Appalachian studies
Encyclopedia
Appalachian studies is the area studies
field concerned with the Appalachia
n region of the United States
.
librarian Robert F. Munn noted that “more nonsense has been written about the Southern Mountains than any comparable area in the United States.” He also observed that there was “distressingly little in the way of useful primary and secondary materials” available for historical research on Appalachia.” (Munn 1966)
Over the four decades since Munn’s comments, a wealth of excellent Appalachian scholarship has been published. Appalachian Studies is interdisciplinary, as befits the study of a complex and diverse region and people. Appalachian Studies includes such disciplines as history
, literature
, music
, religion
, economics
, education
, environment
, folklore
and folk customs, labor
issues, women's issues, ethnicity, health care
, community organizing
, economic development
, coal mining
, tourism
, art
, demography
, migration, and urban
& rural planning. Appalachian scholarship has addressed – and continues to address – various issues within all of these academic disciplines.
Several academic journals are dedicated to Appalachian Studies, including Appalachian Journal, published by Appalachian State University
, Journal of Appalachian Studies, published by the Appalachian Studies Association
, Now & Then, published by East Tennessee State University
, and Appalachian Heritage, published by Berea College
. For a larger list of pertinent Appalachian Studies journals and magazines, refer to Marie Tedesco’s Selected Bibliography on the Appalachian Studies Association website.
Much of the scholarship and research about Appalachia is done by scholars who are members of the Appalachian Studies Association
.
taken in the Spring of 2007.
For more detailed bibliographies, refer to the Bibliography section of the ASA website. For teachers who would like to incorporate Appalachian Studies content into their classroom, the ASA website includes a list of Appalachian Studies syllabi for college and university teachers, as well as a list of resources for K-12 teachers.
Area studies
Area studies are interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what are, in the practice of scholarship, many heterogeneous fields of research, encompassing...
field concerned with the Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n region of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Scholarship
In 1966, West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
librarian Robert F. Munn noted that “more nonsense has been written about the Southern Mountains than any comparable area in the United States.” He also observed that there was “distressingly little in the way of useful primary and secondary materials” available for historical research on Appalachia.” (Munn 1966)
Over the four decades since Munn’s comments, a wealth of excellent Appalachian scholarship has been published. Appalachian Studies is interdisciplinary, as befits the study of a complex and diverse region and people. Appalachian Studies includes such disciplines as history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
and folk customs, labor
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
issues, women's issues, ethnicity, health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, community organizing
Community organizing
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...
, economic development
Economic development
Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
, coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, demography
Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
, migration, and urban
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
& rural planning. Appalachian scholarship has addressed – and continues to address – various issues within all of these academic disciplines.
Several academic journals are dedicated to Appalachian Studies, including Appalachian Journal, published by Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University is a comprehensive , public, coeducational university located in Boone, North Carolina, United States. Appalachian State, also referred to as Appalachian, App State, or simply App, is the sixth largest institution in the University of North Carolina system...
, Journal of Appalachian Studies, published by the Appalachian Studies Association
Appalachian Studies Association
The Appalachian Studies Association is an organization of scholars and activists interested in Appalachian studies.According to its web site, “The Appalachian Studies Association was formed in 1977 by a group of scholars, teachers, and regional activists who believed that shared community has...
, Now & Then, published by East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
, and Appalachian Heritage, published by Berea College
Berea College
Berea College is a liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky , founded in 1855. Current full-time enrollment is 1,514 students...
. For a larger list of pertinent Appalachian Studies journals and magazines, refer to Marie Tedesco’s Selected Bibliography on the Appalachian Studies Association website.
Much of the scholarship and research about Appalachia is done by scholars who are members of the Appalachian Studies Association
Appalachian Studies Association
The Appalachian Studies Association is an organization of scholars and activists interested in Appalachian studies.According to its web site, “The Appalachian Studies Association was formed in 1977 by a group of scholars, teachers, and regional activists who believed that shared community has...
.
Academics
A number of colleges and universities in and around Appalachia offer courses and degrees in Appalachian Studies. These range from a Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies offered at Appalachian State University, to undergraduate minors at a dozen schools. Many schools also have Appalachian Studies collections and archives in their libraries.A brief Appalachian studies bibliography
The following is a brief list of important books in the Appalachian Studies canon that would serve as a good introductory reading list. These titles were culled from a poll of members of the Steering Committee of the Appalachian Studies AssociationAppalachian Studies Association
The Appalachian Studies Association is an organization of scholars and activists interested in Appalachian studies.According to its web site, “The Appalachian Studies Association was formed in 1977 by a group of scholars, teachers, and regional activists who believed that shared community has...
taken in the Spring of 2007.
- Appalachia: A History. By John Alexander Williams. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2002.
- Appalachia on Our Mind: the Southern Mountains and Mountaineers in the American Consciousness, 1870-1920. By Henry D. Shapiro. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1978.
- Appalachia in the Making: the Mountain South in the Nineteenth Century. Ed. by Mary Beth Pudup, Dwight B. Billings, and Altina L. Waller. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 1995.
- Appalachia: Social Context Past and Present. Fifth Edition. Ed. by Phillip J. Obermiller and Michael E. Maloney. Kendall Hunt Publishers. 2007.
- Appalachians and Race: the Mountain South from Slavery to Segregation. Ed. by John C. Inscoe. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. 2000.
- Back talk from Appalachia : Confronting Stereotypes. Ed. by Dwight B. Billings, Gurney Norman, and Katherine Ledford. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. 2001
- Fighting Back in Appalachia: Traditions of Resistance and Change. Ed. by Stephen L. Fisher. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1993.
- Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Ed. by Rudy Abramson & Jean Haskell. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 2006
- A Handbook to Appalachia: an Introduction to the Region. Ed. by Grace Toney Edwards, JoAnn Aust Asbury, and Ricky Cox. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. 2006
- High Mountains Rising: Appalachia in Time and Place. Ed. by Richard A. Straw and H. Tyler Blethen. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 2004.
- The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America. Jeff Biggers. Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker and Hoard. 2006.
For more detailed bibliographies, refer to the Bibliography section of the ASA website. For teachers who would like to incorporate Appalachian Studies content into their classroom, the ASA website includes a list of Appalachian Studies syllabi for college and university teachers, as well as a list of resources for K-12 teachers.