Thomas A. DuBois is a

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

, scholar of

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...

culture, professor, and the former chair of the Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+ at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

Personal life

DuBois is married to Wendy Vardaman, a former

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

Career

Thomas A. DuBois received his Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1990. He taught at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

from 1990-1999. While there, he founded the Finnish Studies Program in the Department of Scandinavian Studies and helped initiate the department's Baltic Studies program. In 2000, DuBois moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a professor in the Scandinavian Studies Department, as well as the Department of Comparative Literature and Folklore Studies. DuBois has also served as the Director of the Religious Studies Program. His research interests include folklore and identity in the

Nordic region The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Swed ...

, particularly in connection with

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

, Sámi, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

cultures. DuBois also researches the

Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...

and the broader cultural context of

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

, as well as Celtic-Scandinavian cultural relations. DuBois has written, edited, or co-edited many books and has published articles in journals such as ''

Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003, this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society' ...

'', '' Journal of Finnish Studies'', ''Scandinavian Studies'', and ''Oral Tradition''. In 2013 and 2014, DuBois served as president of the

Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study (SASS) is a scholarly society that aims to advance the study, teaching and research in America of the languages, literature, history, culture and society of the Scandinavian or Nordic countries ...

. He is the editor of the Folklore of the Nordic-Baltic Region series, published by the Welsh Academic Press. Together with

James P. Leary James P. Leary is a folklorist and scholar of Scandinavian studies, and a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Personal life Leary was born in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, in August 1950. He is married to Janet C. Gilmore, an associate p ...

, he served as co-editor of the ''Journal of American Folklore''. from 2011 to 2015. DuBois has also translated into English

Johan Turi Johan Turi, born Johannes Olsen Thuri also spelt Johan Tuuri or Johan Thuri or Johan Thuuri (March 12, 1854 – November 30, 1936) was the first Sami author to publish a secular work in a Sami language. His first book was called ''Muitalus sám ...

's "An Account of the Sámi", the first secular book ever written in the Sámi language. The translation was published in 2011. DuBois worked as a consultant for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

on ''

Frozen II ''Frozen 2'' (stylized as ''Frozen II'') is a 2019 American computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The 58th animated film produced by the st ...

''.

Awards

*In 2011, DuBois was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Umeå A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which rou ...

in Umeå, Sweden. *In 2012, he won a Kellet Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. *In 2016, he was inducted as a foreign member of the

Finnish Academy of Science and Letters The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Finnish ''Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia''; Latin ''Academia Scientiarum Fennica'') is a Finnish learned society. It was founded in 1908 and is thus the second oldest academy in Finland. The oldest is the Fi ...

"Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian uudet jäsenet"
, Retrieved 16 June 2016.

Works

* * * (co-authored with Leea Virtanen) * * (ed.) * * (ed. with

Susan Brantly Susan Brantly is an American scholar in Scandinavian literature and a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Career Susan Brantly received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in German and Scandinavian from Harvard University in 1980, her M ...

) * (trans.)

Films

''Wiigwaasi-Jiimaan: These Canoes Carry Culture''

''Birchbark Canoes and Wild Rice''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DuBois, Thomas A. American folklorists Academic journal editors Scandinavian studies scholars University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people)