Deborah Boykin is a folklorist with the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture. Before coming to the Center, she was Archivist and Cultural Planner for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, where she developed educational programs, curated exhibits, coordinated research, and wrote articles about Choctaw culture and folklife.  From 1990-1997, she directed the Folk Arts Program at the Mississippi Arts Commission where she administered grants programs, coordinated fieldwork and research; documented and presented traditional artists; and wrote articles about Mississippi traditional arts. She received a B.A. in folklore from the University of Alabama and has completed coursework towards her M.A. in political science from Mississippi State University.