August 4, 12 Noon, Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building

Benjamin A. Botkin Lecture

Teaching with Folk Sources:
Education, Innovation, and the American Folklife Center Archives
A lecture by Lisa Rathje

How can teachers make use of the American Folklife Center’s (AFC) archival treasures in their classrooms? In this talk, Lisa Rathje, Executive Director of the pioneering non-profit organization Local Learning, will describe how educators can use AFC’s local and regional collections to enhance classroom experiences at all grade levels. The AFC’s archives contain a wealth of primary sources – first-hand reports and descriptions, classic recordings, striking images and compelling fieldwork documenting traditional culture in the United States and throughout the world. Today, as more of its holdings are being digitized and made available online, the AFC is becoming a valuable resource for classroom teachers, due, in part, to the efforts of organizations like Local Learning. Local Learning’s work is facilitated by its status as a Consortium Partner of the Library of Congress’s Teaching with Primary Sources (TSP) program, which works with educators to share ideas that create fuller, more complex narratives of cultures, communities, and histories. As the AFC celebrates its 50 year anniversary and America celebrates its 250th, this talk considers the multiple ways archives speak to a moment and support learning across formats to frame futures.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. This presentation is hosted as part of the American Folklife Center’s Benjamin A. Botkin Lecture Series and in celebration of the American Folklife Center’s 50^th anniversary.

August 13, 2026 7:00 PM Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building

Homegrown Concert

An Evening with AFC Artist in Resonance Amanda Pascali and her Trio

Amanda Pascali is the American Folklife Center's 2026 Artist-in-Resonance and is a rising voice among America's most ethnically diverse generation of young people, creating music that speaks to the experience of growing up as a first-generation American. In this concert, Pascali will present an evening of what she calls “Immigrant American Folk,” which blends folk/Americana influences with Mediterranean, Balkan, and Latin rhythms to create powerful tales of America told through the eyes of immigrants. As AFC's 2026 Artist-in-Resonance, Pascali will be visiting the American Folklife Center later in the year, to conduct research in our archival collections to inform this performance.

Pascali is an internationally acclaimed, bilingual singer/songwriter, and was awarded as the Houston Chronicle's "Musician of the Year" in 2021. She was born in New York City, and is now based in Texas. Pascali has performed on national and international stages, from the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to the European Union Parliament in Brussels. After her songs went viral on social media, she amassed hundreds of thousands of fans around the globe. Her recordings, which include Sicilian traditional songs, Sicilian-English translations, and original music, have been praised by NPR and numerous other outlets. As a Fulbright Fellow, she pioneered the first comprehensive project to translate and revitalize Sicilian folk songs in collaboration with the US embassy in Italy. She is a Fulbright Ambassador and serves on the board of the music-activism non-profit, Music to Life. Amanda is currently a Harrington Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin where she conducts research in ethnomusicology and Italian Studies.

The American Folklife Center is organizing this concert as part of the Homegrown Concert Series, Live! at the Library, and in celebration of the Center's 50th anniversary.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required to attend.

Accessible seating is available upon request. Please request ADA accommodations at least five days in advance by contacting 202-707-6362 or ada@loc.gov.

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