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Sylvia Grider

Professor Emeritus
Contact
  • grider@tamu.edu

Bio

She is a folklorist who taught in the Department from 1988 to 2007.  She began teaching folklore courses at A&M starting in 1976 in the departments of English, History, and Humanities in Medicine. She was Assistant Dean of the Graduate College from 1981 to 1984. With a PhD in Folklore from Indiana University, she specializes in material culture and folk narrative. She also holds a BA in Latin and an MA in History, both from the University of Texas at Austin. Her archaeological experience includes excavations at Corinth and Franchthi Cave in Greece. She has published widely on folklore topics. In 1999, she became the Director of the Bonfire Memorabilia Project responsible for documenting and archiving all of the shrines which were created on campus. After this tragedy, she became an international authority on the topic, speaking at symposia throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia. She wrote on Texas Women’s literature in Texas Women Writers: A tradition of Their Own and Let’s Hear it: Stories by Texas Women. She also co-authored Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. She served as President of the American Folklore Society, President of the Texas Folklore Society, and delegate to the American Council of Learned Studies.