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Two women stand by a bust of Thomas Jefferson
Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress.

Botkin Folklife Lecture Premiere: Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje

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Welcome to a video premiere in the Benjamin Botkin Folklife Lecture Series! This lecture features folklorists Paddy Bowman and Lisa Rathje, respectively the founding director and executive director of Local Learning: The National Network for Folk Arts in Education. You’ll find the video embedded below!

In this video, Bowman and Rathje present an overview of folklore in K-12 education in the U.S. They discuss their work with Local Learning, their visions, and the diverse and dynamic ways that folklorists and traditional artists are currently engaged in K-12, museum, and community education. For 30 years, Local Learning has trained American educators in folkloristics, created opportunities in education for traditional artists, created resources that bridge folklore and education, and developed important partnerships, including an ongoing relationship with Teaching with Primary Sources here at the Library of Congress.

Paddy Bowman is a prominent folklorist, author, educator and Local Learning’s Founding Director; Lisa Rathje is Executive Director of Local Learning and co-edits the peer reviewed, multimedia Journal of Folklore and Education.

Local Learning’s vision is to help create a nation of lifelong learners who understand traditional arts and knowledge as critical tools for transformative solutions to the complex challenges of today’s world. Its mission is to connect folklorists, artists, and educators across the nation and advocate for transformative learning through the inclusion of folklife and traditional arts in education for the purpose of creating intercultural understanding and building stronger communities. This is obviously consonant with the American Folklife Center’s mandate from Congress spelled out in our enabling legislation, Public Law 94-201. We are therefore particularly happy to present this video lecture. Find it in the player below!

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