American Friends of Russian Folklore

[folklore]

Dear colleagues,

With great pleasure and hope we announce the establishment of “American
Friends of Russian Folklore” a non-profit charitable (501(c)(3)
corporation - www.russianfolklorefriends.org

 AFRF’s mission is to support and promote American understanding of
Russian traditional life and culture. To this end, AFRF supports a wide
range of projects: field research, recordings, filmmaking, archiving, and
analysis of Russian folklore and oral histories.  We also support
educational and cultural presentations at universities, conferences, and
festivals.  

For 2008 we announce two expeditions. One expedition will take place in
Irkutsk province, Zima district, Batama village from June, 25 till July,
14 - 

http://www.russianexpedition.com/team_i-2008.htm
 
This project aims to preserve the masterpieces of folkloric musical
traditions, rituals, mythological stories and oral history of the European
peoples (Ukrainians) who pioneered Siberia more than 100 hundred years ago
in accordance with the Stolypin Land Reform – 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolypin_reform

The second expedition will take place in Ukraine, Zhitomir province,
Volodar-Volynskii district, Krapivnya village from July, 23 till August,
4. One hundred years ago an essential part of the population from this
village moved out to Siberia with the hope of creating a better economic
life for their families. 50 families from Krapivnya settled in Siberia a
new village, named Batama. We plan to compare the folk music repertoire of
both of these villages and to investigate the affects of time and
geography on the dynamics of musical traditions. 

Through the generosity of friends and donors, Russian Expedition also
administers a Scholarship Fund to pay the way of volunteers whose special
strengths or interests make them exceptional candidates for participation
but who can not afford the usual fee.
This scholarship is available to American and Canadian students only.
Knowledhe of Russian is preferable. Students who do not speak Russian but
have a deep interest in folklore may apply for this scholarship also. 
The deadline for applications is April, 1, 2008.

You are very welcome to join our expeditions,
Your sincerely,
Dr. Yelena Minyonok,
Director of “American Friends of Russian Folklore”
Major researcher, Institute of World Literature,
(Russian Academy of Sciences)
Sergey Minyonok,
Director of “American Friends of Russian Folklore”,
videographer

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