Bachelor of Arts Community Studies in Folklore

Cape Breton University

Cape Breton Island is a hotbed of culture, with a rich, varied landscape of traditions and lore. Traditionally, folklore is the study of informal culture. The study of a group’s folklore yields valuable insights into how that group operates in the world, but also reveals biases, prejudices and other obstacles to a more inclusive worldview. Most often, folklore is expressive and manifests itself in certain forms, such as story and song, festival and feast, architecture and craft. Although these forms may be manifested in a distinct way by each group, they recur in similar ways across cultures, so folklore examines both the particular context and the general formal patterns of expressive culture.