Folklife Field School Scheduled June 13-July 3
The 2003 Folklife Field School
Salisbury University and Crisfield, Maryland
Curriculum and Schedule
Friday, June 13:
Arrival
Noon‑6 p.m. Participants and faculty check in at University Park (UP) residence complex
6:30 Picnic at SU Honors House: Participants, faculty, staff, guests (our treat)
Saturday, June 14:
Introduction: Documenting Local Culture
7:30 a.m. Breakfast at University Park or in local eateries
9:00 Class opens in Henson Science 111
Opening remarks (Stewart; Dean O’Rourke, Provost Buchanan)
Overview of the course: schedule and goals (Taylor, Stewart)
Brief self-introductions--instructors and participants
10:30 Break
10:45 Introduction to Chesapeake Bay region: visuals, sound (Bottinelli, Lane)
Noon Lunch at UP or Commons or local eateries
1:30 p.m. Overview of folklife research in the Chesapeake Bay region: Feltault,
Drummond, Russell, Small, Whitney)
3:30 Break
3:45 Continuation of presentations Chesapeake folklife research: Turner, Belanus. Discussion, Q-A
5:00 Dinner
[NB: unless otherwise indicated, evening activities are at UP clubhouse]
7:30 Smith Island film: screening and discussion (on Sunday we will meet
Janice Marshall, one of the people in the film).
Sunday, June 15:
Bus Tour of Crisfield, Somerset County
[Participants observe, take notes through the day]
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Depart from UP on bus. Travel discussion: what a folklorist looks for; entering a field site (Bottinelli)
9:45 Arrive at Crisfield, meet Lane at Crisfield Heritage Foundation.
Overview of city, landmarks, landscape (Lane)
10:00 Walking tour of seafood packing/processing areas, Metompkin and Maryland Crabmeat Co.
11:00 Sunset Pier: Crisfield-Smith Island connections, (Janice Marshall)
11:30 Meet Hon Lawson at Crisfield Heritage Foundation (cont’d)
Noon Lunch at Watermen’s Inn (our treat): Eastern Shore food specialties
1:00 p.m. Bus tour: Hon Lawson’s ’s crab shanty, Ward Brothers’ workshop
(disc. of vernacular architecture: Whitney)
2:00 Tawes Library (formal architecture: Whitney)
2:30 Residential communities, downtown (archit styles/hist: Whitney)
2:55 Somers Cove Marina. Boat ride with Capt. Charles Coiro: view landscape, discuss waterways
4:00 Dock at Somers Cove
4:10 Depart for Salisbury
5:00 Arrive at UP; dinner
7:30 Informal further discussion of Crisfield. Assignment: write up notes of the day
Monday, June 16: Research Methods:
Repositories, Archives, Museums
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Class meets in Caruthers Hall (CH) 111 and vicinity this week.
Daily review (Taylor). Strategies for collections management (Kerst).
10:30 Break
10:45 Computers and archiving collections (Kerst; intro of archivist Brooks of Nabb Research Center and curator Bottinelli of Ward Museum)
Noon Lunch at UP or Food Satellite in HS or FH or Commons or local eateries
1:15 p.m. Participants gather at CH parking lot for van ride to Nabb Research Center
1:30 Nabb Research Center: Utilizing local archive resources (Brooks, Kerst)
3:30 Depart Nabb Center
3:45 Arrive at Ward Museum for lecture, tours and browsing (Bottinelli, Kerst)
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Study of regional print and other resources (Stewart, Bottinelli)
Tuesday, June 17:
Research Issues: Planning; field ethics
Research Methods: Documentary Photography
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Daily review; project planning, media relations (Taylor)
10:30 Break
10:45 Fieldwork and responsibility: ethics; developing the contact list; release
form; closure of project (Taylor, Bottinelli)
Noon Lunch
1:30 p.m. Principles of documentary photography (Newman)
3:30 Break
3:45 Documentary photography assignment (Newman, Basile)
5:00 Participants fill out photo developing envelopes, turn in practice film
Dinner
7:30 Presentation: Famous documentary photographs (Newman)
Wednesday, June 18: Research Methods:
Ethnographic Fieldnotes:
Observing and Describing Culture
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Daily review; ethnographic fieldnotes (Taylor)
10:45 Bus departs from SU campus for ethnographic field trip, Ocean City boardwalk: Observation, field notes, documentary photographs. Lunch on your own at boardwalk eateries.
