Reflecting on Disciplinary Ethics in Folkloristics

The International Conference of Young Folklorists titled "Reflecting on Disciplinary Ethics in Folkloristics" will take place in Riga (National Library of Latvia), September 19-21, 2018. The 2018 conference is the 8th of its kind. Previous ones have been held in Estonia or Lithuania. This is the first time when this event that aims to foster academic collaboration and communication in the field of folkloristics, inviting students, recently graduated scholars, and anyone who considers themselves to be a young folklorist to present their research, and it will all happen in Riga, Latvia. The topic of the 2018 conference invited contributions to address the questions of ethics in folkloristics.

Are there situations when personal engagement can get in the way of truthful reporting? To whom should the folklorist should be responsible: the scholarly truth or the informant? What are the researchers’ responsibilities to those being studied? Are there any fields of research too sensitive and ethically too difficult to be addressed at all? What are the principles of ethically correct work with archived material and its representation in the digital tradition archives? What are the new ethical challenges introduced by the Digital Age? How does the research affect the lives of informants, and should such influence be exerted by the results of the research? Can researchers have too much empathy? Some questions regarding the ethics in folkloristics might never be answered, but nevertheless: with this conference we would like the young folklorists to join the international debate.

Keynote speakers are Anita Vaivade (Adjunct Professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture) and Valdimar Tr. Hafstein (Professor at the University of Iceland, the president of SIEF from 2013-2017).

The full conference programme and website: http://en.lfk.lv/yofo2018, abstracts: http://lulfmi.lv/files/2018/yofo2018.pdf

Organizers: Archives of Latvian Folklore of Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia

The Conference is organized within the framework of the budget sub-programme No. 05.04.00 "Krišjāņa Barona Dainu skapis" (The Cabinet of Folksongs of Krišjānis Barons) of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, and State Culture Capital Foundation.

Last time modified: 15.02.2019 09:48:58