University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Folklore News

Our Shared Waters

As part of the Our Shared Waters program, students from Tom DuBois’ Spark learning community and Marcus Cederström’s FIG met Mino-Giizhig (Wayne Valliere), teacher at Lac du Flambeau Public School and master artist, and Lawrence Mann, artist and Cultural Programming Coordinator for the Forest County Potawatomi Community on the shores of Lake Mendota to paddle …

Article in The Conversation: “Scandinavia has its own dark history of assimilating Indigenous people, and churches played a role – but are apologizing”

Professor Thomas DuBois, Professor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religious Studies, has published an article in The Conversation: “Scandinavia has its own dark history of assimilating Indigenous people, and churches played a role – but are apologizing”. The article is available to read here.

Ojibwe birchbark canoe returns to Lake Mendota after 10 years, connecting to 1,000s of years of art and culture

Ten years after it first cut through Lake Mendota, a traditional birchbark canoe returned to the water, paddled by its maker, Wayne Valliere. On Oct. 4, 2023, Thomas DuBois, professor in the Department of German, Nordi, and Slavic+, Valliere, Tim Frandy, assistant professor of Nordic studies at the University of British Columbia, and Marcus Cederström, …

Campus Ghost Tour, Led by Madison Ghost Walks

Despite (or perhaps because of?) the gloomy weather, we had a spectacularly spooky and intellectually stimulating supernatural UW tour last Wednesday evening, led by Madison Ghost Walks. Over 30 students showed up to prowl the campus hearing memorates, legends, FOAF tales, rumors, and other occult narratives, followed by a very illuminating presentation and Q&A by …