Paul Cowdell<p>Slightly updated <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/introduction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>introduction</span></a>: I'm UK-based (a Londoner, now living on <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/isleofwight" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>isleofwight</span></a>)</p><p>I did a first degree in <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/Classics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Classics</span></a>, then worked/didn't work as an actor for a while, during which time I got really interested in <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/folk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>folk</span></a> <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/folksong" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>folksong</span></a>.</p><p>Started to do <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/fieldwork" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fieldwork</span></a>, realised I needed to think harder about it so did an MA in <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/folklore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>folklore</span></a>. Liked it. A lot.</p><p>Did a PhD on Contemporary Belief in <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/Ghosts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ghosts</span></a> - <a href="https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/7184" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/7</span><span class="invisible">184</span></a>.</p><p>Currently on the Council of the Folklore Society, Associate Editor of its journal Folklore, & on the editorial board of <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/FolkMusic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FolkMusic</span></a> Journal.</p><p>I've written on <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/ghostlore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ghostlore</span></a>, folklore about <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/rats" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rats</span></a>, <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/cannibalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>cannibalism</span></a> at sea, tongue twisters (inter alia), and (increasingly) folklore's history. Was doing this through folkloresque representation in <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/folkhorror" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>folkhorror</span></a>, crime novels & (most recently) <a href="https://hcommons.social/tags/DrWho" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DrWho</span></a>, then finally just got on with doing it as historical research.</p>