2:15 Bus leaves Ocean City for return trip.
3:00 Participants fill out photo developing envelopes, turn in practice film. Assignment: Write up OC boardwalk fieldnotes using methods taught
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Critique of Tuesday’s photos (Newman). Discussion and critique of OC fieldnotes, comparison with Sunday’s notes (participants & faculty)
Thursday, June 19: Research Methods:
Sound Recording and Interviewing
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Daily review (Taylor); Interview techniques (Taylor)
10:30 Break
10:45 Sound recording techniques (Irvine)
Noon Lunch
1:30 p.m. Demonstration and practice: interviewing and sound recording (Irvine)
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Critique of Wednesday’s photos (Newman); discussion and critique of interviewing practice (participants and faculty)
Friday, June 20:
Team planning and strategizing for fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Daily review (Taylor) Announcement of teams. Self-naming of teams.
Breakout sessions, brainstorming for fieldwork (spread out to CH 105, 109, 111, 114, 122) (Taylor, Bottinelli, Stewart, Lane)
Noon Lunch
Afternoon Continued brainstorming by teams in breakout sessions, as above. Lane and Howard available for Crisfield problem-solving
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Contact lists made available, UP lounge.
Visiting lecturers Carrie and Michael Kline of St Mary’s Co., Maryland on “Talking Across the Lines” & getting fieldwork into the community. Disc. of media production of fieldwork, especially radio
Saturday, June 21: Fieldwork Planning
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Continued team planning of fieldwork project, in classrooms or in UP or SU telecommunications center. Phoning of interview contacts
Noon Lunch
1:30 Continued team planning, as above
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Visiting lecturer Harold Anderson discusses fieldwork on Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and Smithsonian Festival projects (Optional event)
Sunday, June 22 Rest, Planning, Preparation for Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Morning Free time
Noon Lunch
1:30 p.m. Additional planning; additional training and practice in photographic and interview techniques as desired; study of print resources
5:00 Dinner
7:30 Visiting lecturer, photojournalist Brice Stump discusses his work of 3+ decades. Sample clippings of columns over the years (Optional event)
Monday, June 23: Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast; teams depart for field site
5:00 Dinner
6:00 Project discussion; fieldnotes
Tuesday, June 24: Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast; teams depart
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 Project discussion; fieldnotes
Wednesday, June 25: Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast; teams depart
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 Project discussion; fieldnotes
Thursday, June 26: Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast; teams depart
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 Project discussion; fieldnotes
Friday, June 27: Fieldwork
7:30 a.m. Breakfast; teams depart
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 Project discussion; fieldnotes
Saturday, June 28:
Informal study, review of field notes, consultation with instructors;
Planning and preparation on July 2 program
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Noon Lunch
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:00 Project discussion
Sunday, June 29:
Continue as above.
[OR: Take optional van trip to Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Washington Mall:
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 Depart for Washington, DC, debark at New Carrollton, take Metro in to Mall, spend day at Festival, reconvene at New Carrollton at 6:00 p.m. (flexible in case we decide to eat dinner at festival site)
9:00 p.m. Return to Salisbury. (negotiable dinner stop en route)
Monday, June 30:
Organize and Analyze Field Data
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 Class meets in Caruthers Hall 111. Leaving the field (Taylor)
10:30 Break
10:45 Preparation of research reports and presentations. Teams finish notes, prepare presentations
5:00 p.m. Dinner
Tuesday, July 1 Organize and Analyze Field Data;
Work on Research Presentations
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
5:00 p.m. Dinner
Wednesday, July 2 Public Presentation:
Program at Crisfield High School
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
Morning Finalize research reports and presentations
Noon Lunch
Afternoon Prepare Crisfield auditorium for evening program
5:00 p.m. Dinner
7:00 Crisfield High School Reception for public, with refreshments
7:30 Free Public Program on the Field School—slides, sound, other media, audience Q-A
Thursday, July 3
Course Review and Evaluation; Departure
7:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:00 a.m. UP Clubhouse. Presentation of certificates & gifts to participants, orders for copies of field tapes and photographs. Course review, eval.
10:30 a.m. Closing remarks, farewells
Made possible through Salisbury University; the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress; the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Rural Development Program; Maryland Traditions (a collaborative program of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Maryland Historical Trust with support from the National Endowment for the Arts); the Middle Atlantic Folkllife Association; private donations and participant tuitions.