UO cultural anthropologist Carol T. Silverman, elected as a Guggenheim fellow in 2010, has scored again. She is now a member of the Fellows of the American Folklore Society.

The designation goes to members of the American Folklore Society who have made outstanding contributions to folklore studies. The society, founded in 1888 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is an association of people who study and communicate knowledge about folklore throughout the world.

"My election to the Fellows of the American Folklore Society provides tangible recognition of the impact of my research in the discipline," Silverman said. "Knowing that senior scholars from varied fields of folklore are reading and using my work is validation of its theoretical importance. When esteemed peers honor you, it is a tremendous boost to future research."

She was one of five folklore researchers chosen in 2014. She was formally recognized at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in November. (Full list of society fellows)

Silverman's long-running research on Balkan music and culture led to her selection as a Guggenheim fellow, a prestigious recognition of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Silverman has spent more 20 years researching Balkan Gypsy music, also known as Romani or Roma music. Since the fall of communism, this music form has become a global phenomenon. Much of her research is detailed in her book "Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora."

She came to the UO in 1980 as a visiting professor and officially joined the faculty in 1987. Silverman holds a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

—By Jim Barlow, Public Affairs Communications