We Offer Educational Programs

Teacher Orientation:
A series of seminars, lectures and workshops for teachers and artists. Folk artists, teachers, and DJFC staff meet to develop strategies for integrating folklife education into school curriculum.

Lectures, Presentations:
We offer lectures and presentations both at the Center and at other locations as part of our educational programs. They present different aspects of the traditional culture and are oriented towards different audiences. We work with students of all ages and educational levels, with teachers and other educators, with all interested in folklore and folklife.

Examples of lectures include:
Folklore as Knowledge and Process: Introduction. Folk Music and Rhythms. (The focus is on folklore event, performance and process rather than on folklore genre or text.) Musical examples illustrate some ethnic, regional and occupational versions of the folk culture. Regular and irregular rhythms focus students’ attention on different musical aesthetics in order to make them think about the “sound of the others”. Folklore as Knowledge and Process: Introduction. Folk Rituals. (Folk rituals are considered as structure/event consisting of a sacred time, space, words, actions, music, dance and items; as a process in which all of the ritual elements become part of one meaning, and of an unique experience. Students learn about some specifics of the ritual arts.)

Fieldwork training:
We provide training in fieldwork methodology and practice for our interns and community scholars as well as for other people interested in documenting their own family and community traditions. Fieldwork training is part of our research programs and projects as well as part of our internships opportunities.

Folklife Residencies:
Through a New Jersey State Council on the Arts in Education program, folk artists are scheduled to work with students. The Residency Program is ongoing and residencies are flexible in length.