FREE VIRTUAL LECTURE ON AMISH ECONOMY

Live Virtual Lecture: “From Farm to Farmers’ Market: Amish Folk Society in the Age of Fast Capitalism” with Simon Bronner

Thursday, March 25 @ 6:00 pm CST

This presentation examines the twenty-first-century economic shift in Amish communities from local producers and artisans to participants in a national market system. One example is the dramatically increased presence, and in many Pennsylvania locations the domination, of Amish vendors in farmers’ markets. Although it might look as if they have changed their traditional values centered on closeness to the land, the Amish have created a special niche that mediates between the slow capitalism of a producer or communitarian farm economy and the fast capitalism of a market system in the digital age. Not motivated by profit, they have forced a re-examination of cultural factors in changing relations of the Amish to “the English” and indeed within Amish society.

Live Virtual Lecture: “From Farm to Farmers’ Market: Amish Folk Society in the Age of Fast Capitalism” with Simon Bronner

New book on Jewish Cultural Studies by Bronner announced

Jewish Cultural Studies by Simon J. Bronner will be published by Wayne State University Press in 2021. Jewish Cultural Studies charts the contours and boundaries of Jewish cultural studies and the issues of Jewish culture that make it so intriguing—and necessary—not only for Jews but also for students of identity, ethnicity, and diversity generally. In addition to framing the distinguishing features of Jewish culture and the ways it has been studied, and often misrepresented and maligned, Simon J. Bronner presents several case studies using ethnography, folkloristic interpretation, and rhetorical analysis. Bronner, building on many years of global cultural exploration, locates patterns, processes, frames, and themes of events and actions identified as Jewish to discern what makes them appear Jewish and why. For more information, see https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/jewish-cultural-studies

Bronner’s THE PRACTICE OF FOLKLORE wins Chicago Folklore Prize

The Practice of Folklore: Essays Toward a Theory of Tradition by Simon J. Bronner has been named a winner of the 2020 Chicago Folklore Prize, sponsored by the American Folklore Society and the University of Chicago. The Prize is given for an outstanding book-length study of folklore in the past year. The Prize is the oldest international award for a publication in folklore. The book was also named by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2020. https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/T/The-Practice-of-Folklore

Bronner Delivers 2020 Alan Dundes Memorial Lecture at UC Berkeley

Simon J. Bronner, Dean of the College of General Studies and Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, delivered the 2020 Alan Dundes Memorial Lecture at the University of California-Berkeley.

Embodying Tradition: Strongmen and Strongwomen in Folklore and Sports 

Abstract: Beginning as folk cultural events in the 18th century and growing into contemporary media phenomena, “Strongest Man” and “Strongest Woman” contests have expanded around the globe. The contests and the idealization of “feats of strength” raise questions about meanings of embodiment in folkloristic terms. This presentation theorizes the modern representation of the giant muscular, powerful body within progressive egalitarian societies and will look into issues of the contested image of pre-industrial health and well-being in industrializing countries of Europe and North America, and later, within a supposedly global feminizing sedentary service and information economy.

For videos of the event, see http://folklore.berkeley.edu/alandundeslecture

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Names Bronner Dean of College of General Studies

September 5, 2019

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has named Simon Bronner dean of its College of General Studies.He will have an appointment as professor of social sciences and business.

The College of General Studies, which offers core courses at the Waukesha and Washington County campuses, serves as the academic home for the first two years at UW-Milwaukee. The campuses also provide accessible opportunities for students living in those areas to develop a foundation for bachelor’s degree and graduate programs.

Immediately prior to joining UWM, Bronner was distinguished professor emeritus of American Studies and Folklore at the Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, where he served as department chair and director of the School of Humanities. Before that he was in the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences and Business at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

He started work at the College of General Studies over the summer.

Bronner is the author or editor of more than 40 books on folklore and folklife, cultural history and ethnology, including three that were just published in August. He is looking forward to continuing his research in Wisconsin and the Midwest, he said, and is excited to be working with students, businesses and the community through the campuses in the Waukesha and West Bend areas.

“I think it’s an opportunity to help meet the new challenges of the 21stcentury in a vibrant region,” he said. Being able to work with communities on different regional educational needs was one of the factors that attracted him to the position, he said.

“The Waukesha, Brookfield and Washington County area is booming, and I’d like to make the colleges a part of that boom.”

On a personal note, he added, he grew up in an urban environment in the Chicago area and did his doctoral work at Indiana University. So he is looking forward to returning to the Midwest and continuing his research. “I love the mix of immigrants and localities and cultures that are here.”

Another factor in accepting the position was his interest in leading initiatives in higher education, and working with the changing cultures and technologies, especially those affecting organizational development. Bronner has consulted with universities around the world, he said. “This is a chance to implement some of those ideas for the betterment of future generations.”

Bronner will be based at the Waukesha campus, but expects to be spending time traveling regularly to the Washington County and the Milwaukee campuses.

