Marilyn Petersen

Marilyn Petersen joined the Peace Corps in 1996 and served in Uzbekistan for three and a half years. Her main project was teaching English at the University of Bukhara. As her Secondary Project, she chose to collect the national folklore and write a book as an education tool for the schools in Uzbekistan. With the help of her students she collected and translated a comprehensive collection of the national folklore. On her return to the states she wrote a musical based on the spring time holikday, Navruz, which is celebrated in Central Asia and the Middle East by the Islamic community. Currently, Marilyn is doing research on folk music dating from the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century. She is interested in what motivated the composers and lyricists to write the songs. Marilyn plays folk guitar and the dulcimer. She also likes to write short stories, create stained glass artifacts, paint portraits, and garden. She is very interested in the cultures of the world, and has gone on study tours of Germany and Israel. She has also visited many nations in Europe, Asia, and Zimbabwe, Africa.