include John Mannion ( MUN Geography ) on Quidi Vidi’s cultural landscape, Guha Shankar, Media Specialist ( American Folklife Center, Library of Congress), Brian Ricks ( Professional Photographer ) on digital photography, Dale Jarvis ( Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador ) on project planning. Ed Chappell ( Colonial Williamsburg Foundation ) will lead the week on building documentation.

The Specifics

Requirements: This is a required course for all incoming graduate students. The other two required courses for Fall 2013 semester – Folklore 6010 and Folklore 6030 – will begin during the week of September 30th, after the completion of the field school.

Costs: There will be a program cost of approximately $300 per student. A pre-registration fee of $100, payable to the Folklore Department, Memorial University, is due by May 15, 2013. The balance is due no later than September 3rd, the day before classes begin.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A ONE TIME PAYMENT THAT IS IN ADDITION TO YOUR TUITION AND OTHER SEMESTER FEES.

Fall 2013 Documents
Field School Preregistration Form (Deadline: May 15, 2013)
Field School Schedule