Rough Project idea

This is still unrefined. Currently, I am thinking of researching and writing a proposal for a local Slow Food Convivium. David Huntley and his wife Edelma are in the process of establishing a local Slow Food chapter (called a convivium) for the Boone area, and they have already established several members that are willing to join. Most of the members are consumers and restaurant owners, rather than producers, but all are like minded and open to new things. I hope to contact several of the willing members and members from possibly the Asheville convivium to understand what exactly do permanent residents of the surrounding Boone area want to see Slow Food get involved with. What types of events would be welcomed in relation to food and culture? I will investigate various food-related events and educational activites to strengthen the Slow Food concern in and around Boone. One of the requirements for starting a convivium states that the convivium must have at least 20 members by the end of their first year. If I could write a reasonable proposal suggesting for the convivium what kind of events the community might enjoy, I may possibly ensure the strength of the Slow Food movement in Boone. This in turn will help educate and spread the word of sustainability issues and alternatives.

Evaluation of Research Guidlines in Law in Mnt. Top Removal

According to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjectsof Biomedical and Behavioral Research, assessment of the justifiability of research should reflect at least the following considerations: (iv) When vulnerable populations are involved in research, the appropriateness of involving them should itself be demonstrated. A number of variables go into such judgments, including the nature and degree of risk, the condition of the particular population involved, and the nature and level of the anticipated benefits. I believe this MIGHT be applicable to my course of study because I would not hesitate to connote individuals involved in my research as being inherently vulnerable; taking into consideration this assessment's belief that those in economic minorities might be deemed as such. However, I am in no way taking advantage of their underpriviledged state for the availability of research participants. "To our social colleagues we have the responsibility to not engage in actions that impede their reasonable professional activities. Among other things, this means that, while respecting the needs, responsibilities, and legitimate proprietary interests of our sponsors we should not impede the flow of information about research outcomes and professional practice techniques. We shall accurately report the contributions of colleagues to our work. We shall not condone falsification or distortion by others. We should not prejudice communities or agencies against a colleague for reasons of personal gain." -SFAA Ethical Guidlines. I believe this statement to be applicable to my senior project due to the posibility that I might give an inherently negative portrayal of the failing legal suites enacted by certain environmental agencies. Just writing this makes me re-evaluate any negativity that I might offer towards a field outside my own expertise. Instead, I aim to replace that foolishness with a subjective portrayal which aims to cite areas I deem as perhapts faulty in a more appropriate, acedemically appreciated manner. I want to be proud of this project, not my own cynacism. In addition, I will keep in mind what I've learned throughout this review concerning informed consent; however, at this time I do not believe it to be a neccesary consideration seeing that I'm mainly speaking with attorneys. If I do chose to visit with individuals for interviews in the involved communities, obviously I'll take a differing course of action.

almost forgot

here's my blog
http://musiclimb.blogspot.com/

Senior Project and research

My idea is a research/project

I want to research practical ways to create a in home hydroponics system that uses multi-tiered space saving techniques to produce both high caloric yields and diverse selection of crops. I am very interested in taking this is far as it would go and my goal is to achieve a tangible product if possible. Here are some of my brainstorm points.

Food Types

I need to know which crops to utilize to provide the best nutritional mix- a mixture of both high caloric yield and nutritionally diverse crops.

Nutrients

I want to study different ways to use compost, possibly bat guano, and various methods of PH control in order to create your own nutrient solutions. I want to also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of chemical solutions.

Energy and efficiency

I want to study various designs, pumps, lights and system orientations to maximize energy efficiency. I want to come up with different dimensions for systems in different home situations. The main concern I have is finding ways to supplement energy from the sun for lights- directly (with windows) or indirectly (solar panels). I need to figure out how much space this system would take and what the most efficient tier system I can implement would be.

Marketability and practicality

My main concern is to create a system that can not only provide a practical function but could also possibly be marketed to middle class groups. I also see how a community of such systems could form a farmer’s market type system to increase diversity of foods and increase the cultural freedom of that community.

