Word: folk
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...admit it. I don't try to hide it. I am a Folklore and Mythology concentrator. You may drop your jaw in shock because you never thought a Folk and Myth student actually existed, but it's all right--I'm used to such a traumatic reaction. I've used the same spiel for years: "Yes, I concentrate in the overlooked and under-appreciated field of Folklore and Mythology. Yes, it is interesting. No, I do not know what I'm going to do with a degree in Folklore and Mythology...
...fact is, I don't know where my career goes from here. But at least I don't spend my free time stressing over it. Unlike many people at Harvard, Folk and Myth concentrators don't stress over issues of potential success. We take things in stride. We know how to enjoy what we study--which is something a lot of other people at this school should learn. Which leads me to discuss an issue of great importance: the Harvard preoccupation with That Which is Serious and Profitable...
...frosh weekend, the free Confi guide I received (if you haven't seen it, that is because it's now online) had a picture of two parents who were certifiably freaking out with their eyeballs bulging and their mouths agape in terror. "Our son's concentrating in Folk and Myth" read the caption. My parents didn't react in quite the same way, at least not within my earshot. But they were under the impression, perhaps, that this was all "just a phase," and in due time I would change to a more honorable concentration like social studies or biochemistry...
...what, then, constitutes a respectable concentration at Harvard? Certainly not Folk and Myth, probably not anything in the humanities. But certainly something that involves lab work, problem sets and/or the rigorous reading of densely theoretical texts. Nothing that brings you pleasure while doing your homework...
...many people, retirement acts like a patron. "When you think about the history of art, patrons gave people time and resources to spend on efforts other than making ends meet," says Dr. Gene D. Cohen, author of the forthcoming The Creative Age. That may be one reason folk art tends to be dominated by late bloomers. "Most self-taught artists in America don't have advanced degrees, so they have been part of the work force all their lives," says Lee Kogan, director of New York's Folk Art Institute. "It doesn't mean their talent wasn't there earlier...