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ACSI
2008 Faculty
Kern Jackson is director of the African-American
Studies Program at the
University
of
South Alabama
in
Mobile
. He received his Ph.D. in folklore and ethnomusicology from the
University
of
Indiana
in 2004. He has served as President of the Alabama Folklife Association
and authored the article “Going to the Boomalatta and Narrating Mardi
Gras in Mobile Alabama” published in volume 7 of
Tributaries, the journal of the Alabama Folklife Association.
He will serve as an instructor and consultant at the Alabama Communities
Institute.
Nick Spitzer is a
professor of folklore and cultural conservation at the
University
of
New Orleans
and host and producer of the radio program American Routes.
He holds a doctorate in anthropology from the
University
of
Texas
, having done his research with African-French Louisiana Creoles and
zydeco music. Spitzer was the host, artistic director, and producer of the
award-winning program Folk Masters (now on Smithsonian Folkways
CDs) and is also a contributor of features on American music and culture
to NPR's All Things Considered. As Louisiana State Folklorist
(1978-85), he created films, festivals, exhibits and recordings of
regional music, and co-produced a 90-minute Folk Festival USA special on
Louisiana
music for NPR, helping to bring Cajun music and zydeco to national
visibility. His work continued at the Smithsonian Institution, where he
curated folk festival programs and directed or served as commentator in
films about American music including Great Performances, broadcast
on PBS and the Discovery Channel. In 1995 for his work with Creole
cultures, he was named as a fellow at the
School
of
American Research
in
Santa Fe
. He has also served on the boards of the American Folklore Society, Fund
for Folk Culture and National Council for the Traditional Arts.
Doug Boyd,
Ph.D. is the Director of the
Louie
B.
Nunn
Center
for Oral History at the
University
of
Kentucky Libraries
. Previously, he managed the Digital Program for the
University
of
Alabama Libraries
, served as the Director of the Kentucky Oral History Commission and,
prior to that, as the Senior Archivist for the oral history collections at
the Kentucky Historical Society. Boyd specializes in the digital
technologies associated with the collection, preservation, and digital
publication of oral histories. Recently, Boyd designed the Civil Rights in
Kentucky Oral History Project Digital Media Database for the Kentucky
Historical Society. Recent publications include co-authoring and producing
the audio CD accompanying folklorist Henry Glassie’s recent book The
Stars of Ballymenone published by Indiana University Press.
Michele Forman
is an independent filmmaker who gained her experience as an executive
in feature films. As director
of development at Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, she was
responsible for the acquisition and development of new projects, including
New Jersey Drive
, Girl 6, Sula, The Jackie Robinson Story, and Summer of Sam.
In addition, Forman served as associate producer on Mr. Lee's
Academy Award-nominated film 4 Little Girls.
She also developed a documentary filmmaking program at the
University
of
Alabama
at
Birmingham
where she currently teaches. She
has served on the Governor's Film Task Force and as a board member on The
New York Women's Film Festival and
The Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. Forman, with her production company
Catalyst Films, was honored by Newsweek Magazine in 2001 as one of the top
15 Women to Watch.
Lesley Williams
was director of the Alabama Community Scholars Institute in 2004 and 2006
and will serve as Co-director in 2008.
A graduate of
Yale
University
, she is a freelance folklorist and arts consultant in
Durham
,
N.C.
She formerly served as
Program Director for Folk Arts at the South Carolina Arts Commission where
in 1996 she developed a model Community Scholars Institute which inspired
the Alabama Folklife to create ACSI.
Joyce Cauthen
is executive director of the Alabama Folklife Association and co-director
of ACSI. For 10 years she
directed the Alabama Sampler Stage (originally the Alabama Folklife
Festival) of City Stages in
Birmingham
, where she lives. She has written prolifically on old-time fiddling in
Alabama
, including a book With Fiddle and Well-Rosined Bow. She edited Benjamin
Lloyd’s Hymn Book: A Primitive Baptist Hymn Tradition and has
produced recordings of a variety of musics traditional to
Alabama
, including Bullfrog Jumped: Children’s Folksongs from the Byron
Arnold Collection. Cauthen has
a Master’s degree in English from
Purdue
University
.
Joey Brackner
is the director of the
Alabama
Center
for Traditional Culture, a department of the Alabama State Council on the
Arts. As director of the Center, he oversees the Folklife project grants
program, which supports efforts by
Alabama
organizations to present the state's folk traditions as well as the Folk
Arts Apprenticeship grants program supporting master folk artists who
teach. Since 1985 Brackner has undertaken numerous special projects for
the Alabama State Council on the Arts. These include co-production of Unbroken Tradition, a film documentary on Alabama folk potter Jerry
Brown with Appalshop; the production of the book and CD, Spirit of Steel, with Sloss Furnaces; and editorship of Tributaries,
the Journal of the Alabama Folklife Association. He is also the Folklife
section editor for the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Brackner is the author of Alabama
Folk Pottery (2006), published by the
University
of
Alabama Press
.
Linda Vice
works with 17 counties to develop tourism in rural southwest
Alabama
. She has been involved in the development and growth of the
organization since its inception in 2002. She is a member of the
Tourism Committee in the Governor’s Black Belt Action Commission and
actively promotes Black Belt Treasures, a non-profit gallery showcasing
the arts, crafts, literature, food and music of the region. She was a
member of the first class of Alabama Community Scholars in 2004 and in
2007 was named “Tourism Employee of the Year” for the State of
Alabama
.
Steve Grauberger is a Folklife Specialist with the
Alabama
Center
for Traditional Culture in
Montgomery
. He is an ethnomusicologist
who specializes in sound and internet technology at the Center.
Among many recordings he has produced are four in the Traditional
Musics of Alabama series. He has also produced over 100 radio programs
for the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Anne Kimzey is a Folklife Specialist with the
Alabama
Center
for Traditional Culture in
Montgomery
where she directs the Folk Arts Apprenticeship program. She recently
produced a program book and CD entitled “Carrying On: Celebrating Twenty
Years of the Alabama Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program.” She has written
articles and produced exhibits on Gulf Coast folklife, Southeast Asian
refugee arts, Alabama’s river culture, traditional gardening, among
others and is co-editor of the AFA’s journal, Tributaries.
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