Secondary benefits

There are hydroponic systems out there that use the exhaust from high powered lights to supplement heat in a home. Also, air purification, ionizing effects.

Social Philosophies I’m approaching this from

This whole idea stems directly from my philosophies concerning sustainability and how society can possibly move towards it. The basis of this idea is to fight the overwhelming reliance we have on this system for the very tenants of survival- food, water, and shelter. These things, very simply constitute the necessities for personal freedom. If a group of people want to have true freedom, then they must be able to become more self sufficient in these categories. A local network of these systems set up in a kind of farmer’s market has the potential to empower a large number of people against the practices of mono-culture and over-cultivation of the land. I think this is a very worthy first step in starting productive movement towards sustainability.
As IDS majors and aficionados, we exhibit a higher level of mental freedom then many of our more singularly focused colligate counterparts. If we can start moving towards physical freedom we will be that much closer to making a tangible difference in society.

about me

I grew up in Raleigh, where I did all my schooling from preschool to 12th grade. I’ve been in Boone for the last four years where I garnered an interest first in Sustainable Development from my first semester, specifically in Chuck’s Politics Technology and the Environment class. It didn’t take long for me to move quickly away from pre-professional biology which is what I came to Appalachain under the banner of. Since then I’ve found almost a split interest in the field of sustainability. I enjoy learning the philosophical ramifications of consumer society and the issues facing sustainability that stem from things as sensual construction of one’s reality and how current system marketing techniques have played into this development. I also feel a need to create tangible developments that do not necessarily create sustainable solutions, but move in the direction of sustainability. I believe that by increasing the true freedom of groups of people (i.e. the necessities for survival like food) yo0u can actually empower people against a system they may have life long reservations against but otherwise complete reliance on for survival. Since I understand many of the daunting cultural issues that cripple sustainability, I’ve decided to approach sustainability in terms of smaller, more practical steps towards sustainability that you can successfully market to at least middle class America. My hydroponics idea, which I will expand upon in later writings, goes along these lines.
I also enjoy promoting socially conscious ideals through fund raising and music. Music is my other great passion, and being able to find ways to mix the two and come out with better versions of both has been fun. Throwing concert events to support local non-profits and food drives- these are ways we have successfully brought the two together in the past. I hope to maintain and expand upon these events in the future. I play keyboards and hand percussion and have a couple of bands that play around on the local level.
When I graduate I plan to move “Pacific Northwestwards” to Washington or Oregon. There I plan on really expanding on these ideas and concepts while trying to finish graduate work. I think the university system will be the best medium for me to turn ideas into reality. If I could ever find a way to mix sustainable ideas with a large popular culture movement it would represent the culmination of all of my ideas on approaching sustainability.

Course List: Most valuable in getting me to this point

Intro to Sustainable Development- Chuck Smith
Politics, Technology & the Environment – Chuck Smith
Sustainable Development- Jeff Boyer
Globalization and Rural Development- Jeff Boyer
Meaning- Diane Mines
Bodies Places and Things- Richard Carp
Agroecology- Kristoff DenBiggelar
Sustainable Transport- Jack

Books: Fast Food Nation – very accessible, very influential
Second Nature, Michael Pollen
Botany of Desire, Michael Pollen
Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankel
Understanding Media, Marshall Mcluhan

Senior Project Plan

Senior Project Plan: Recognizing the coal mining industry's negative impacts on the area throughout my studies, especially after an in-depth visit to Whitesville, WV, I've become convinced that through legal action, on behalf of our environment and communities, the most significant headway can be established in this area. What I'm aiming for is a case study that I can examine to determine exactly how many of these injustices can or have not in the past been able to been addressed and/or compensated for legally.

here is my link

hopefully this will take you to my blog.


