Course Goals: 

1)  Learn the central issues of folklore and cultural studies, particularly those related to ritual, material culture and oral lore.

2)  Understand what folklorists do and how their work is relevant to understanding of culture.


3)  Explain and apply the major theories of folklore in relation to rituals, material culture and oral lore.


4)  Improve cross-cultural communication.


5)  Recognize how cultures establish categories and structures relevant to their understanding of the world.


6)  Determine how cultural categories and structures are shared or differ between cultures.


7)  Improve analytical skills through written analyses of cultural data.


8)  Perform ethical and accurate collection of folklore data.

Texts:
1)  Jack Haney, An Anthology of Russian Folktales
2)  James Bailey and Tatiana Ivanova, Russian Folk Epics
3)  Roberta Reeder, Russian Folk Lyrics
5)  Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby, Village Values  
6)  Lecture Preps (available on my web site)
7)  selected readings from Sokolov and Haney, on reserve at WT Young Library (marked with * in the daily schedule)
OPTIONAL: Linda J. Ivanits, Russian Folk Belief

Reserve list:
All of the books listed under Texts above.

Films: 
You will also have to see The Deer Hunter for paper 1 (available in the Young Media Library, call number AV-D2795).

Cross-Cultural Component:  This course will examine the structure of peasant life in 19th century Russia and how this system has affected Russian society in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras.  We will also address the differences/similarities between Russian and American folk culture. This course counts toward the major in Russian Studies, the minor in Women’s Studies and toward the minor in Folklore and Mythology.

Course Requirements:
   Class Participation/Homework      25%  
   Papers                                           50%                     
   Final Project                                 25%

Grading Scale:    
    90-100%    A   
    80-89%        B
    70-79%        C
    60-69%        D                                          
    59% or below     E

E-mail/Homework: You must have a UK e-mail account and access to the web. Some Thursdays you will have an assignment after class that I will send via e-mail. Your responses are due before 10:30 a.m. the following Tuesday via email or in class in hard copy. Homework responses should meet the standards for a university, that is accurate spelling, proper grammar and as well as thorough and thoughtful consideration of the topic. Therefore, by next class period, please make sure that your UK e-mail account is activated and that you have the correct address. The easiest way to reach me is often via e-mail. If you have questions, you can usually get an answer via e-mail within a few hours, rather than waiting until the next day or for office hours. Homework will be assessed as follows:

5     Student has demonstrated mastery of the concepts/theory under consideration, familiarity the readings and class discussion. The response is original, well-thought out, written and/or organized and supported with examples/data.
4    Student has demonstrated some mastery of the concepts/theory under consideration, some familiarity the readings and class discussion. The response is less original, well-thought out, written and organized. It is supported with some examples/data, but not all points are adequately supported.
3     Student has demonstrated minimal mastery of the concepts/theory under consideration, minimal familiarity with the readings and/or the class discussion. The response reiterates a common interpretation, is minimally well-thought out, written and/or organized and is supported with minimal examples.
2     Student has demonstrated no mastery of the concepts/theory under consideration, no familiarity the readings, the class discussion and other students' responses. The response is not original, well-thought out, written and/or organized or contains no support from examples/data.
0     Student does not submit the assignment or submits it late.   

Papers: The papers are 50% of your grade. They form the major focus of the course. Papers are due IN CLASS in hard copy no later than 12:30. Late papers will be assigned a 0, unless proper documentation is provided (see attendance for the type of documentation accepted). If you are having trouble with an assignment or with a concept, please let me know, either during class or office hours. Questions are always welcome. You may work together on the assignments, but once you begin writing the answer, no consultation with others is permitted. The minimum penalty for handing in an assignment any part of which is copied from another student or from another source or from which another student is allowed to copy is an E for the course.

Final Project: The project is due on the date of the final exam, that is on Tuesday, December 14 by 1 p.m. in my office.

Attendance:  Attendance is mandatory.  More than two unexcused absences will lower your grade by one full grade.  Excused absences include those for illness, family emergency or other emergencies and require print documentation from a doctor, funeral notice, police report and the like.

Class Participation:  The success of this class is dependent on your participation. In order to avoid lecturing, I have assigned the readings and lecture preps. That way, you will have basic information before you arrive, so that you can contribute to our group discussions. You are responsible for the assignments given below in the daily syllabus.  You should read the material BEFORE the class in which we will cover it, so that you will be prepared to discuss it. Not being prepared will adversely affect your class participation grade, which will be assessed daily through graded in-class writing and discussion assignments. The material in the books and the lecture preps is only the basis for class discussion. Therefore, you are also responsible for the material covered in class, which may not be in the readings or the lecture preps. Class participation will be assessed as follows:

5     Student is completely prepared to answer or attempt to answer all questions (written or oral) and participate in the discussion/in-class exercises actively and thoughtfully (and considerately).
4     Student is partially prepared to do the above.
3     Student is minimally prepared to do the above.
2     Student is completely unprepared to do the above.
0    Student is absent.

Classroom Etiquette: Students are expected to behave with respect toward other students and to the professor. You should not talk over others, insult them or their ideas, raise your voice, sleep, write in your planner, do puzzles, read newspapers or other material unrelated to the class. These behaviors will not only result in a reduced class participation grade, but if persistent, will result in your removal from the course.

Lateness will not be tolerated. If you are not in the classroom when class begins, you will lose class participation points for each instance. After two instances of lateness, you will receive a 0 in class participation for any further instances of lateness.

You may not use cell phones or computers (exceptions will be made for students with a disability who provide proper documentation). If I see or hear a cell phone or computer (or any other electronic device), students will receive a 0 for class participation that day.