Inaugural Issue of SOAR, Journal of the Society of Americanists

I am happy to report that SOAR 1, the journal of the Society of Americanists, is now live on the web! The inaugural theme is “assessing American Studies.” You can view it in pdf at https://journals.psu.edu/soar/index or in online journal form at: https://issuu.com/soar-journal (which is also where we are offering on-demand printing of bound journals). It is open access.

Bronner Named Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Professor at Missouri S&T

Dr. Simon J. Bronner, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Studies and Folklore at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) at Harrisburg, has been been named the Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Visiting Professor of Humanities at Missouri S&T for the upcoming academic year. The visiting professorship was established in 1999 by an estate gift.

Bronner will be collectively hosted between August 2018 and May 2019 by Missouri S&T’s three humanities departments: arts, languages, and philosophy; English and technical communication; and history and political science.

Over the academic year, Bronner will present two public lectures, lead a seminar on campus for early-career faculty in the humanities, and teach one semester-long undergraduate course. He will also be encouraged to participate in S&T’s newly founded Center for Science, Technology, and Society, csts.mst.edu, which brings together scholars from across campus to share ideas about the impact of science and technology upon society, culture and the environment.

Dr. Simon Bronner, S&T’s Maxwell C. Weiner Distinguished Visiting Professor of Humanities

Bronner is an American folklorist, ethnologist and historian. A connecting thread of his varied scholarship is on the issue of tradition, especially in relation to modernity, folk culture, and popular culture and creativity.

“The undergirding theme in my work is the interplay between tradition and modernization,” says Bronner.This inquiry is particularly appropriate for connecting the backgrounds of students from various majors across the university curriculum at Missouri S&T. I try to use scholarship to address timely public issues as demonstrated in several of my recent publications on the discourse of ‘traditional values’ and technology in relation to the rhetoric of progress in American society.”

Bronner’s major scholarly contributions have been in his authorship and editing of over 40 books and monographs on the the topics of material culture and folklife, consumer culture, ethnic studies, ritual and belief, masculinity studies, American roots music, animal-human relations (in practices such as hunting and gaming), and developmental psychology and culture across the life course. He edited the most comprehensive reference work in American folklife studies, Encyclopedia of American Folklife (2006), followed with the reference work Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies for Oxford University Press (2018).

During his tenure at Penn State, where Bronner joined the faculty in 1981, he has chaired the American Studies Program, directed the doctoral program in American Studies, founded the Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies and the Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies and served as interim director for the School of Humanities. He also has coordinated graduate certificate programs in folklore and ethnography and heritage and museum practice. Most recently, he was scholar-in-residence at the Latvian Academy of Culture in Riga, Latvia, and a Fellow of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution.

Bronner holds a Ph.D. in American studies and folklore from Indiana University, a master of arts degree in American folk culture from the Cooperstown Graduate Programs of the State University of New York, and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Binghamton University.

“We believe Dr. Bronner is an excellent fit for the Weiner Professorship, and his many diverse interests in American studies and culture will appeal to a wide audience on our campus,” says Dr. Kate Drowne, CSTS director, associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business, and a professor of English. “Missouri S&T is delighted to have Dr. Bronner join us for this coming school year, and we look forward to welcoming him to the campus community.”

For more information, see https://news.mst.edu/2018/05/multi-dimensional-american-folklore-scholar-named-sts-visiting-humanities-professor/

Pennsylvania Folklore Symposium, May 17-19, 2018

I will be speaking at the Pennsylvania Folklore Symposium, an ideal place to share interests and ideas with others concerned for folklore and folklife studies not only in Pennsylvania, but around the world.

View the preliminary program for the
Pennsylvania Folklore Symposium

Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Center for Folklore, Folk Art PA/Pennsylvania Council on the Arts,
and the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association.

Register online by March 15, 2018 to attend!
If you would like more information or are interested in having an event added to the program, contact the Center staff at folklore@psu.edu.
Thursday, May 17-Saturday, May 19, 2018

Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg
The Pennsylvania Folklore Symposium will bring together academic and public sector folklorists and students from across the state and region in order to highlight the achievements and issues in the field of folklore, and open a discussion on how to better collaborate and coordinate between institutions and with artists, participants, and creators.

 

Registration fee includes most meals (see program for complete list of included meals). Affordable on-campus lodgings available.

Oxford Handbook Site Launched

The “landing site” for the Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies has gone live today:  http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190840617.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190840617. Two chapters appear now as samples–Mieder on proverbs and De Caro on folktales–and more should be added in the coming weeks (21 of the 43 chapters are now in press).  In addition, chapters with the keyword of folklore and folklife can be searched at the Oxford Handbooks Online page of www.oxfordhandbooks.com, which should be available to most of you through your institutional databases (usually under the database of Oxford Reference). The print volume with over 1000 pages will be out in 2019. I can also offer as a preview an open-access essay on “The Challenge of American Folklore to the Humanities” for your reading at http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/7/1/17.