KFF News explores recent conspiracy theories.
All News
October 16, 2025
October 13, 2025
August 22, 2025
The Folklore Program was honored to host Dr. Alessandro Testa as a Visiting Professor in Spring 2025. Professor Testa is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University, Prague, and is widely recognized for his research in cultural heritage and comparative religion. He has particular research interests in ritual, magic, collective memory, cultural identity, and nationalism across Europe.
August 7, 2025
By using computational methods to study folklore, UC Berkeley professor Tim Tangherlini is untangling the spread of conspiracies online, tracking pop music's meaning in Korea and more.
March 11, 2025
New Scientist
The epic scientific quest to reveal what makes folktales so compelling
Linguists, psychologists and experts in cultural evolution are discovering why we tell stories, how ancient the oldest ones are and why some tales run and run
February 5, 2025
UC Berkeley News
UC Berkeley Professor Timothy Tangherlini uses lessons from folklore and AI to understand how social media fuels the spread of conspiracies, and how we can use storytelling tools to stem the tide of misinformation.
December 20, 2024
KQED News
Before Elf on a Shelf, There Were Homicidal House Elves, Professor at Brewery Explains
November 4, 2024
Scientific American
A review article on an intriguing study in PNAS exploring various mechanism for the creation and persistence of legend.
September 24, 2024
4th Annual Virtual Graduate Diversity Admissions Fair
WHAT: This event is for prospective professional, master's, and doctoral students. Attendees will learn more about the application and funding process, and connect with their program(s) of interest.
Folklore MA Program: October 9, 2024; 1-2 pm
Any prospective student is welcome to attend. Although this event was uniquely designed to meet the needs of underrepresented individuals.
June 29, 2024
The Folklore Society’s Annual Conference, a hybrid conference in collaboration with the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London
Friday 28 to Sunday 30 June 2024
Online and at King’s College London, Strand Building, Strand, London WC2B 4BG, UK