For over 65 years, the New York Folklore Society (NYFS) has held an annual conference, typically with guest speakers, such as master artists and academic scholars, who have addressed a particular theme. This year, in collaboration with NYU’s Latino Studies and Latin American Studies Departments, we invite graduate students to present their work on Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions.

In this way, students will be given a platform at a local conference to share their work and connect with other young academics from around the state. The NYFS seeks to
encourage young scholars to continue their studies and become active contributors to the fields of folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology and more.

Theme: Latino Folk Culture and Expressive Traditions &#8211 A cumbia group belting-out Colombian tunes at an outdoor cumbiamba, a Peruvian curandero diagnosing a patient through the use of animals, a Mexican family building a Dia? de los Muertos altar
in their home, a de?cima verse sung by a Puerto Rican jibaro—all of these are examples of Latino Expressive Traditions.

While some of these forms have roots in African traditions and others have roots in Indigenous traditions, all are considered Latino Expressive Traditions or Folk Arts.
These traditions speak to what Latinos say, believe, make, know and do&#8212-things that they first learned from their families and community.

The length and breadth of Latino traditions literally covers two continents- and transnational migration to major US cities such as Miami, Chicago, San Antonio, Newark and New York have ensured that the impact of Latino culture continues to be profound. We support papers which explore the topic of Latino Expressive Traditions from both the homeland perspective and immigrant perspective. The organizers particularly encourage papers that address Latino traditions in New York’s tri-state area.

Students can cover any number of topics related to traditional performing arts, materials arts, vernacular culture, sacred arts, etc. as long as the research is with a particular Latino group. While attendees should be graduate students from any academic program- they do not have to major in folklore or Latino studies. Participants can be ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, historians, etc.

Proposals are due by September 30, 2010. For more information download the pdf here.