Richard Dorson came to Bloomington in 1956 to take charge of
the emerging Folklore Institute. An Americanist steeped in historical
approaches, he channeled his vast store of energy and savvy to establish the
Folklore Institute, in 1965, as an academic department granting Bachelor's,
Master's, and Doctorate degrees.
Today the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology
consists of both the Folklore Institute and the Ethnomusicology Institute,
which carry out the teaching mission at the undergraduate and graduate levels,
and the Special Projects unit, which promotes and organizes a variety of
research and outreach activities.
The Richard Dorson Memorial Fund endowment was established
to honor Dr. Dorson's legacy at Indiana University and in the field of folklore
research. Your gift to this endowment will allow the Department of Folklore and
Ethnomusicology to continue its historic study of folklore.