CiCi Becker is a second-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan. As an avid writer, she loves to use folklore and legends as inspiration in her works. She is particularly interested in studying Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends, and their connections to modern media.

Alanna Davey is a second-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She earned her B.A. in Anthropology and French with minors in Biology and Creative Writing from Indiana University Bloomington. Recently she has worked as a researcher and editor of audiobooks designed for people who are blind or visually impaired. Informed by her diverse interests ranging from linguistics to the supernatural, Alanna is looking forward to focusing her study on stories and myths, their creation, and their relation to religious beliefs, morals, and social identities.

Lillian DeVane is a second-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.S. in Mass Media and Journalism from Suffolk University. Lillian hosts two podcasts based in New York City, one that focuses on labor in the service industry, and a second that involves traveling to locations associated with supernatural legends. Her research interests include laborlore, occupational culture, and the cultural expressions of unionism.

Jessie Keith is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.A. in Elementary Education with a minor in Spanish from Ball State University. Since graduating, she has taught at all levels and in a variety of subjects, both in the U.S. and abroad. Her free time is often spent writing novels and creating art. Thanks to these diverse experiences, Jessie is interested in exploring folklore as the intersection of art, history, culture, and storytelling.

Chris Knight is a second-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. He obtained his B.A. in Journalism at Miami University of Ohio in 2003. A retired naval officer, he has traveled widely and is a lifelong student of culture of all kinds. He is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist and currently serves as the president of the Oregon Bluegrass Association. In addition to a deep interest in traditional Appalachian music, he has a strong affinity for Sertanejo and other musical traditions of Brazil.

Ariel Lutnesky is a third-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She earned her B.A. in English with a minor in journalism and mass communication from the University of New Mexico and was a print journalist before coming to Eugene. As someone who loves to dance herself, Ariel is interested in learning about how people use recreational dance as a way to make sense of the world. While she is curious about many kinds of dancing, she is especially interested in Latin dancing and the social media dance world. Her other interests include Victorian novels, aquatic mammals, and sweets.

Melanie McNeil is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.S. in Biology with minors in History, Anthropology, and Forensic Science from the University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in the evolution of folklore throughout time and place, especially fairy legends around the world. She is also interested in the uncanny and the monstrous and their representations in popular culture, literature, and art.

Gabrielle Miller is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.S. in Anthropology with a minor in Linguistics from Western Oregon University. There she developed interests such as the influences of folklore on the modern indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest, how folklore is represented and repeated in art and media throughout history, as well as language revitalization. She recently published a paper in her university’s journal on the environmental ethical philosophy of the Syilx that is inspired by their oral history and stories. She is eager to expand her knowledge within the field of folklore towards the myths and legends that inspire our world.

Elise O’Brien is a first-year M.S. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She received her B.S. from UO’s School of Design where she studied Planning, Public Policy and Management. Since her undergrad days, Elise has been working closely with faculty member Doug Blandy and looks forward to learning academic theory and documentation skills through the Folklore program. She is particularly interested in community building, cross-cultural communication and diplomacy, dance and material cultures, and the folkloresque including science fiction and artificial intelligence. Elise also studies people’s relationship with the land/landscape and is keen to learn more about land spirits across diverse cultures.

Jessica Oravetz is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She earned her B.A. in History and German with a minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies from Western Washington University. She was deeply inspired by her mentors and professors at WWU to pursue teaching and interdisciplinary, humanities-focused studies at the graduate level. Her primary interest lies in asking what it means to live well. She hopes to explore the emotional experience as a part of the human experience, and how people have turned to folklore in order to navigate those waters. Her other interests include dipping chocolate truffles, fostering kittens for the local humane society, and playing the harp.

Yosser Saidane is a second-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.A. in Anglo-American studies from the Ecole Normale of Tunis, Tunisia. As a student she worked as a tour guide in the Medina (old quarter) of Tunis. After earning the agrégation degree from the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities of Manouba, she worked as an English teacher at the University of Gabes for two academic years. Her research interests revolve around the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, African musical traditions and Sufi traditions in North Africa. She aims to focus her studies on the political handling of folkloric traditions.

Iryna Stavynska is a third-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She obtained her B.A. in Japanese from Kyiv National Linguistic University in Ukraine, and later went to study to Osaka University, Japan, where she took courses on Japanese folklore and worked as a miko – Shinto shrine priestess. Later, she served the Department of Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine, worked as a Kyiv tour guide and conducted research on folkloric motifs in modern Japanese animation and the will-of-the-wisp phenomenon in various mythological traditions. She is extremely excited to finally have the chance to focus on studying Folklore as a master’s student at UO.

Erin Wai is a first-year M.A. student in Folklore and Public Culture. She completed her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Humanities with a Minor in Music at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. She is interested in studying storytelling, myths, and legends and how individual experiences influence the collective memory of history. In her free time, Erin likes to ski and play music.