http://joeyshanks.blogspot.com/

joe schenkenberg

a brief history of my education

I spent my first two years of college in Chapel Hill. I wanted to study art then, so I was taking some studio classes along with my general ed. Maybe this was the beginning of my interest in interdisciplinarity. Art makes you look at ideas in a wider view, and some of my teachers were inspirational in that they would never accept a lame idea, but demanded the expression of some knowledge. I missed the mountains so I came to ASU. I took Billy Schumann's Intro to SD class, halfway by chance, and loved it. It opened my eyes in so many ways, and seemed important to me, my life and my family. I am pretty interested in sustainable agriculture, partly becaseu my family's dairy farm went under when i was younger. it was hard for me to understand then why exactly that happened. Not until studying SD did I really start to understand why small farming has become something of the past. I have taken random classes to fill my requirements for the SD concentration, and I don't have any concrete plans for the future. I am taking 'energy issues in technology' this semester, and some spanish for my minor.I basically lost my art credits when I transferred, but I am hoping to integrate that into my senior project.

here is a link to my personal blog : http://staceybum.blogspot.com/

and here's my story.

hm. officially "liberal studies: modern period" is "a study of the causes and consequences of the Enlightenment - the movements, revolutions, reactions and revivals which led to and derived from it. Appreciating the elements of Western Culture that preceeded the Enlightenment, the student will have the opportunity to trace the progress of liberalism, nationalism, romanticism, socialism and evolutionary theory. From this intellectual basis, the student will have the opportunity to engage contemporary discussions about post-modernity, pluralism, and the prospects for achieving a global cultural system."

i got that from the ids website. i'd quote it, but since this is a blog, i don't think i have to. to shorten that definition, i'm getting a classic liberal education (or as cynthia called it, a classic harvard education. i like that one better. it sounds smarter.) in my words, i'm getting to take a lot of cool history, literature, philosophy (and religion), political science, and of course ids classes that are combined in some way shape or form to give me a better or broader understanding of the world around me. alexander meiklejohn mentions the idea of teaching intellignence versus some main idea or trade. that's what i'm doing in getting a liberal education. i'm becoming (or at least trying to) a little bit more intelligent, or well-rounded, if you will. what i'm specifically trying to avoid is completing my undergraduate career knowing how to do business, how to communicate, the specifics of american literature, or exactly how political systems in the united states work.

one time, i heard some one describe his concentration (also liberal studies: modern period) a cop out. i disagree. i kind of think that what's wrong with higher education is that it is so major driven and that people strive to finish in four maybe five years with specific knowledge about a specific thing that they can specifically use for a specific job. that must be comforting to them, but its comforting to me that i am going to graduate in four maybe five years having taken cool classes, read cool stuff, and really just learned a whole lot more about, well, everthing. college was like that once. its not anymore.

but i digress...

all of that being said, i'm going to move on to the post-graduation stuff, because that's really on the top of my mind at all moments of my life right now. i'm currently waiting to hear back from the university of maryland at college park b/c i want to get my masters in college student personnel (ie i wanna be one of those geeky touchy feely student affairs people when i grow up). eventually i want to get my phd in it too, along with some greater understanding (b/c naturally i'll need to publish) of education policy. THAT way, i can continue with my quest to make a liberal education, the very one i am getting (shit, this makes me sound elitist) the norm once again in higher education, or perhaps just a little bit more popular. at the very least i want to work in some kind of residential college setting (much like watauga) that has a liberal curriculum at its core.

since my major is so varied, i haven't taken any courses that really stick out in my mind as specifically liberal studies, but some good books i'd reccomend are:
the experimental college by alexander meiklejohn
any book about the history of american higher education
or one i haven't read yet, but am excited to: academic keywords: a devil's dictionary by cary nelson and stephen watt

here's my link.

cannonleavelle.blogspot.com

Elise's Blog Link

Also check out www.highcountrycloggers.com It's the website I designed and update for the clogging studio I teach at.

Evan's Blog

so here is thelink to my blog....

www.evanmoody.blogspot.com

andrew's blog address

http://lawinmountaintopremoval.blogspot.com/

http://theosaslow.blogspot.com/

Hey Derek - don't forget me! My link was at the top of my earlier post. . .

