Identifier
NFAI.E.00000685

Preferred Name
Ruth E. Olson

Biography/History
Ruth Olson holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. She has extensive fieldwork experience in the Upper Midwest , and has worked as a presenter at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Wisconsin Folklife Festival and other Midwestern folklife events. As the Local Folk Arts Program Coordinator at the Wisconsin Arts Board, she assisted a number of community-based projects in developing community arts events. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania and has frequently instructed teachers and other adult learners about folklore studies and documentation methods. She is Asociate Director of the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures.