The Alabama Community Scholars Institute took place at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, June 20-28, 2008. There 25 extremely sharp participants learned to document their own community traditions and gain experience in doing so by studying Mardi Gras and interviewing those who take part in it.
Description
The Alabama Community Scholars Institute (ACSI) is a training program for people who want to research, document and present various aspects of Alabama’s traditional culture—the music, food, crafts, stories, celebrations, work traditions, etc., of their own communities. The 2008 Alabama Community Scholars Institute will take place on the campus of the University of South Alabama in Mobile. It will start on Friday June 20 after dinner and continue through the evening of June 28.
ACSI is valuable to people involved with local museums, arts councils and festivals, to those involved in cultural tourism, to college students interested in the field of folklore, to school teachers who plan to do oral history projects with their students and to individuals already documenting local traditions without the benefit of training.
Throughout the intensive 9-day program (see tentative schedule), participants learn all aspects of doing fieldwork: recognizing traditions, conducting field surveys, interviewing and recording, photographing and videotaping tradition bearers and logging and transcribing interviews. They learn about grant seeking and various ways in which to exhibit their work. They learn how folk traditions can be part of cultural tourism plans which may be of economic benefit to their communities. To learn and practice skills required in folklore fieldwork, Community Scholars will research Mobile's Mardi Gras and interview people involved in that traditional event. Students come with a project concerning their own local culture in mind and throughout the Institute they learn how to make that project a success.
Who may apply?
ACSI students are diverse in ethnicity and age. We prefer that students be at least 18 years of age and there is no upper age limit or required degree. Students must live in Alabama. They are selected on the basis of a proposed project that they will complete after attending ACSI. Applicants who propose to document important Alabama traditions and explain how they will present their research in their communities will be accepted as Community Scholars. After we have accepted 25 scholars, all other applicants will be put on a waiting list.
What is meant by "traditional culture?"
The Alabama Community Scholars Institute teaches participants to recognize and study living aspects of our our own culture that have passed from generation to generation within families and communities. Such things as decoration days, Sacred Harp singings, fishing, hunting, foodways, traditional crafts, community celebrations and other things mentioned on the AFA home page are part of our traditional culture. Applicants to ACSI are asked to propose a topic of interest to them that involves their local culture. Topics that are solely historical or deal with individuals whose accomplishments have nothing to do with traditional culture should not be submitted. Joyce Cauthen, co-director of ACSI, will be happy to discuss your proposed project with you before you submit it. E-mail her or call her at 205-822-0505.
See the list below of projects that were accepted for ACSI 2004 and 2006.
To Listen to a 30-minute radio program about ACSI 2004, click here. Scroll to "Community Scholars Institute."
To read the ACSI newsletter in which Community Scholars tell of their current activities, click here.
Community Scholars and their Projects
2004
- Fannie Smith, Prattville , midwifery for exhibit at Peoples Historical Museum
- Odessa Settles and Kevin Carroll, African-American gospel groups in Alabama .
- Linda Vice, Thomasville and Judy Martin ( Tuscaloosa ), folklore fieldwork for the Alabama Tombigbee Tourism Initiative
- Wanda Robertson, Florence , medicinal use of wildflowers and herbs
- Randy Arnold and Amy LeePard, Tuscaloosa , family farming
- Deborah Casey, Eufaula, farm buildings and their related farming traditions
- Trudy Brower, Hoover , Birmingham ’s Unitarian community
- Matt Downer, Ider, traditional music of Sand Mountain
- Diane Gerard, Mobile , documentation skills to teach to her history students at the Alabama School of Math and Science
- Cathy Green, Gadsden, decoration days. and other aspects of local African-American culture in Gadsden .
