Kenneth Thigpen |
Kenneth A. Thigpen is a folklorist, educator, and documentary filmmaker who spent much of his career at Penn State. He earned a Ph.D. in folklore from Indiana University and joined Penn State in 1973, where he taught English and folklore. In the early 1980s, Thigpen teamed with filmmaker George Hornbein to form the nonprofit Documentary Resource Center and make films documenting contemporary folk traditions and community life. Their collaborations include Salamanders (1982), Buck Season at Bear Meadows Sunset (1984), and Rattlesnakes (1992), all available on Folkstreams. Thigpen and Hornbein also founded the “Slice of Life” film festival at Penn State. Thigpen retired from Penn State in 2017 after 35 years of service, most recently as Director of Academic Affairs at Penn State Lehigh Valley.
