DR. DIANE E. GOLDSTEIN
CAREER
Diane Goldstein served as the President of ISCLR, from 2004–2007, as well as First Vice President from 2002–2004. She has also served on the editorial board for the Society’s journal, Contemporary Legend, from 2003 onward. Alongside these other leadership roles within the Society, she was also Program Chair for ISCLR in 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2015 when the Society met in St. John’s, Newfoundland; San Antonio, Texas; and Sheffield, England, respectively. Outside of these considerable contributions to ISCLR, Diane Goldstein also served as President of the American Folklore Society, from 2012–2014 and has served on editorial boards for several other publications in the field of folkloristics.
Diane Goldstein has written extensively on contemporary legend and related genres. Her monograph Once Upon A Virus: AIDS Legends and Vernacular Risk Perception examines the ways rumor and legend impact individual and group behavior as well as legal policy in relation to disease. Her co-authored book Haunting Experiences: Ghosts in Contemporary Folklore explores the supernatural legend and memorate within the context of present-day society. Other works that underscore her devotion to legend scholarship include editing special issues on September 11th and the Stigmatized Vernacular. In the last several years she has contributed to understandings of such topics as disaster response, fake news, and untellability.
Diane Goldstein has also done exemplary work in applied folkloristics, serving on international commissions and advisory boards. Her devotion to furthering legend scholarship also shows in her teaching. She inspires her students to push boundaries in their own scholarship. In a discipline which is primarily celebratory, Diane encourages her students to look critically and without fear at the bleaker aspects of expressive culture.
