Program Requirements Overview
The M.A. in Folklore requires a minimum of 20 units of coursework, of which at least three four-unit courses must be graduate level, and an M.A. thesis based upon fieldwork or some other original, in-depth research project. During their first year of study, students take the core seminar, Folklore 262A-262B, Theories of Traditionality and Modernity. Students are also required to take Anthropology 160 AC, The Forms of Folklore, which provides an overview of folklore and folkloristics if they have not already taken a course providing an overview of the field, or they may be advised to take a related Anthropology 298 with readings and exercises appropriate to graduate- level study. A graduate methodology course is also required for M.A. students, taken in an area relating to the student's proposed thesis research.
The graduate handbook details the requirements and expectations in greater detail.
Requirements
The requirements for the MA are spelled out in considerable detail in the Folklore Graduate Student Handbook.
In brief, students are required to:
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Complete at least 20 units of coursework.
- At least 10 of these units must be at the 200-level
- At least 12 of these units must be Folklore courses (where cross-listed, room-shared or courses that have a significant and demonstable folklore content are accepted).
- PLEASE NOTE that MA students must be enrolled in at least 12 units per semester for their entire residency at Berkeley.
- Complete the two course core seminar sequence, Folklore 262A-262B: Theories of Traditionality and Modernity. This course is occasionally cross-listed with seminars in other departments. These two courses count toward the 20 unit requirement as well as the 10 unit 200-level requirement.
- Complete Anthropology 160 AC: The Forms of Folklore, or an alternative course centered on folklore and folkloristics approved in consultation with the Graduate Advisor. This counts toward the 20 unit requirement and the 12 unit folklore course requirement.
- Complete a graduate methodologies course related to the work proposed for the thesis. This counts toward the 20 unit requirement as well as the 10 unit 200-level requirement.
- Satisfy the language requirement (see below)
- Complete an MA level thesis (see below)
Language Requirement
The student must demonstrate proficiency in reading at least one foreign language by the time he or she advances to candidacy, which is normally at the end of the third semester. The language is selected in consultation with the Chair and/or Faculty Graduate Advisor; in most cases, it is the language most closely connected with the M.A. thesis. The language requirement is ordinarily satisfied by an examination in which the student translates a passage from an academic text in their language of choice into English.
Thesis Requirement
The Folklore Thesis is the capstone of the Folklore MA program, and is based upon original research. It must be completed by the end of the fourth semester. Unless otherwise agreed on with members of the student's MA committee, the thesis will consist of an article of suitable length (~20-40 manuscript pages) submitted (or of a quality ready for submission) to a scholarly journal in folklore or closely allied field.
These journals include, but are not limited to, The Journal of American Folklore; Western Folklore; Folklore; Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics; Fabula; Asian Ethnology; Ethnologia Europæa; Arv; Cultural Analysis; Contemporary Legend; Journal of Folklore Research; Studia Slavica; Oral Tradition; Ethnomusicology; Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies; etc.
Advising
Once accepted to the M.A. Program, the Chair and Faculty Graduate Advisor will work with the student to devise a program of study that provides depth in one of the areas in which Berkeley is particularly strong: these include folk expressive culture; computational folkloristics; organizational culture; folk and popular law; critical theories of traditionalities and modernities; medicine, science, healing, and the body; folk art and materiality; festival and religion; media and new media; gender and sexuality; race and coloniality; narrative and discourse analysis; and multi-species research. Students may also propose courses of study in other areas.
The Chair and Faculty Graduate Advisor will also assist students in determining whether they should take Anthropology 160AC (in most cases, the answer is yes), as well as developing a plan to fulfill the methodology and language requirements.
In the first semester of the program, students must take the CITI training for Institutional Review Board / Human Subjects Protection research.
Once an M.A. student has chosen a Thesis Committee, the Chair of that Committee will work with the student to ensure that all requirements have been fulfilled.
M.A. Thesis Committee
The MA thesis is directed by a Thesis Committee consisting of at least three faculty members, two of whom must belong to the faculty of the Folklore Graduate Group. The Committee Chair must be a member of the Graduate Group; a co-chair from another department or program may be named when appropriate.