Harold B. Lee Library

Projects

Focused Field Projects
Utah Heritage Project

Focused Field Projects 

Currently the focused field projects or student semester projects are not accessible online. A list of early projects, by title and author, is available however. Projects done after these are available through the online BYU catalog. We are currently working to allow students to publish their projects online through the library’s Institutional Repository.

These projects will be searchable by keywords, authors, project titles, and subjects. The site will allow patrons to view the entire project without coming into L. Tom Perry Special Collections. The projected date for the first submissions is December 2009. We will provide more details as they come available.

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Utah Heritage Project 

The Utah Heritage Project provides opportunities for university and college students to do ethnography about varying folklife topics related to the state. All materials are archived and made available to the public through university and college libraries.

History

Begun in 2004, the Utah Heritage Project is cosponsored by Brigham Young University and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Students at BYU as well as participants in folklife field schools held in connection with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The 2004 field school was organized around the theme Fruit of their Labors: Orchards in Utah Valley. The focus for 2005 was Tradition runs through It: Environment and Recreation in Provo Canyon. BYU students began exploring By the Sweat of their Brow: Changing Agrarian Culture in Utah Valley in 2006. An honors seminar was held during Spring term 2007 which was centered on this theme. Other seminars will be held in the future.

Interns

Paid and voluntary internships are available as part of the Utah Heritage Project. Interns do initial interviews with informants. They also do longer interviews with participants not interviewed by students in classes or field school. For more information, please contact Kristi Young, 801-422-6041 or kristi_bell@byu.edu.

Themes

Themes for the Utah Heritage Project are chosen every 12-24 months by the director of the Utah Heritage Project. Themes are selected after consultation with folklorists and others with significant interest in the project. Care is taken to find a topic broad enough to allow for a diverse group to be interviewed. Students and instructors narrow the theme to meet their own research interests.

Community

All interviewees are invited to a reception at the end of the study of the yearly or bi-yearly themes. Students succinctly present their findings to the group. A small exhibit is also opened and refreshments are served. This allows students to publicly thank those who have given freely of their time. The exhibit is displayed generally for two months. Virtual exhibits are available online.

Becoming a Participant

If you are interested in becoming a participant either as an interviewee or a student, please contact Kristi Young at 801-422-6041 or kristi_bell@byu.edu for more information

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