Digital Resources

CSUMC, with its partners, have a number of projects that serve as resources for researchers, teachers and anyone interested in exploring traditional music and folk arts of the region. Click on the links below to learn more about projects in dialect, music and past folklore fieldwork.

Our Projects

Wisconsin Languages Project

Our group is working with the full range of languages spoken in the Upper Midwest, past and present. Languages and dialects reflect Upper Midwestern culture and identity. We also work on regional and social differences in English.

Nordic Folklife Project

The Nordic Folklife project creates public humanities programming through teaching, fieldwork and documentation, and folk art and music symposia to raise awareness of and strengthen networks between Nordic communities and those in the Upper Midwest.

Norwegian-American Folk Music Portal

A single resource to help performers, students, and the general public access significant collections, biographies of performers, and organizations involved in the preservation and continuation of Norwegian-American folk music. With major funding

Stories from Southwestern Wisconsin

In the 1980s, Mark Wagler recorded narratives from a number of traditional storytellers in the Kickapoo Valley in southwestern Wisconsin. In this set of podcasts, Wagler introduces stories told by Halsey Rinehart, Dale Muller, and Ray Schlump.

52nd Annual Algonquian Conference

The 52nd Algonquian Conference was hosted by UW-Madison, and was held virtually in October 2020.

Outside Resources

Local Centers/Global Sounds: Historic Recordings and Midwestern Musical Vernaculars

An ongoing online collection of regional sound recordings and accompanying images, field notes, translations and more, in collaboration with the Mills Music Library and other partners.

Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan: These Canoes Carry Culture

A permanent online exhibit that details the building of a traditional Ojibwe birch bark canoe in 2013. It is designed to teach elements of Ojibwe culture, especially philosophies of wellness, tradition

Ontonagon’s Stein Club: Friendship, Fun and Floats

This snapshot of a virtual exhibit, created by Mary Hoefferle of the University of Wisconsin, details the history and members of the Stein Club, a men’s social club in the Upper Peninsula, whose creativity is displayed in floats, meetings & others.

Grottos and Concrete Parks of the Midwest

A website created by Peyton Smith that describes a number of art environments in the Upper Midwest, complete with images and histories.

Heikki Lunta

This snapshot of a virtual exhibition, created by Hilary Virtanen of Finlandia University, offers bountiful information on the history, culture & music connected to the character Heikki Lunta, an important symbol for the Finns of the Upper Peninsula.