Upcoming Events
Teaching "Introductory Seminar in Documentary Studies: Ethics and Practice"
for Center for Documentary Studies' certificate program
April 11-May 30, 2019
Read more and register here.
“I haven’t felt that level of passion for anything in a long time. I have learned so
much.” – Sandra Stinnet, Introductory Seminar student
for Center for Documentary Studies' certificate program
April 11-May 30, 2019
Read more and register here.
“I haven’t felt that level of passion for anything in a long time. I have learned so
much.” – Sandra Stinnet, Introductory Seminar student
Press about my work
When the City of Lexington, in Davidson County, North Carolina, discovered historic barbecue pits in the middle of City Hall during a renovation, they hired the North Carolina Folklife Institute to help them document the find and strategize telling the story. It was wonderful that the city manager's office saw beyond a "promo piece" to the importance of historic documentation, including oral histories with barbecue elders.
Lexington Daily Dispatch article about the City Hall renovation
View the 5 min documentary here.
Lexington Daily Dispatch article about the City Hall renovation
View the 5 min documentary here.
April 15, 2015 NC Now feature on WUNC-TV about the North Carolina Folklife Institute and our work to document traditional artists in Cumberland, Hoke, Robeson, and Scotland counties when I was director.
Roger May, Tom Rankin, and I on WUNC's "The State of Things," discussing Roger's "Looking at Appalachia" documentary project, January 22, 2015
KeAnne Hoeg, Mandy Hitchcock, and I on WUNC's "The State of Things," discussing the 2014 Listen to Your Mother show in Raleigh.
YouTube video of my 2014 performance, "Angel Unawares"
(and my bio for that show, which I think was the first time I was publicly "outed" as an astrologer)
YouTube video of my 2014 performance, "Angel Unawares"
(and my bio for that show, which I think was the first time I was publicly "outed" as an astrologer)
An August 8, 2012 article in the New York Times Magazine, "What's So Bad about a Boy Who Wants to Wear a Dress?" by Ruth Padawer quoted a post from my Pink Is for Boys blog. I was also interviewed for an article in the French newspaper La Libération called "Des garçons nés dans les roses." (Here's a link and my English translation.)
From the editor's forward to the Spring-Summer 2012 issue of the North Carolina Folklore Journal:
In opposition to the cartoon-like images propagated through mass-media popular culture, we focus on the real human relationships that are sustained and enriched through the creative performance of tradition. . . . Folklore, for us, is something that makes us human, and so the nurturing of folk traditions—whether at work or at play-—also feeds the better parts of our human spirit. . . . The heart of this issue emerged from an initiative of Joy Salyers...
Read the whole issue online here.
In opposition to the cartoon-like images propagated through mass-media popular culture, we focus on the real human relationships that are sustained and enriched through the creative performance of tradition. . . . Folklore, for us, is something that makes us human, and so the nurturing of folk traditions—whether at work or at play-—also feeds the better parts of our human spirit. . . . The heart of this issue emerged from an initiative of Joy Salyers...
Read the whole issue online here.
An article from early days!
Telling stories - Your family's history is at stake: Two local women are here to help
By olufunke moses
IndyWeek Arts Feature, January 14, 2004
I feel sadness reading this, because our dear friend Funke, who wrote this article, died in June, leaving a hole in many, many hearts. But you can see that I have believed in the power of story to promote change for a long, long time!
Telling stories - Your family's history is at stake: Two local women are here to help
By olufunke moses
IndyWeek Arts Feature, January 14, 2004
I feel sadness reading this, because our dear friend Funke, who wrote this article, died in June, leaving a hole in many, many hearts. But you can see that I have believed in the power of story to promote change for a long, long time!