Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Sourcebook For The Interpretation Of Traditional Dance By Outdoor Museums & Historic Sites, Jan Alm

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Folklife scholars often produce work which is valuable to outdoor museums and historic sites. Folklife scholars deal with functional, contextual, emic, and interdisciplinary studies--all approaches which produce valuable interpretive data for museums and sites. This thesis is an example of folklife work designed for use in the museum field.

Outdoor museums and historic sites are increasingly involved with the interpretation of social and emotional life. Because it is a social and emotional event, dance can be a valuable part of this interpretation.

Sites and museums developing programs of traditional dance interpretation may find it helpful to follow several steps: 1.) …

They'd Have The Biggest Time You Ever Saw: Square Dances As Settings For Community Social Interaction In Trigg County, Kentucky Ca. 1920-1979, Elizabeth Harzoff

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study focuses upon dance events, those occasions which have as their purpose the convening of persons to square dance or play party games which resemble square dances. Four different forms of these events were identified in Trigg County, Kentucky: neighborhood dances, play-parties, picnics and barbecues and public dances. I have described them from a historical perspective, examining the social interactions that occurred during the events.

The major portion of the information presented was gathered through interviews with current and past residents of this county. The descriptions span the years from the turn of the twentieth century to the 1970s. …