Sharing stories of Quidi Vidi Village, Sunday, 7pm

This Sunday, graduate students from Memorial University’s Folklore Department will be sharing some of their fieldwork discoveries at a community gathering in Quidi Vidi. For the past three weeks, new folklore graduate students have been stationed in the village, as part of their graduate program requirements.

Students have been learning about a variety of different cultural documentation methods, all from a folkloristic perspective. They have learned how to use recording equipment and conduct oral history interviews, picked up photography tips from Newfoundland photographer Brian Ricks, and had instruction in how to draw floor plans of historic buildings. Along the way, they have interacted with locals, and gained insight into how folklorists really work in communities.

The students’ work is part of the “Folklore 6020: Field and Research Methods” course, aimed at teaching students how to document local culture and traditions, taught by instructor Dr. Gerald Pocius. The fieldschool program is a partnership between the Department of Folklore, the Quidi Vidi Village Foundation, the City of St. John’s, and the Heritage Foundation of NL’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) office.

“This is the second time we’ve partnered with Memorial University to run the folklore field school program,” says the foundation’s Dale Jarvis. “It is great for students to see how research happens outside of a classroom setting.”

Students will present their findings and research to the community at 7pm on Sunday, September 29th, at The Quidi Vidi Village Plantation, 10 Maple View Place, in Quidi Vidi. The event is free and open to the public.

(Photo: local resident China Snow being interviewed as part of a 

folklore class at The Plantation, photo by Lisa Wilson.)