Bios
The Telling Traditions project is headed by Dr.
Rachel Gholson and Ms. Mara Cohen Ioannides, both faculty at Missouri State University.
Dr. Rachel Gholson, Assistant Professor
English Department,
Missouri State University
Dr. Gholson is Coordinator of the Ozarks Studies Program Design Committee and associate editor for OzarksWatch: The Magazine for the Ozarks. She teaches American Folklore and Survey of Folklore courses. Her research interests focus on regional cultures, folklore, and folklore in literature. Recent research topics include teenage tripping legends of the St. Louis region, the narrative project Telling Traditions: Discovering the Ozarks' Jewish Women, and folklore in the writing of Ada Jack Carver, Zora Neale Hurtson, Dana Stabenow, and various Canadian short stories. She has worked as the State Folklorist for Arkansas, written entries for the Encyclopedia of Folklore and Literature, and is designing a new folklore minor.
Mara W. Cohen Ioannides, Lecturer
English Department, Missouri State University
Ms. Cohen Ioannides’ area of expertise is Jewish American History. She has: guest edited a special double issue of OzarksWatch: The Magazine of the Ozarks — Special Issue: Documenting Jews of the Ozarks (12.1& 2: 1999); been published in SHOFAR: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, CCAR Journal, Tourism Recreation Research on topics relating to American Jewish studies; presented papers at Midwest Jewish Studies Association, Western Jewish Studies Association, and Association of American Geographers annual conferences, along with providing seminars at Temple Israel.