Janis Benincasa, November 27, 2024
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Title
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Janis Benincasa, November 27, 2024
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interviewee
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Janis Benincasa
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interviewer
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Zachary Sabo
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Date
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2024-11-27
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Subject
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Catskills
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Erpf Catskills Cultural Center
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Folklore
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Irish Traditional Music Festival
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I Walked the Road Again
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New York Folklore
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New York Folklore Society
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Staten Island Council on the Arts
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SUNY New Paltz
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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
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Description
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Janis Benincasa is an eminent folklorist, specializing in art and environment within the Catskills, as defined by the people rather than New York State. Born to first-generation immigrants in 1956 in Patchogue, Long Island, she got a West Coast education at the University of California, Los Angeles, and entered the realm of folklore through her cultural anthropology degree.
She recounts her career from beginning to end, tracing the lines of the myriad cultural organizations she has worked for. She discusses her time with the Erpf Catskill Cultural Center and the Staten Island Council on the Arts as well as SUNY New Paltz’s language program, museum, and think tank. Her discussion of these positions is intertwined with her experiences with New York Folklore.
I interviewed Janis over Zoom. She was at her home in Arkville. Now fully retired, she covers personal experiences, shares anecdotes, and reflects on her career. She offers insights into the realm of folklore while discussing the field’s lack of financial stability.
I have edited the interview for clarity, creating sentence breaks and adding missing words if necessary. The final minute of the interview is not transcribed. After having thanked Janis for the interview, I did not stop the recording and only realized after the fact that a minute had passed. The information removed has minimal relevance to the content of the interview and is essentially a discussion between us.
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Time Summary
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Track 1, 4:01 - Education at UCLA
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Track 1, 10:40 - Erpf Center
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Track 1, 20:04 - Irish Traditional Music Festival
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Track 1, 24:13 - Irish Traditional Music Festival cont.
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Track 1, 29:20 - Time at SUNY New Paltz
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Track 2, 03:52 - Time with New York Folklore
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Track 2, 12:45 - I Walked the Road Again Book
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Track 2, 16:17 - Getting Involved in New York Folklore
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Creator
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Zachary Sabo
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Publisher
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Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York at Oneonta
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Rights
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Cooperstown Graduate Association, Cooperstown, NY
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Language
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en-US
