- NPR reports on the Persian New Year, Nowruz, marking the arrival of spring; listen to the story here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/20/291443678/persians-celebrate-new-year-natures-rebirth-deliciously
- The American Folklore Society will hold its annual meeting November 5 – 8 in Santa Fe with the theme, Folklore at the Crossroads. Learn more here: https://afsnet.site-ym.com/?page=2014AMTheme
- California-based Candacy Taylor, documenting African American hair, culture and identity for eight years, will present a Botkin Lecture at the Library of Congress on May 1. Her research on hairdressers and beauty shop culture is being archived at the Library of Congress (American Folklife Center) and her project is detailed here: http://taylormadeculture.com/americanhair/
- Read about the value of collections research, often found in museum basements or storage drawers, New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/arts/artsspecial/golden-age-of-discovery-down-in-the-basements.html?ref=artsspecial&_r=1
- A new 15-credit graduate certificate program in folklore and ethnography is now offered by The Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg: http://harrisburg.psu.edu/programs/graduate-certificate-folklore-and-ethnography. The Folklife Sourcebook of the Library of Congress/American Folklife Center also lists other Higher Education Programs and other resources: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/source/index.php
- Earlier this year the Washington Post reported on the National Park Service’s new stringent policies to restrict public access to the National Mall, jeopardizing its use for celebrations including the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. There is a Facebook Page advocating preservation of the Festival on the National Mall: https://www.facebook.com/savethefolk?ref=hl
- Happy reading! The American Folklore Society members have contributed to a list of folklore-related literature here: http://www.afsnet.org/?page=BooksFiction and here: http://faculty.gcsu.edu/webdav/mary_magoulick/folklore_and_literature_texts.htm
