Tom Mould, PhD
Professor of Anthropology
Tom Mould is a Professor of Anthropology and Folklore at Rollins College with research interests in oral narrative traditions and storytelling, poverty and social justice, prophecy, legend, video ethnography, Indigenous and Native studies, Latter-day Saints, and the American South. He has taught in higher education for over thirty years, including at Indiana University; Elon University where he was the J. Earl Danieley Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Folklore; and Butler University. He directed the Honors Program at Elon and served as Department Chair at both Elon and Butler.
Tom has authored, co-authored, or co-edited nine books on topics including Choctaw oral traditions, Latter-day Saints, folklore and social justice, and tradition. His book Overthrowing the Queen: Telling Stories of Welfare in America (2020) won the Chicago Folklore Prize and the Brian McConnell Book Award. In all of these projects, Tom works collaboratively with community members to help ensure the research aligns with community interests and needs, valuing rapport, reciprocity, and relationships as his central ethical guides.
In addition to his research, Tom is deeply invested in teaching and working with students to help them develop their interests and goals for an intellectually-based life of civic engagement, both in the classroom and outside it through advising and mentoring student-driven research projects. Some of the courses he has taught recently include “Folklore and Social Justice,” “Language and Culture,” “Native American Narrative and Oral Traditions,” “Everyday Storytelling,” and “The Sacred and Supernatural.”
Education
- BA English Literature, Washington University (1992)
- MA Folklore, Indiana University (1998)
- PhD Folklore, Indiana University (2001)
Areas of Specialization
- Oral narrative and storytelling, including personal experience narrative and legend Prophecy and Sacred Narrative Visual and Collaborative Ethnography
- Poverty and Social Justice
- Indigenous Cultures
- Latter-day Saint Traditions and Narratives
- Cultures of the American South
Published Books
- Mould, Tom and Andrea Kitta, eds. 2026. Folklore in the Public Square: How the Study of Traditional Culture Can Solve Contemporary Social Problems. Logan: Utah State University Press. (June 2026)
- Mould, Tom, Eddie Johnson, and Jay Wesley. 2025. Choctaw Traditions: Stories of the Life and Customs of the Mississippi Choctaw. University Press of Mississippi.
- Mould, Tom and Rae Nell Vaughn. 2025. Choctaw Tales: Front Porch Stories from the Firekeepers, 2nd Edition, fully revised with new preface and material. University Press of Mississippi.
- Mould, Tom. 2020. Overthrowing the Queen: Telling Stories of Welfare in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Winner of the Chicago Folklore Prize and the Brian McConnell Book Award.
- Eliason, Eric A. and Tom Mould, eds. 2013. Latter-day Lore: Mormon Folklore Studies. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
- Mould, Tom. 2011. Still, the Small Voice: Narrative, Personal Revelation, and the Mormon Folk Tradition. Logan: Utah State University Press.
Cashman, Ray, Tom Mould, and Pravina Shukla, eds. 2011. The Individual and Tradition: Folkloristic Perspectives. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. - Mould, Tom. 2004. Choctaw Tales. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi
- Mould, Tom. 2003. Choctaw Prophecy: A Legacy of the Future. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.