-theo saslow-

Link to my Blog

here's my blog, guys!
http://eslandsd.blogspot.com/

a little late, but still in

I'm Alexandra Greif, and I'm concentrating on Environmental Education and Linguistics (a self-designed major). This concentration is sort of a general outlook on Sustainable Development, Planning and teaching ESL (English as a Second Language). When I first started at ASU, I'd intended on majoring in Elementary education, but... found out that I wanted to explore a few different areas. I decided about two years ago that I wanted to study SD as well as ESL but realized I wouldn't have enough time to complete the SD major and minor in ESL due to spending a semester in Germany. So.... thanks to the help of David Huntley, I created this concentration to prepare me to possibly teach ESL abroad in underdeveloped countries and still do some sort of sustainable work on the side.

My future plans have changed significantly this past year. Instead of wanting to go explore the world, I have tapped back into the desire to teach in public schools. After speaking with a few high school ESL teachers, I'm thinking I would like to get into the school system with either teaching ESL and German (my minor) or kindergarten. It's somewhat of a stretch, but I figured undergraduate education is for studying what you want and graduate is for your career. We'll see. I hope to take a short break from school to work, and then eventually go back for a Masters. But for now, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed and trying to get through this last stretch of school. Yeah for graduation!

Course List:
Intro to Planning - Jana Carp
Planning for Sustainable Communities - Jana Carp
Intro to Sustainable Development - Christof den Biggelaar
Politics, Technology and the Environment - Chuck Smith
Environmental Economics - John Whitehead
Sustainable Development - Jeff Boyer
Agrarian Studies and Rural Development - Jeff Boyer
Second Language Acquisition - Richard McGarry
Structure of Modern English - Richard McGarry
Materials and Methods in TESOL - Richard McGarry

Books:
Second Nature - Michael Pollen (?)
**there are more books I'd like to put on here, but I don't remember the exact titles and authors!

Your Blogs

I now have links for 6 of your blogs posted over on the right. But that means I still need 10 more. Please post the address of your blog here asap.

Here is the link to my blog. http://bloggingjessie.blogspot.com

SimonSays

This is the link to the blog of Aaron Simon

FYI: Summer Himalaya Trip

Summer 2006 Indian Himalaya Course
May 8-June 1, 2005

Information Session Friday January 20th at 2pm
Rankin Science West 341

Offered by: Kathleen Schroeder & Keith Bosak (ABD University of Georgia)
The Indian Himalaya program (6 credits) will explore mountain geography and sustainable development in the Garhwal Himalaya of India. These courses will introduce students to Mountain Geography and Sustainable Mountain Development using the Garhwal Himalaya of India as an example. These courses will stress the connections between the physical and human geographies of the Himalaya. Students will learn through extensive readings, class discussions, student led presentations and direct field experience including trekking and living in a remote mountain village.

Mountain Geography (GHY 3530/5530) Counts for physical geography credit
Sustainable Mountain Development (GHY 3531/5530/5531)
Counts for human or regional geography credit.

Price: $3460.00 (airfare included—tuition NOT included)

Contact schroederk@appstate.edu; kbosak@uga.edu
Link to write up from last year’s trip http://bostonglobalaction.net/UK/nandadevi/asu.html

Progressive Home Economics

My name is Mecca Jackson and I AM a self designed concentration. Yes, that's right Mr. Ponder, I AM my concentration, "Nourishing Traditions: Food and the Community" has been the best name for it so far, so I guess that's it. It was something I learned in Histories of Knowledges about being "situated" and having "situated knowledges." I am studying food culture, food history, community development and Sociology. I am looking at how these subjects relate to historic and existing communities and how these subjects relate to one another using the context of Southern Appalachia as a model. THe reason I say that I AM my concentration is because I cannot separate myself from it. I realized this recently when sometimes I couldn't wrap my brain around all that I wanted to study and I couldn't put it into the context that many people would ask me to, such as "well what sort of job will you be getting with THAT?" "with that?!" "that" is me and the communities around me. THat is four uncles and three aunts and almost forty cousins on one side and one grandmother feeding them all. THAT is not only the past, but the present and the future. I'de also like to call what I am doing "Progressive Home Economics." I believe that when and if the home and community are the places of production (food is a biggie), then our communities will become stronger and more sustainable. Knowledge can then be passed laterally among the community members and the ties of labor as well as the fruit of labor will be strong bonds that will hold a foundation for all kinds of progressive community development. I feel that this theory can be passed to any cultural context with little modification. THerefore, I wouldnt say that I am studying Appalachian Foodways, although I have and am, but that I have used the culture of Southern Appalachia to develop ideas about sustainable community development. This does not mean that Appalachian culture holds a sustainable model in itself, but by using the lenses of sustainable development and women's studies, I have understood how many aspects of the culture could be ephasized to build sustainable communities.

