Folklore Training for the Public Humanities: Podcasting

Abstract

Universities are increasingly turning to the public humanities—humanities work that engages broad audiences outside academia—to address concerns raised by the “crisis in the humanities.” In this essay, I demonstrate how the skills and experiences I gained through my folklore training are precisely the ones I most needed for public humanities work, focusing on the topical podcast Staying with the Question that I created as Faculty Director of the Arts and Humanities Forum at the University of Oklahoma.