Tuesday 7 May 2013

Learning: Folklore Summer School at City Lit in London

City Lit is running a series of one-day classes in folklore this summer under the title Exploring Folklore Summer School. Nine sessions cover traditional customs, beliefs, stories, songs and dances, games, cures and remedies, witchcraft, ghosts and the supernatural, urban legends and superstitions.The first class is on Monday 22 July and is an introduction to the subject of English folklore, while the rest are on specific folklore topics.

Each of the sessions runs from 10.30am to 3.30pm with a full fee of £21 per class, a senior rate of £13 and concessionary rate of £7. If you want to do all the classes you can get a 20% reduction in the overall fees. The classes take place at City Lit, Keeley Street, Covent Garden, Camden, London WC2B 4BA.

Here is a full list of the Exploring Folklore Summer School classes:

Exploring Folklore: An Introduction to English Folklore
An introduction to English folklore covering the themes, debates and concepts at the heart of this study of the past. Date: 22 July.

Exploring Folklore: English Folk Dance and Song
How ordinary English folk enjoyed themselves before the mass media and the music industry took over. Date: 24 July.

Exploring Folklore: Telling Stories - Narrative
Not all folktales are fairytales, and not all folk narratives are tales. This day examines different types of folk narrative, from ballads to jokes. Date: 27 July.

Exploring Folklore: Customs and Festivals in the English Year
Life in the past was dominated by the seasons, and many practices and beliefs survive in our calendar-based customs and festivals - from wassailing to May Queens, Easter eggs to Christmas decorations, and many more. Date: 29 July

Exploring Folklore: Ghosts, Witches and the Supernatural
The mysterious ways of the natural world are complicated by a supernatural world. From visitations by the dead to charms to fairies, this course looks at magic and relations with that supernatural world. Date: 31 July.

Exploring Folklore: the Superstitious World, Old and New
Are we more superstitious than ever? Do all superstitions go back to pagan times? This course looks at superstitious beliefs, old and new. Date: 3 August

Exploring Folklore: Children's Games, Rhymes and Customs
Is it true that children don't play any more, or do we simply lose the ability to recognise it as we get older? This class looks at the evidence from the past century to understand the changes and the continuity. Date: 7 August.

Exploring Folklore Today: 'A Bloke at Work Heard it From...'
Anyone who's ever received an email chain-letter or heard an urban legend will know that folklore thrives today. This class looks at contemporary folklore, and its links to the past (and the future) of folklore. Date: 10 August.

To enrol on any of the classes in the Folklore Summer School, call enrolments: 020 7831 7831. For more details, email humanities@citylit.ac.uk, call 020 7492 2652 or visit the website: http://www.citylit.ac.uk/

The photo top right shows the outside of City Lit, the photo below that is the front cover of the book The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Links and previous related posts
The English Year
The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/09/mystical-legendary-london-in-day.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/10/review-mummers-maypoles-and-milkmaids.html
http://www.citylit.ac.uk/

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