Courses:

IDS 2530 Selected Topics: Introduction to Sustainable Development, Chuck Smith

FCS 2202 Nutrition and Health, Lisa McAnulty

IDS 3252. Intermediate Agroecology, Cristof den Biggelaar

ANT 3150 Human Ecology of the Southern Appalachians, Dr. Harvard Ayers

IDS 3530 Women in Appalachia, Rebecca Baird

PLN 3531 Planning for Sustainable Communities, Dr. Jana Carp

PLN 3531 Rural Community Development, Dr. Jana Carp

IDS 3536 Foodways: Seeds of Change, Rebecca Cranston & Neva Specht

IDS 3700 Seminar II: Feminist Theories, Dr. Maggie McFadden

Books/Articles:
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon

Fat Land: How Americans became the Fattest people in the World by Greg Critser

Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835 (Indians of the Southeast) by Theda Perdue

Wendell Berry "The Art of the Commonplace" and "The gift of Good Land." and others.

Other Experiences:

I left ASU after completing my first two years of school and my core requirments to work for the Northwest Service Academy in Trout Lake, WA. It was a residential Americorps program meaning that four teams of 8 ppl lived together on the back couple of acres of the Forest Service Headquarters for Giford Pinchot Nat'l Forest. We all shared a community kitchen of mostly organic and local foods. I aquired the reputation of a damn good cook with all the southern charm a girl could muster. I realized how unique and meaningful a deep cultural connection to food can be. A small group of us also headed up the garden for the year.This is where i began to pay attention to the connections between a community and their food (survival). I also began to notice how working with people, like really working for the service and survival of everyone, really helped a community hold itself together and respect one another. I then traveled to Southern Mexico and was there for 3 months. I was surrounded by people of another culture doing what they did everyday: surviving and working together. Especially when I was in a more rural area did I notice this and feel a tinge of homesickness. It was then that I realized I wanted to return to the south to MY community and be a part of it.

Prodigal Return

This is my second time at Appalachian. The first was thirteen years ago. For a lot of reasons I never completed my undergraduate degree at that time. Now I've returned in order to complete my degree. Rather than simply finish the degree I started years ago, I chose to pursue an interdisciplinary studies degree with a concentration in sustainable development.

The reasons for this switch are two fold. Switching my course of study was a pragmatic decision because it allowed me to reestablish my academic credentials to prospective graduate schools. The switch also allowed me to spend my time back in school exploring some of the issues I have developed a passsion for.

I’ve always had an interest in social change movements. I’m fascinated with the ability of ordinary and often disenfranchised peoples to overcome their circumstances and to, as Marx said, ‘make their own history.’ This is reinforced by my belief that since we are, individually and collectively, responsible for our material and social condition, we have an obligation to take responsibility for these conditions and pursue an existence dedicated to changing these conditions for the better, whether those conditions are social injustice or environmental degradation.

After seven years as a professional organizer I have a strong interest in the real world practice of achieving sustainability and have attempted to focus my studies on the methods and strategies for accomplishing sustainability, especially at the community and grassroots level.

