Harvard Mythology & Folklore Department Symposium: Globalizing Folklore in a Digital World

This weekend, the Mythology & Folklore department will hold its 2015 symposium: Globalizing Folklore in a Digital World! The event will be held on April 3rd from 9:30 a.m. until after the final 5:30 p.m. performance piece has concluded.

The full schedule for the event can be found here, but a few highlights of especial interest to students include:

Panel on On-Line Communities, including discussion of such topics as global anonymity culture, fanfiction and transformative literature shared via online portals, electronic gaming culture, and more.

Panel on Globalization of Folklore, including discussion of such topics as West African folklore in the digital age, cultural heritage and modern pressures in India, the impact of social media in the Revival Zion religion of Jamaica, and more.

Panel on Digital Preservation and Reproduction of Folklore, including discussion of such topics as authenticity in digital storytelling and religion, commercialization of shared cultural experiences online, the Smithsonian quilt collection's controversial status, and oral literature collections in the digital age.

Panel on Netlore and Techlore, including discussion of such topics as performance of traditional memory and folklore via new technological means, rumors and urban legends and their impact on the modern world, and gatekeeping issues among purely online-formed cultural groups.

The symposium will also include words from keynote speaker Professor Trevor Blank of SUNY Potsdam, and live storytelling performance from Harvard computer science fellow and programmer Rebecca Nesson.