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Erika Brady

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Erika Brady
Alma materIndiana University
Scientific career
ThesisThe box that got the flourishes : the cylinder phonograph in folklore fieldwork, 1890-1937 (1985)

Erika Brady is an American anthropologist, writer, speaker, and radio show host. She is a past-president of the Kentucky Folklore Society Fellows and editor of the journal Southern Folklore.

Career

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Brady studied at Harvard University, University of California, Los Angeles, and Indiana University Bloomington. She taught anthropology at Western Kentucky University beginning in 1989[1] and, as of 2022, has retired from teaching.[2] Brady was the editor of Southern Folklore, a journal published by the University Press of Kentucky, from 1992[3] though 2000.[4] She was the president of the Kentucky Folklore Society Fellows in 2015.[5]

She worked for the Library of Congress helping preserve and make available its collection of wax cylinder recordings.[6][7] Her work at the Library of Congress helped transfer audio tracks from wax cylinders onto tapes that could be preserved for future listeners, including songs from Native Americans[8] and French folk songs sung in Missouri.[9]

Her book, A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed Ethnography, was about the impact of phonograph technology on ethnography. She also wrote a book about alternative medicine methodologies.[10] She has also written about healing in Healing Logics: Culture and Medicine in Modern Health Belief Systems which was reviewed by the Western States Folklore Society.[11]

Outreach

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Brady hosts the folk music radio show Barren River Breakdown on WKYU-FM.[12] She co-hosted and eventually took over hosting of the radio show Barren River Breakdown which began in 1997.[13][better source needed] In 2015 she delivered the American Folklore Society's Don Yoder Lecture in Religious Folklife with a speech titled “A Subtle Thing Withal”: Reflections on the Ineffable, the Unspeakable, and the Risible in Vernacular Religion".[14] In 2010 about the significance of full moons in folkways with ABC News.[15]

Awards and honors

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In 2002, Brady received the Acorn Award from the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education.[16] In 2011 she received a Kentucky Governor's Award in the Arts for her work bringing regional music to Kentucky.[17] In 2015, Brady gave the Don Yoder lecture at the American Folklore Society's annual meeting.[18]

Writings

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  • Brady, Erika (1999). A spiral way : how the phonograph changed ethnography. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0-585-19046-1. OCLC 44954346.
  • ————— (2001). Healing logics : culture and medicine in modern health belief systems. Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press. ISBN 0-87421-454-8. OCLC 54439127.
  • ————— (2013). "Contested Origins: Arnold Shultz and the Music of Western Kentucky". In Pecknold, Diane (ed.). Hidden in the mix : the African American presence in country music. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822394976.

References

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  1. ^ Latimer, Jacob (April 15, 2021). "The Art of Life: Seasoned folk studies professor's passions for music, knitting and nature". WKUHerald.com. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  2. ^ "Retired Folk Studies and Anthropology Faculty | Western Kentucky University". www.wku.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
  3. ^ Southern Folklore 1992: Vol 49 Iss 2. Southern Folklore. 1992.
  4. ^ Southern Folklore 2000: Vol 57 Iss 3. Southern Folklore. 2000.
  5. ^ Siegel, Virginia (June 21, 2017). "Celebrating a Century of Folklore at WKU".
  6. ^ "Erika Brady | University Press of Mississippi". www.upress.state.ms.us.
  7. ^ Library of Congress Information Bulletin July-August 2003: Vol 62 Iss 7-8. Superintendent of Government Documents. 2003.
  8. ^ Lindeman, Kathryn (1980-02-03). "Sacred Indian songs live again". The Billings Gazette. p. 35. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  9. ^ Pulitzer, Joseph (1981-09-06). "Recapturing sound of Missouri's French past". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 41. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  10. ^ Reviews of A Spiral Way
  11. ^ Lybarger, David L. (2004). "Review of Healing Logics: Culture and Medicine in Modern Health Belief Systems". Western Folklore. 63 (4): 326–329. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 25474694.
  12. ^ "From Roots Music to Classical to Jazz". Bowling Green Living. August 15, 2018.
  13. ^ Thomason, Don. "Erika Brady". The Amplifier.
  14. ^ "Folk Belief and Religious Folklife Section - American Folklore Society". www.afsnet.org. 8 February 2021.
  15. ^ Heussner, Ki Mae (August 6, 2009). "Full Moon Myths and Madness". ABC News.
  16. ^ Loyal, Taylor (2002-10-30). "Western professor gets to the roots of music, culture". The Park City Daily News. pp. [1], [2]. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  17. ^ "Folk studies prof at WKU wins arts award". The Park City Daily News. 2011-10-04. pp. B2. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  18. ^ "Folk Belief and Religious Folklife". The American Folklore Society. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
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