Prior to my return to Appalachian I'd spent the previous seven years as a grassroots organizer and nonprofit administrator working for a clean and healthful environment, strong consumer protections, and an open and accountable government. As the Executive Director of the Montana Public Interest Research Group I worked with university students to research and develop public policy initiatives on a range of issues from renewable energy to citizen participation in government. I cut my teeth on these issues as a citizen outreach director for the Fund for Public Interest Research where I oversaw door-to-door grassroots public education, fundraising, and membership development campaigns in five locations across the country.

I have been strongly influenced by the courses I've taken with Dr. Jana Carp, Sustainable Community Development and Rural Commuity Development. These classes have helped me recognize that my concerns about ecological health and social justice are largely questions about the vitality of local place based communities. In this regard I find myself identifying with authors such as Wendell Berry and Kirkpatrick Sale.

My future plans include enrolling in Appalachian's Masters of Public Administration Program in the fall and getting married this summer.

some resources

Andrew Smith
Interdisciplinary Studies

Resources

Appalachian State University Belk Library: The W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection.
Appalachian State University Libraries. 312 University Drive. P.O. Box 32036. Boone, NC. 28608-2026 Tel: (828) 262-2186. Fax: (818) 262-3001.
The William Leonard Eury Appalachian Collection is a repository for a wide variety of materials related to the Southern uplands. Located on the second floor of Belk Library at Appalachian State University, the Appalachian Collection has more than 37,000 volumes of books and over 200 periodical subscriptions, with special strengths in the social sciences, regional history, folklore, music, religion, genealogy, fiction, and African and Native Appalachia.-The Appalachian State University Library Homepage

Now and Then: Appalachian Museums and Archives. http://cass.etsu.edu/n&t/appmuseums.htm
Although a dying journal, Now and Then serves as a collaborative journal of Appalachian Museums and Archives.

The Appalachian Cultural Museum. University Hall Dr. Boone, NC. (828) 262-3117
The Appalachian Cultural Museum is worth noting due to its local presence and undeniably rich source of visual scholarship. Open to the public since 1989, “Its mission is to provide a continuing reinterpretation of life and culture in the mountains of western North Carolina.”-(Charles A. Watkins, Director)

Ballard, Sandra L. Appalachian Journal. Boone, NC. Center for Appalachian Studies at Appalachian State University. 1972-
A journal compiled by our own Sandra Ballard whose continuous research explores volumes of literature, critical essays, ecological concerns, political conflictions, etc.

Brosi, George. Appalachian Heritage. Berea, KT. Berea College. 1973-
A valuable resource of journals devoted to Appalachian literature and essays.

Ergood, Bruce. Appalachia: Social Context Past and Present. Dubuque, Iowa. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 1976-
An upgraded and reinterpreted textbook which is republished throughout the years in devotion to the study of Appalachia.

Hill, Samuel S. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Macon, GA. Mercer Publications. 1984.
An encyclopedia with defined, clear, concise representations of religion here in the Appalachians.

Higgs, Robert J. Ambrose N. Manning. Jim Wayne Miller. Appalachia: Inside Out. Knoxville. University of Tennessee Press, 1995.
These two volumes of critical essays and literature devoted to the study of the culture and customs of Appalachia with respect to diversity and change provide a significant addition to the Appalachian collection. Taking into consideration such themes as dialect and language, family and community, and the future of the region as a whole, this collection analyses a collaboration of fiction, poetry, history, literary criticism and folklore to assess the current Appalachian situation.

Hudson, Charles. Mark Reed. Laura Hill King. Journal of Cherokee Studies. Cherokee, NC. Museum of the Cherokee Indian. 1976-
A continuing journal of research and scholarship devoted to the study of the Cherokee.

McNeil, Nellie. Joyce Squibb. A Southern Appalachian Reader. East Tennessee State University. Appalachian Consortium Press. 1988.
Again, another body of collected literature from the area.

Encyclopedia of Appalachia. In progress at the Center of Appalachian Studies at ETSU, this body of knowledge is worth noting in anticipation.

Thernstom, Stephan. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University Press. 1980.
This body of knowledge is specifically important due to its classifying of Appalachia as a separate ethnic group from the rest of the States.

