Alright, I confess, when I first heard that there was such a thing as a Master’s degree for folklore, I romanticised the idea, perhaps even “Marvel-ized” it: being a Master of Folklore, Protector of collective knowledge and tradition, Explorer of heritage, Reader of the unread archives!! However, I am sure, dear reader, that you know it isn’t some secret society of esoteric knowledge, although it is a unique and eclectic community of beautiful, passionate individuals worldwide! Since it was a seedling, this programme has grown to represent nearly every continent (we’re still holding out for you, Antarctica!)
I applied in a whirlwind. By the time I had discovered the programme, applied to the programme, made it through to the final round, was accepted, decided to actually make the jump, tied up all my loose ends in the US, and had my bags packed… only 6 months had passed. I tend to live in extremes. But, this extreme life decision was absolutely worth it.
We have plenty of blogs to give you a great sense of living and learning in Tartu (10/10 would recommend), but what’s my little corner of the university like? What is Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies? Well, that depends on your particular interests, which is the beautiful thing about this programme. It is flexible enough to fit your unique niche. There are two main tracks that you could go down: one works mostly with intangible cultural heritage, which can encompass stories, rituals, information, archival collections, beliefs, and so on. The second deals with tangible heritage, which is the realm of physical objects, for example, one of my classmates is researching the process of how seamstresses in the Estonian ballet teach the sewing techniques to create those elegant, detailed ballet tutus. She will create her own tutu as her final project, and I am so excited to see how it turns out! However, you don’t have to do a project (either in the tangible or intangible track). You also have the option to write a conventional thesis on the particular community that you are researching. Just in my class, we have people looking into Colombian food heritage, Cabo Verde carnival (off the coast of Africa), folk religious fields in digital spaces, Iranian nomadic carpet-weaving, the pagan metal music scene in Estonia, sustainability and heritage of paper-making, and this isn’t nearly an exhaustive list!
We folklorists make up the sinews between anthropology, history, performance, religion, and politics; we exist in the spaces that may go unnoticed, the invisible connections and tensions between and among individuals and groups; we do fieldwork in the spaces where human creative expression is exchanged, preserved, and disputed. This gives us the advantage to work in myriad career arenas. Several of our students go on to PhD programs across Europe and North America while others find their place in either private or public sector jobs, from museums, to government institutions to policy advisors. Working in NGOs, tourism, or mediation work for privately owned businesses. We are both artists and analysts, but enough about the future, what about the programme itself?
The thing that really sold me on this programme (or rather two things) was that it was a small, intimate programme in a quaint little city, and, two, that the faculty are so supportive and engaged with our education. I have taken classes (in my undergrad) with professors that were distracted by their own work or reserved (think lecturing at you rather than to you or discussing with you). However, I have not had a single class here that had a professor or lecturer who didn’t want students asking questions, engaging in discussions, or perhaps even derailing the class to explore a very important subtopic before moving on with the rest of the course. Even if you have questions after class, they encourage us to send them an email and they generally respond promptly. They also welcome setting up one-on-one meetings with you (whether online or in person) if you just want to brainstorm your way through your research interests.
The broader folkloristics community is also really friendly and communal. I have met so many lovely people from other cultural university programs at various conferences, and that is always a treat, which brings me to the last thing I’ll say before I let you get on with your day. This folkloristics programme is an excellent hub for all sorts of conference and/or retreat opportunities. With such easy access to several countries around us, and with Estonia itself being so enthusiastic about transcultural, multidisciplinary engagements, one can quickly find their way into the steady stream of the global scholarly community. There are ample opportunities for internships and exchange programmes with other cultural centres worldwide. I, myself, did a summer internship in Helsinki, working for the 18th annual Saga Conference and connecting with the Kalevala Society there. This programme really supports its students in achieving whatever goals they set for themselves, and my professors are so well connected already (for example, we have a UNESCO chair in our department), that they are more than willing to connect you to other scholars and humanities professionals.
For more information about this fantastic 2-year program, take a look here: https://ut.ee/en/folkheritage (You can scroll down to see a table of contents and explore things in more detail. I know I really appreciated reading the “Stories of current students and alumni”.)
Best of luck. 🙂
