Maya is a student at the University of California, San Diego studying World Literature & Culture. Her research interests are in folklore, philosophy, literature, and creative writing. She also blogs on her Substack publication Diary of A Black Alien.

Maya on her MA experience

During this internship, I worked on editing Wikipedia articles about Central African folkloric figures. I carried out research using databases like the Internet Archive and Google Scholar and used what I found to update the Wikipedia stub articles for Obambo, Kalumba, and Mebege by adding details to their tails and add appropriate links to other Wikipedia articles.

For my independent project, I worked on writing a podcast script about female figures in Central African epics. I researched who they are, and read books and articles about gender roles in African epics and myth. Then I listened to previous podcast episodes and wrote a script to copy the writing style.

I've learned that there is a great wealth of African folklore that I have barely scraped the surface of. In my future as a literature scholar, I want to add it as part of my academic research interests and further public knowledge of it. I have also gained editing and writing skills that I can use in my career and everyday life. I've learned about all the great Wikipedia communities there are and how to contribute to them. The experience has made me see how accessible knowledge can be and ways that people share it.

 All in all, I'm very grateful to have done this internship and to have been a part of Mythological Africans. It's been transformative for my career aspirations and personal interests!   

Oluwatosin is a student at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She majors in Africana Studies and aspires to become a writer and documentary filmmaker. Her research interests range from social justice policy to African history and culture. Throughout this internship she will be working on West African folklore with a special focus on Yoruba cosmology.

Oluwatosin on her MA experience

Throughout this internship, I read and learned about West African folklore and how Africans engage with them in the modern day. Because of this, I was able to make edits in Wikipedia on Mami Wata and Igbo culture.

For my independent research project, I took inspiration from my fellowship project on ethnic conflict and I plan to research how ethnic groups use folklore for conflict resolution. The case study for my independent projects will be the Gacaca Courts that were set up after the Rwandan genocide.

The biggest lesson I've taken away from this internship is that knowledge, even about something as ancient as folklore, is dynamic and always evolving. Therefore, this internship has taught me about the importance of being willing to engage in a variety of sources and flexible in my understanding of how the meaning behind folklore changes over time.

Amen is a Senior at George Mason University, in Fairfax Virginia. She is currently studying Anthropology, with a focus on Folklore and Mythology. Alongside interning with MA, Amen is an intern at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, DC. With academics, Amen also works as a research assistant in a Biological Anthropology Lab at George Mason University. Outside of academics, Amen enjoys filling her free time with reading, drawing, playing video games, listening to Kpop and reading about folklore and folktales from all over the world. During this internship, she will be focusing on East African Folklore and Folktales.