Culture Work: Folklore for the Public Good

How do culture workers construct public arts and culture projects that are effective and transformative? How do we create public humanities projects of the community, for the community, and with the community? How can culture work make a concrete difference in the quality of life for communities, and lead to the creation of a more just world? Why do the public humanities matter? Culture Work explores these questions through real-world examples of cultural and public humanities projects. The innovative case studies analyzed in the book demonstrate the vast numbers of creative possibilities in culture work today—in all their complexities, challenges, and potentialities.
 
Thematically arranged chapters embody the interconnected aspects of culture work, from amplifying local voices to galvanizing community from within, from preservation of cultural knowledge to its creative repurposing for a desired future. These inventive projects provide concrete examples and accessible theory grounded in practice, encourage readers to embark on their own public culture work, and create new forward-looking inspiration for community leaders and scholars in the field.

Tim Frandy is an assistant professor in the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology at Western Kentucky University. A member of the Sámi American community, he has been active in Indigenous cultural revitalization movements in North America and Scandinavia.

B. Marcus Cederström is the community curator of Nordic-American folklore in the department of German, Nordic, and Slavic at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the coeditor and translator, with Thomas A. DuBois, of Songs of the Finnish Migration: A Bilingual Anthology.