The Department of Folklore Studies is the first educational center in independent Ukraine for the training of folklorists, ethnomusicologists and ethnoculturologists. The concept of the department is based on the views of M. Maksymovych, M. Kostomarov, M. Drahomanov, V. Antonovych and others.
The objective prerequisite for the creation of the department was the need to revive the national culture of independent Ukraine. Founder and first head of the department (1992-2006) – Doctor of Philology, Professor Lydia Dunaevska, who started professional training of specialists in the field of folklore in Ukraine. On her initiative, in 1989, the Interfaculty Folklore and Ethnographic Educational and Methodological Laboratory was created (together with Doctor of History, Professor V. Borysenko), in which scientific consulting on folklore was carried out, in 1991 – the Republican Educational and Methodological Center of Folklore and Ethnography of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, in 1992 – the Department of Folklore. The core of the department was formed by professors L. Dunaevska, V. Boyko, O. Talanchuk, who had previously taught courses on folklore at the departments of the history of literature, managed folklore practice and conducted relevant research work.
Later, the academic staff was joined by Professors L. Kopanitsa, N. Malynska, S. Rosovetsky, I. Pavlenko, O. Ivanovska, S. Szegeda, O. Naumovska, Associate Professors L. Shurk, O. Pavlov, N. Lysiuk, N. Saltovska, O. Marchun, N. Rudakova, O. Overchuk, assistant lecturers R. Lykhohrai, S. Leshchynska, N. Khomenko, etc.
In 1993, the specialty of folklore was opened, in 2000 – the specialization “Musical Folklore Studies”. In 2001, a student ensemble called the Ukrainian Folk Music Ensemble “Roksolania” was created, serving as a creative laboratory recording, studying, and popularizing traditional culture.
The department contributed to the creation of folklore departments at Lviv and Luhansk universities, conservatories and universities of culture; became the coordinator of scientific folklore research carried out in Ukraine, initiating the opening of the Specialized Academic Council for the defense of theses for the degree of PhD in the specialty 10.01.07 Folklore at Shevchenko University.
In different years, Ukrainian folk artists, kobzars, leading ethnographers of the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine, folk masters were invited to give guest lectures: N. Matrienko, V. Vovkun, M. Lytvyn, T. Kompanichenko, A. Rudnytska, etc.
Professors Nataliia Malynska and Liubov Kopanitsa served as the head of the Department of Folklore for a short time.
From 2007 to 2019, the department was headed by Doctor of Philology, Professor Olena Ivanovska. On her initiative, educational programs of ethno-culturological direction were opened at the department.
Since 2020, the department has been headed by Doctor of Philology, Professor Olesya Naumovska.
The department provides courses on the Theory of Folklore, Ukrainian Folklore and Folklore of the peoples of the world, the History of Folklore Studies, the world heroic epic, Cultural Anthropology, Mythology, Ethnopedagogy, Ethnopsychology, Ethnolinguistics, Ethnology, Customary Law, Post-folklore, Mythodesign, Ethnomusicology, Choreology, Decorative and Applied Arts, etc.
The activities of the Department of Folklore Studies are carried out in two directions:
- theoretical (teaching and studying the History of Folklore Studies, Theory of Folklore, Folklore Comparative Studies, Folklorism and Folklorization of Artistic Works)
- applied (Field Folklore Studies, Reconstruction of Folklore, Retransmission and Popularization of Folklore Units)
The folk ensemble of Ukrainian music “Roksolania”, known far beyond Ukraine for its artistic achievements, operates at the Department of Folklore. The repertoire of the ensemble includes field research materials and archival materials of the department: calendar ritual traditions (carols, shchedrivki (winter songs), goat-leading ritual, malanka (pre-Christian winter holiday), spring songs, Holy Trinity celebrations, rusalii (Slavic summer festival), Kupala night traditions (midsummer celebration)), family ritual traditions (reconstruction of the wedding ritual of covering the bride) and lyrics.
The practical platform of the department is the Folklore and Ethnography Center.
The joint work of the Department’s staff (scientific and educational training), the Center for Folklore and Ethnography (expeditionary and educational activities) and the Roksolania Folk Ensemble of Ukrainian Music (performing and reconstructive practices) ensures the promotion of intangible cultural heritage in Ukraine and the world.
The staff of the department for the period of its existence has published more than 1000 teaching and methodological works devoted to the problems of research of intangible cultural heritage.
At the Department of Folklore, 76 theses (12 DSc and 64 PhD) were defended, covering the following issues: History of Folklore Studies; Theory of Folklore; Folklore Genre Studies; Folklore and Folklore Studies of Ethnographic Regions of Ukraine; Interaction of Folk Poetic and Artistic Creativity; Comparative Folklore Studies.
The educational activities of the department staff include scientific consulting of various projects (filmstrips, documentaries, popular science, feature and animated films; computer games; art events); cooperation with the media; master classes on traditional folk crafts and cultural practices.
The Department is a permanent participant and organizer of international and all-Ukrainian scientific and scientific and practical forums.
The department provides training in the following educational programs:
Bachelor’s degree
- “Folklore Studies, Ukrainian Language and Literature and Foreign Language”;
- “Ethnoculturology with advanced study of a foreign language”
Master’s degree
- “Folklore Studies, Cross-cultural Communication, Foreign Language”;
- “Cultural Anthropology with Professional Study of a Foreign Language”.
Until 2021, the department’s staff published the annual academic journal Literature. Folklore. Problems of Poetics (48 issues).
Since its establishment in 1992 and up to and including 2024, the department has completed 27 graduations of specialists in the protection, research, and promotion of Ukraine’s intangible cultural heritage.