This course will focus on folktales from a multicultural perspective with an emphasis on the processes of both storytelling and maturation suggested by those tales.  We will respond to fundamental questions relative to youth as depicted in folktales of five distinct types: trickster tales; cosmological/creation tales; cautionary tales; magical tales; and animal stories.  As we examine these narrative types, we will look toward understanding their structures and psychological functions for the communities from which they have sprung.  In addition, common points from the tales will be examined for universal principles underlying folktales as a medium of cultural (and cross-cultural) communication.  We will learn key phrases (common daily expressions) and 1-2 songs from Lingala, Pazande (Zaire), French, and Swahili and practice them throughout the three weeks of the institute.  We will also incorporate youth films from different cultures examined.