- Russell Gulley, Fort Payne , small community radio stations
- Charles Kelley, Birmingham , Hispanic traditions in Alabama
- Bill Martin, Gaylesville, folklore fieldwork for the Interpretive Center of the Little River Canyon National Preserve
- Tatum Preston, Birmingham , documentation of quilts in the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art
- Kerry Reid, Grove Hill, documentation of “Little Croatia” for the Clarke County Historical Museum
- Ana Self Schuber, Tuscaloosa , documentation of quilters for the West Alabama Quilt Guild
- Susan Thomas, Mobile , Gulf Coast foodways
- Raul Valdez, Birmingham , Hispanic traditions in Alabama
- Amy Pierce, Birmingham, folk art walking sticks and other crafts for Children’s Hands-On Museum
- Lori Sawyer, Atmore, cultural traditions of the Poarch Creek Indian community
2006
- Jake Fussell, Shoals area fieldwork
- Karren Pell, Oral Histories in
- Sheila Limerick, Document Black Belt Culture for library's special collections
- Janice McDaniel, Exhibit for Mule Day and May Fest on NW Alabama traditions
- Evan Haarbauer, Documentation of community of artists who do festivals
- Mary Latimore, Develop exhibits for Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative
- Annie Cooper, Research for reunion of all Colberts in Colbert Co and vicinity
- Ellen Mussleman, Festival Community at Moundville Archaeological Park
- Sara Sawyer, Creek Indian stomp dancing
- Marcus Johnson, Brass Band tradition in
- Shirley Baxter and Willie Wilchie, Video on The
- Mary Lou Mallette, Photo Exhibit & documentation of
- Carolyn Brown-Perez, Video on
- Wanda Johnson, Oral Histories of African-American Catholics in
- Carole King, Documentation of quilts discovered in Alabama Quilt Project
- William Allen, Documentation of Coal Mining in
- Trey Bunn, Development of Archive of
- Gail King, Documentation of "Black Dutch" in
- Kaci Hildreth, Interviewing railroad workers for
- Thomas Kersen, Incorporating folklore fieldwork into college anthropology classes
- Dewanna Banks, Labor lore of paper mill workers
- Donna Hickman, Religious roots of Shoals Music
2008
- Amy Beach, Fishing families-Bayou La Batre
- Emily Blejwas, Black Belt Traditions for Civil Rights Heritage Trail
- Amanda Blum, Small town banks, specifically Alabama Exchange Bank of
- Steve Dark, Potters of
- Patrice Dees, Wilcox Co. culture (for oral histories by students)
- Jacquelyn Denson, Oral history project for
- Holly Fowler, Rural traditions of Escambia/
- Whitney Green, Inventory of Black Belt Artists
- Stephanie Jackson, Instructional materials for
- Connie James, Documenting
- Tyler Kittles, Bayou La Batre culture
- Maggie Legg, Produce a play about Civil Rights Area in
- Barry Little, Collecting stories of the Alabama Gulf Coast Area
- Megan Loper, Oral histories of families effected by violence
- Annette Otts, Rural folk structures of
- Patsy Peoples, Documenting history and culture of Florala with her students
- Sylvia Stephens, Document the work and life history of quilter Mozell Benson
- Ashley Tillery, Museum on
- Joseph Trimble, Collecting Alabama folktales
- Donna Turner, Oral histories of mining families of
- Cristina and Barbara White, Oral histories in Loachapoka
- Tonja Young, Oral History project of Daphne, AL
What Community Scholars have said about ACSI:
“The two-week intensive training provided me with the tools and skills that I needed to productively begin my documentation projects. The AFA did an excellent job of choosing an enthusiastic and motivated group of Community Scholars. I was able to network and get to know people who have proven to be great resources and gatekeepers. Everyone at the Institute had a fascinating project that they were working on.” Amy LeePard, Tuscaloosa
“The Institute resulted in our museum writing a successful grant to conduct field work documenting Croatian culture in our county. We are in the process of interviewing the tradition bearers and have gleaned new and fascinating information about this distinct local culture. Our budget is very small and the museum couldn’t afford to pay for this type of training. Without the Institute, our museum would have never undertaken this important field work.” Kerry Reid, Director, Clarke County Museum
“As a result of attending ACSI I am now in a position to assist in leading my community toward the development of cultural tourism programming. As an economic development tool, such programs are intended to assist in replacing jobs lost due to out-sourcing within the textile industry, an industry that has long been the mainstay of our local economy. This year several new festivals and events are already being planned and presented for our community.” Russell Gulley
“I feel one of the long-range benefits of the Community Scholars Institute was its influence on the participants to become informal ambassadors for the on-going preservation of local culture and customs. I believe everyone who attended went back to their own communities with a renewed enthusiasm for documenting, saving and otherwise preserving folkways unique to each person’s locale.” Susan Thomas, Mobile
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The AFA hopes that ACSI participants will be a diverse, multi-cultural group and seeks your help in reaching potential community scholars. If you know of cultural organizations that would benefit from this program, please share this information with them or send their names and addresses to AFA, 2169 Shadybrook Lane, Birmingham, AL 35226 or e-mail Joyce Cauthen. |
