Cultural Sustainability: A Framework for Relationships, Understanding, and Action

Michael Atwood Mason serves as the director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where he leads the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, and educational and cultural programs. A champion of cultural sustainability, Mason has spent his career supporting individuals and communities in identifying, documenting, preserving, and sharing the culture that matters most to them. Since 1987, he has been studying the religions and cultures of the African diaspora, and he is the author of Living Santería: Rituals and Experiences in an Afro-Cuban Religion (2002) and the cultural blog Baba Who … Babalú!

Rory Turner is Assistant Professor of Practice in the Center for People, Politics, and Markets, and teaches in the Sociology and Anthropology Departments at Goucher College. He designed, launched, and continues to teach in Goucher’s Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability program. Formerly program director for Folk and Traditional Arts and program initiative specialist at the Maryland State Arts Council, he co-founded and directed the Maryland Traditions program from 2000–2007. He also founded and subsequently revived the Baltimore Rhythm Festival.