Jeannie Thomas
English
Professor
![Jeannie Thomas](/english/images/faculty/jeannie-thomas.jpeg)
Biography
Dr. Jeannie Banks Thomas is a folklorist and a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. She is the author or co-author of several books including Putting the Supernatural in Its Place (2015); Haunting Experiences (2007); Naked Barbies, Warrior Joes, and Other Forms of Visible Gender (2003); and Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women, and Serious Stories (1997). Two of her books have won international prizes. She recently finished editing Creole Soul, a book on zydeco music in Texas and Louisiana written by the late folklorist Burt Feintuch.
She is the co-director of USU’s Digital Folklore Project, which names the #DigitalTrendoftheYear, and she is an award-winning teacher. Additionally, her scholarly work has appeared in the Journal of American Folklore, Western Folklore, Journal of Folklore Research, Midwestern Folklore, and Contemporary Legend, among other journals.
Teaching Interests
legend, the supernatural, digital folklore, American folklore, folklore theories and methods, folk narrative,
Research Interests
legend, the supernatural, supernatural tourism, digital folklore, material culture, gender
Awards
USU Administrator Diversity Award, 2015
Utah State University
Diversity Award, 2014
Department of English
Brian McConnell Book Award, 2008
Humanist of the Year, 2001
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Humanist of the Year, 2001
Department of English
Kongas-Miranda Award, 1998
American Folklore Society
Diversity Award, 1998
Indiana State University
Educational Excellence Teaching Award, 1997
Indiana State University College of Arts and Sciences
Outstanding Composition Teacher Award, 1991
University of Oregon Department of English
Service Award, 1991
University of Oregon School of Graduate Studies
Publications | Books
- Thomas, J., (2015). Putting the Supernatural in Its Place: Folklore, the Hypermodern, and the Ethereal. University of Utah Press
- Thomas, J., Goldstein, D., Grider, S., (2007). Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore. Utah State University Press
- Thomas, J., (2003). Naked Barbies, Warrior Joes, and Other Forms of Visible Gender. University of Illinois Press
- Thomas, J., (1997). Featherless Chickens, Laughing Women, and Serious Stories. University of Virginia Press
- Thomas, J., (2015). Introduction: Putting the Supernatural in Its Place. University of Utah Press
- Thomas, J., (2015). Which Witch is Witch? Salem, Massachusetts: Putting the Supernatural in Its Place. University of Utah Press
- Thomas, J., (2011). The Cemetery as Marketplace in Salem, Massachusetts: Fieldworking. Bedford/St. Martin’s
- Thomas, J., (2007). Heckling Hillary: Jokes, Late-Night Television, and Hillary Rodham Clinton: Geek Chic: Smart Women in Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan
- Thomas, J., (2006). Communicative Commemoration and Graveside Shrines: Jim Morrison, Princess Diana, My ‘Bro’ Max, and Boogs the Cat.: Spontaneous Shrines and Public Memorializations of Death. Palgrave Macmillan
- Thomas, J., (2000). Ride 'Em, Barbie Girl: Commodifying Folklore, Place and the Exotic: Worldviews and the West.
- Thomas, J., (1995). ISU's Barfing Ghost Legend: Special Edition of Study Skills for Today's College Student. McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Publications | Book Chapters
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Thomas, J., (2000). Stone Angels, Naked Mourners, and Various Virgins: Statues, Legends, and the Gendering of Intimacy. Contemporary Legend, 3, 127-160.
- Thomas, J., (1995). Pickup Trucks, Horses, Women, and Foreplay: The Fluidity of Folklore. Western Folklore, 54.3, 213-228.
- Thomas, J., (1994). Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Postmodern: Folklore and Contemporary Literary Theory. Southern Folklore, 51.2, 107-120.
- Thomas, J., (1992). The Bighorn Medicine Wheel: When Native American Religion Becomes American History. Midwestern Folklore, 18.2, 56-63.
- Thomas, J., (1991). Hecate in a Habit: Gender, Religion, and Legend. Northwest Folklore, 9.2, 14-27.
- Thomas, J., (1991). Pain, Pleasure, and the Spectral: The Barfing Ghost of Burford Hall. Folklore Forum, 24.2, 27-38.
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
Magazine/Trade Publications
Other
- Thomas, J., (2009). Barbie Doll: Encyclopedia of Women’s Folklore and Folklife. Greenwood Press
- Thomas, J., (2009). Ghosts: The Chicago Companion to the Child. The University of Chicago Press
- Thomas, J., (2005). Gender: Encyclopedia of World Folkore. Greenwood Press
- Thomas, J., (1998). Postmodernism: Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature. ABC-CLIO
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Teaching
Creative Works | Other
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: How It Started/How It's Going/How It Ended, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2020
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: How It Started/How It's Going/How It Ended, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2020
- Burt Feintuch Library of Congress Collection, Other, Collection of 46,471 Fieldwork Items for the Library of Congress - 2019
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: Greta Thunberg vs. President Trump, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2019
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: Greta Thunberg vs. President Trump, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2019
- #DigitalTrendofYear: #WhyIDidntReport, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2018
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #MeToo & @AltUSNatParkService (Tie), Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendofYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2017
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #MeToo & @AltUSNatParkService (Tie), Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendofYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2017
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: Creepy Clown Memes, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2016
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: Creepy Clown Memes, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2016
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #LoveWins, Other, Annual Naming of the #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2015
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #LoveWins, Other, Annual Naming of the #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2015
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #BlackLivesMatter, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2014
- #DigitalTrendoftheYear: #BlackLivesMatter, Other, Annual Naming of #DigitalTrendoftheYear by Digital Folklore Project - 2014