Williams, Cratis. A selected bibliography: The Southern Mountaineer: In Fact and Fiction. New York. New York University Press. 1961.
Cratis Williams’ thesis, The Southern Mountaineer: In Fact and Fiction, serves as the quintessential Appalachian Studies collection. Over sixteen hundred pages in length, Williams drew together an immense volume of research covering over a hundred years of Appalachian literature and history.

Marx, Carl. Capital. Vol. 1.

Matrices of Meaning

Awiakta, Marilou. Selu: Seeking the Corn Mother’s Wisdom. Golden, CO. Fulcrum Pub.1993
An important aspect of Appalachian Studies deals with the Native American population of the surrounding area. This is an important resource that draws many conclusions concerning areas such as politics, nuclear power, gender relations, and dam controversies from Native American culture and Appalachian society as a whole.

Ballard, Sandra L., Patricia L Hudson. Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia. Lexington, KT. University Press of Kentucky. 2003.
A valuable resource devoted to women’s writing(literature mostly) in Appalachia. Although brief representations of authors’ works, this resource is valuable to its broad-based comprehensive study.

Billings, Dwight B., Kathleen M Blee. The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia. New York. Cambridge University Press. 2000.
An impressive collection of research by two sociologists, Billings and Blee argue their interpretation of the impoverishment of Southern Appalachia, through collected research of a specific southern community. An insightful book, The Road to Poverty clearly expresses concern towards the reoccurring pattern of political / industrial exploitation of third world societies, ie. Southern Appalachia. (places “without a history”)

Dunaway, Wilma. Slavery in the American Mountain South. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
A valuable resource on slavery in the Southern Appalachians, this work includes a great deal of statistical data and insights on southern culture as a whole. As well, “One lasting contribution is a permanent electronic archive of her(Dunaway) research materials. This repository includes statistics from census manuscripts and tax records of 215 counties in nine states, numerous slaveholder documents, and slave narratives, some from the WPA Federal Writers Project.”-( Jenny B. Wahl, Department of Economics, Carleton College)

Dunaway, Wilma A. The First American Frontier: Transition to Capitalism in Southern
Appalachia, 1700-1860. Chapel Hill. The University of North Carolina Press. 1996.
An interesting account of the transition from a rural, agricultural society of Appalachia to the more modern capitalistic, industrial region. It’s worth noting however many scholars critique of the portrayal of old Appalachia as being overtly noncapitalist.

Eller, Ronald D. Millers, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South (1880-1930). Knoxville. University of Tennessee Press. 1987.
An impressive body of research devoted to local skilled labor’s role in the industrialization of southern Appalachia.

Gates, Henry Lewis Jr. Colored People: A memoir. New York. Random House, 1994.
An in-depth portrayal of the social strife between African-Americans and the various ethnic groups in southern Appalachia, this memoir, is useful to the study of our cultural development as a whole.

Gaventa, John. Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. Urbana, IL. University of Illinois Press. 1980.
Power and Powerlessness is a portrayal of many aspects of Appalachian society, not necessarily associated with coal mining, resisted by local concerns. These concerns dealt with issues such as dam construction, environmental degradation, and tourism development.

Jones, Loyal. Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands. Urbana. University of Illinois Press. 1999.
A well-researched and articulated portrayal of religion’s role in the Appalachian region, Loyal Jones again serves to be a quite useful resource in research.

Lewis, Helen Matthews. Linda Johnson. Donald Askins. Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case. Boone, N.C. Appalachian Consortium Press. 1978.
An important aspect to Appalachian studies deals with the influx of people from various areas of the world during colonialization, its affects on the native populations, and the overall resulting patterns of existence.

Lockard, Duane. Coal: A Memoir and Critique. London. University Press of Virginia. 2000.
A valuable resource of knowledge concerning the coal mining industry of southern Appalachia, including first hand accounts and significant statistics.

McCauley, Deborah Vansau. Appalachian Mountain Religion: A History. Urbana, IL. University of Illinois Press. 1995.
A comprehensive study of Appalachian Religion in context to its apparent role as a counter-stream reaction to Protestant religion.

