Programme

Day 1

September 25, 2025 (Thursday)
09:00 – 09:30 Registration Venue: University of Tartu Library, W. Struve 1, Tartu
09:30 – 09:45 Opening of the Conference Location: (Conference Hall)
09:45 – 11:00 Keynote Lecture by Dorothy Noyes on the topic – The Vernacular Ground and the Field of Folklore   Location: (Conference Hall) Moderated by Ülo Valk
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
Session 1: Folkloristic Theories I Location: (Conference Hall)  Chair: Lodewyk Barkhuizen		Session 2: Human-Animal Interactions   Location: (Seminar room Tõstamaa) Chair: Margaret Lyngdoh	Session 3: Performance and (un)tellability   Location: (Seminar room Kodavere) Chair: Marje Ermel
11:30 – 12:00	Evgeniya Litvin, University of Salento, Humble Theory in Minority Language Literature Research	Haozhen Li, University of Tartu, Between Religious Revival and Reinvention: Three Strategies of Revitalisation for Shamanism in Northeast China	Jaana Ahtiainen, University of Helsinki, Beyond Institutional Lenses: Rethinking Sex Work Research Through Folklore Studies
12:00 – 12:30	Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde, University of Latvia, Academic Endeavours and Popular Imaginations: The Question of Lay and Academic Voices in Folklore Studies	Jasmina Rejec, Institute IRRIS for Research, Animal Folk Tales as Vehicles of Moral Values and Social Critique	Pema Choedon, Independent scholar, Gorshey: An Expression of Resilience and a Unified Identity through Tibetan Folk Dance
12:30 – 13:00	Ivan Praštalo, University of Belgrade, Between Grand and Humble Theory: What Can We Learn from the History of the Discipline through Sima Trojanović	Chloe Lundrigan, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, “It’s Tradition, but also Breaking Tradition”: Performing Multi-species Environments in Newfoundland	Yun Dai, University of Tartu, Bear Grandmother: Hearthside Storytelling
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch Break
Session 4: Folkloristic Theories II   Location: (Conference Hall) Chair: Alina Oprelianska		Session 5: Narrative Reflections   Location: (Seminar room Tõstamaa) Chair: Pihla Maria Siim	Session 6: Vernacular Expressions   Location: (Seminar room Kodavere) Chair: Haozhen Li
14:30 – 15:00	Abhirup Sarkar, University of Tartu, Some Notes on the Viability of the ‘Humble Approach’ in Folkloristics	Iida Räty, University of Turku, Illness Narrative as an ‘in Between’ Category	Dan Zhou, Kwansei Gakuin University, Reframing ‘Vernacular’: The Localisation of a Global Concept in Japanese Folkloristics
15:00 – 15:30	Li Feng, Fudan University, Why Is Chinese Folkloristics Theory Still Not So Humble?	Mikhail Popov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “A Ruse Occurred, a Tale Was Born”: The Transmission, Transformation and Social Background of One Folklore Plot in Chulym Turkic Folklore	Anja Mlakar, Institute IRRIS Slovenia, Folklore as Contested Knowledge and the Struggle for the Vernacular
15:30 – 16:00	Mar’yana Svarnyk, University of Tartu, Sustainability: A Concept without a Theory?	Mirjami Sipilä, University of Turku, Exploring Livonian Counting Rhymes and Their Presentation in the Volkslieder der Liven (1936) Collection	Susanna Jurvanen, University of Helsinki, Bridging Theory and Ethnography: Multimodality in the Study of the Finnish Helka Festival
18:00-21:00 Reception at University Cafe (Ülikooli 20) for Registered Participants   Musical Performance by Estonian flute duo Kuula Hetke (Kärt Pihlap & Katariina Tirmaste)

Day 2

September 26, 2025 (Friday)
09:45 – 11:00 Keynote Lecture by Mariya Lesiv on topic – Folklore of Anger in the Precarity of War: Humble Theory and the Unhumble Vernacular   Location: (Conference Hall) Moderated by Anastasiya Astapova
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
Session 7: Placelore   Location: (Conference Hall) Chair: Kikee Doma Bhutia		Session 8: Social Media and AI   Location: (Seminar room Tõstamaa) Chair: Andrus Tins	Session 9: Belief Narratives   Location: (Seminar room Kodavere) Chair: Kristel Kivari
11:30 – 12:00	Lachlan Bell, University of Tartu, The Sõrve Bunyip: Reimagining a Colonial Cryptid in an Australian-Estonian Context	Jasmine Aavaranta Hansén, Åbo Akademi, Listening Objects: AI-enhanced Museum Exhibitions Aided by Humble Theory	Roope Kotiniemi, University of Helsinki, Navigating Contradictions: Analysing Magical Pouches in Finnish and Karelian Belief Narratives
12:00 – 12:30	Linda Saraswati Klausner, University of Tartu, When Trees Wear Saris: Ritual Dressing and Sacred Power	Hanna-Kaisa Lassila, University of Turku, The Everyday Entertainment of Vernacular Disciplining on Social Media	Anete Saulīte-Stačkune, University of Latvia, Personal Insight as an Aid, Not the Enemy: an Example on Latvian Folk Belief Research
12:30 – 13:00	Pallavi Dutta, Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, Mohan Phador: A Sacred Stone of the Tiwa Community, North East India	Joan Jürgens, University of Tartu, ‘Timeless Reading’: Fortune Telling with Tarot Cards in Estonian-speaking Social Media Channels	Hanna Dudkowiak, University of Warsaw, Our Lady and the Golden Foam: Tracing the Medieval Polish Magical Charm
13:00 – 14:30 Lunch Break
Session 10: Ritual Practice   Location: (Conference Hall) Chair: Alevtina Solovyeva		Session 11: Material Folklore   Location: (Seminar room Tõstamaa) Chair: Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde
14:30 – 15:00	Nataliia Rygovska, University of Tartu, The Invisible Front: Vernacular Spiritual Practices in Contemporary Ukraine	Mila Santala, University of Turku, From Tradition to Modernity: The Enduring Legacy of Kalevala Jewellery and the Kalevala Women’s Association
15:00 – 15:30	Lodewyk Barkhuizen, University of Tartu, Existential Weakness as Method in the Spiritual Teachings of South African Traditional Healers	Edgar Mirjamsdotter, Åbo Akademi University, Following the Threads – Exploring the Aibo Tapestry though Ethnography
15:30 – 16:00	Baobao, University of Tartu, Sutɕywu and Sutɕywumɨni of Misfortune Transferability in the Eastern Minyag Community	Kikee Doma Bhutia, University of Tartu, Thensay Yaksay and the Burden of Ritual Gift-Giving in Sikkimese Villages
16:00 – 16:30 Closing of the Conference