Thomas A. DuBois received his Ph.D. in folklore and folklife from the
University of Pennsylvania in 1990. He taught at the
University of Washington from 1990-1999. While there, he founded the Finnish Studies Program in the Department of Scandinavian Studies and helped initiate the department's Baltic Studies program. In 2000, DuBois moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a professor in the Scandinavian Studies Department, as well as the Department of Comparative Literature and Folklore Studies. DuBois has also served as the Director of the Religious Studies Program.[2]
His research interests include folklore and identity in the
Nordic region, particularly in connection with
Finnish, Sámi, and
Swedish cultures. DuBois also researches the
Baltic region and the broader cultural context of
Northern Europe, as well as Celtic-Scandinavian cultural relations.[3] DuBois has written, edited, or co-edited many books and has published articles in journals such as Journal of American Folklore, Journal of Finnish Studies, Scandinavian Studies, and Oral Tradition.[4]
He is the editor of the Folklore of the Nordic-Baltic Region series, published by the Welsh Academic Press.[6] Together with
James P. Leary, he served as co-editor of the Journal of American Folklore.[7] from 2011 to 2015.
DuBois has also translated into English
Johan Turi's "An Account of the Sámi", the first secular book ever written in the Sámi language. The translation was published in 2011.[8]
DuBois, Thomas (2000).
Finnish Folklore. Finnish Literature Society in association with the University of Washington Press. (co-authored with Leea Virtanen)