Learning Styles:  One of the fundamental goals of this course is not only to teach you about semantics, but to increase your skills as an analyst. However, not everyone has the same way of learning. You will take an assessment (on the web site above, click on Learning Styles Assessment) before Friday at 10 a.m. The results should inform you a great deal about yourself and what you should do to master the material for this class and for other classes. I am a firm believer that the teacher/student relationship is a partnership. I cannot open up your brain and pour information into it. You must be an active participant to succeed. Learning style analysis will give the opportunity to take more control of the learning process.

Disability Policy: If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please see me as soon as possible during scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide me with a Letter of Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Room 2, Alumni Gym, 257‐2754, email: jkarnes@email.uky.edu) for coordination of campus disability services.

Expectations from the professor: This class requires a great deal of reading, writing and class participation. I have high standards for my classes and for the students in them. I also have high standards for myself.
    I will return your papers, graded and with comments, within a week. In order for you to have the weekend to work on the papers, they are generally due on Tuesdays. As a result, I cannot have them read the same week, since I also need a weekend to grade.
    I will be at my office hours. If I have to cancel office hours, I will email changes and will offer alternate times to ensure that I am in my office at least 2 hours a week.
    I will make appointments with you if you cannot meet with me during office hours and will always try to answer questions in class and outside of it.
    I will NOT read drafts of your papers, but I encourage you to meet with me to discuss your ideas. However, I will arrange at least one writing workshop during the semester (before the first paper is due).
    I will be flexible regarding deadlines (within reason), but a majority of the class must agree for a deadline to be changed. Once a deadline is set, you should expect all work to be due by class time (or in the case of electronic assignments, by 10:30 a.m.). I will not accept any work that is late, even by five minutes, without written documentation, and it will be given a 0.
    I will give you two opportunities for extra credit to increase your paper grade. These opportunities will be posted on my web site under extra credit, so that you should check it weekly to see what is there. Each extra credit assignment is worth a maximum of 5 points.

Daily Syllabus  (* INDICATES THAT THE READING IS ON RESERVE)

R 8/27        Introduction to Folklore/Begin discussing material culture

T 8/31        Continue discussing material culture (houses, clothing, food, place spirits)
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Lecture Prep 1; OPTIONAL: Ivanits, pp. 3-18, 51-82
R 9/2        Finish discussing material culture
        
T 9/7        Begin discussion of myth and epic
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Bailey, Introduction and pp. 3-21, 81-105; Lecture Prep 2
R 9/9        Continue discussion of myth and epic
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Bailey, pp. 25-48, 307-328

T 9/14        Finish discussion of myth and epic
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Bailey, pp. 130-143, 147-176, 188-200, 264-278
R 9/16        Discuss historical songs, ballads
BEFORE CLASS READ: Bailey, pp. 357-364, 389-396; Reeder 151-154
        
T 9/21        Discuss laments, lyric songs
BEFORE CLASS READ: *Sokolov (on reserve), pp. 224-240; Reeder, pp. 1-35; Reeder, pp. 105-113, 130-146, 155-166        
R 9/23        Finish discussion of laments, lyric songs
BEFORE CLASS READ: Reeder, pp. 49-56, 168-179

T 9/28        Begin discussion of life-cycle rituals in 19th/20th century Russia
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Lecture Prep 6; Rouhier-Willoughby, pp. 1-62; Reeder, pp. 121-129
R 9/30        Continue discussion of life-cycle rituals in 19th/20th century Russia
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Rouhier-Willoughby, pp. 63-117
        **Paper 1 due

T 10/5        Continue discussion of life-cycle rituals in 19th/20th century Russia
BEFORE CLASS READ: Rouhier-Willoughby, pp. 119-176
R 10/7        Continue discussion of life-cycle rituals in 19th/20th century Russia
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Rouhier-Willoughby, pp. 177-228    

T 10/12    Finish discussion of life-cycle rituals in 19th/20th/21st century Russia
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Rouhier-Willoughby, pp. 229-284
R 10/14    NO CLASS

T 10/19    Begin discussion of yearly-cycle rituals in 19th century Russia
BEFORE CLASS READ: Lecture Prep 5; Reeder, pp. 85-104; Optional: Ivanits, pp. 19-37, 83-124    
R 10/21    Continue discussion of yearly-cycle rituals in 19th century Russia

T 10/26    Finish discussion of yearly-cycle rituals in 20th century Russia
R 10/28    Begin discussion of tales: Animal Tales
BEFORE CLASS READ: Haney  pp. 3-23; Lecture Prep 3    


        
T 11/2        Continue discussion of tales: Magic Tales
BEFORE CLASS READ: Haney  pp. 27-37, 42-67, 70-74, 76-88, 95-107, 110-118, 131-138, 302-321; Lecture Prep 4
R 11/4        Continue discussion of tales: Magic Tales
        
T 11/9        Continue discussion of tales: Tales of Everyday Life    
BEFORE CLASS READ: Haney  pp. 162-180, 185-200, 208-223, 224-244, 246-247, 249-253, 254-256
R 11/11    Finish discussion of tales
BEFORE CLASS READ: Haney  pp. 259-273: Anecdotes

T 11/16    Continue discussion of tales: Legends
BEFORE CLASS READ: Haney 139-158; OPTIONAL: Ivanits, pp. 127-205
R 11/18    Continuation of legends: Contemporary  Legends        

T 11/23    NO CLASS
R 11/25    NO CLASS    

T 11/30    Case study of contemporary folklore: childlore
        BEFORE CLASS READ: Lecture Prep 7
        **Paper 2 due
R 12/2        Case study of contemporary folklore: jokes

T 12/7        Case study of contemporary and traditional lore: proverbs, charms, curses, omens, divinations,         conversions
BEFORE CLASS READ: Lecture Prep 8
R 12/9        Course Wrap Up
                
Final Project Due: Tuesday, December 14  by  1 p.m. in my office