Podcast Title: Living Traditions: Folklife in Georgia

Fall 2006

Submitted by: TJ Smith, Humanities

General Purpose: The aim of this production is to educate the audience on the diversity of and significance of Georgia’s tradition bearers. Through a mini, audio-documentary format (similar to that of NPR), Living Traditions will capture the stories of the state’s traditional artisans – those working in traditional mediums such as storytelling, singing, creating material objects, etc. What will make this program unique is that these purveyors of tradition will be introduced to the audience through their relationships with ABAC students.

Target Audience: iTunes customers nationwide, citizens of the state, ABAC students, faculty, and staff.

Benefits: In this age in which mass-produced forms of entertainment dominate the lives of most Americans, it is important to recognize those who are maintaining and conserving the traditions that stem from our civilization’s very core. Through the context of these creators, their creations and their creative spaces, we gain insight into our motivations, anxieties, fears, dreams, and values – important components to the search and understanding of self and community.

Description of Podcast: In my 1101 classrooms, I utilize my training as a folklorist to facilitate the development of my students’ skills as writers and thinkers. One area of composition pedagogy that I strongly disagree with is the idea that we have to overwhelm students with issues and topics with which they have no real connection. Remembering my own feelings of being lost and inadequate at that age, I have developed an approach which serves two purposes; making my students better writers and giving them opportunities to explore their origins and thus gain knowledge of the self. The product of this approach is a collection of essays exploring the folklore of their communities – their families, friends, organizational affiliations, and other communities to which they belong. Over this past semester I have learned that my students and those closest to them, in large part, participate in an amazing number of varied traditions. I have students who turn wooden bowls on a lathe, create delicious culinary delights, weave chair bottoms, participate in shape note singing, and tell some wonderful stories. Using the best examples of these, I hope to work with the students who created the essays and develop audio-documentaries of 10 to 15 minutes that highlight the most key elements of the living traditions that they have discovered through their relationships. This will provide these young folklorists the opportunity to participate in meaningful, humanistic work, which is an important experience for anyone, but especially for young people. For the audience, Living Traditions will enrich their understanding of the traditions and history that makes Georgia so unique.