Mooney, James. History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. Asheville, NC. Bureau of American Ethnology. 1891.
An unbelievably impressive volume of knowledge concerning the Cherokee. Although somewhat outdated, its collection is irreplaceable to the study of the Cherokee Indian.

Whitson, S. Mont. Sense of Place in Appalachia. Morehead, KY. Office of Regional Development Services. 1988.
A comprehensive study of an underlying characteristic of the Appalachian People, as noted by Loyal Jones: Sense of Place.

Williams, Cratis D. Ed. David Cratis Williams. Patricia D Beaver. Tales From Sacred Wind : Coming Of Age In Appalachia : The Cratis Williams Chronicles. Jefferson, NC. McFarland Press. 2003.
A unique compilation of Cratis Williams’ works by various known writers in the field. With descriptions and critiques, it serves as a useful research tool for the Appalachian Studies department as a whole. Patricia D. Beaver is also worth noting due to her presence here as the head of Appalachian Studies at ASU, a valuable resource.

Williams, John. Appalachia: A History. Chapel Hill, NC. University of North Carolina Press. 2002.
This work gives a general political, economic, and industrial history of the region known as Appalachia. A fine introduction to Appalachian Studies, our local Boone writer and professor, John Williams, accurately portrays many important aspects of Appalachian society and culture.

Williamson, Jerry Wayne. Hillbillyland: what the movies did to the mountains and what the mountains did to the movies. Chapel Hill, NC. University of North Carolina Press. 1995.
This work gives our field an insightful look into the many stereotypical portrayals of Appalachia throughout Hollywood, as well as some introductions to various educationally sound visual representations of the Appalachian region.

 EDIT - LINK TO THE VERY SAME DOC ON MY VERY OWN BLOG!
http://theosaslow.blogspot.com/2006/01/as-sustainable-development.html

As a sustainable development concentrator (I think!), I want to change the world. No, I’m not on an ego trip – regardless of one’s major or life calling, one will change the world – albeit perhaps in a very small and unimportant way. I’m simply concerned at the destructive path our society seems to be taking, and want to somehow change the direction/purpose of a few lives – though even changing my own will be satisfaction enough for me. “Sustainable development” can be defined in countless ways – after all, BP and Ford regularly tout their sustainable development – but I think the UN definition of “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” simply sums up my philosophy

I had no idea what I wanted to major in when I started college, and began by exploring what the different courses had to offer. I took a few sociology and psychology courses, and though I liked them, found that the anthropology/IDS/Watauga courses more to my liking. Cultural Anthropology opened my eyes to the whole other world outside my suburban upbringing, and I began to take more courses centered on development/underdevelopment, as well as human interaction with the natural world. Watauga College’s emphasis on interdisciplinary and social awareness pulled me towards SD-related fields, and the faculty (especially Chuck Smith and Cynthia Wood) introduced me to ideas that heavily influenced me. Furthermore, Boone’s natural beauty made me more interested in the environment, and I took more interest in nature writing, and well as environmental policy. Politics, Technology, and the Environment, a Watauga tangent taught by Chuck Smith, played a key role in developing my interests in environmentalism and social activism.

My first sustainable development course made my feel that I had finally found a major that would give my life some much-needed purpose, and one that would hopefully pay most of the bills as well. I began to take political science courses in an attempt to find concrete solutions (or partial solutions) to our development problems, with Dennis Grady’s Environmental Politics class having particular significance. My exploration into the social aspects of SD came next semester (Fall ’04) as I took Race, Gender, and Class. On a personal-scale level, I began to learn about agriculture and agriculture’s role in sustainability, and have since taken all three agroecology courses – and will be taking these lessons to heart as I live the rest of my life. My interests have since broadened, as I explore the more-concrete world of political science and planning – for while I am intrigued by the more philosophical/paradigmatic/abstract elements of SD, I want to actually make a difference – and I know that small gains/improvements can be made in pre-existing fields. I am currently on the threshold of graduating – but am not totally sure of my major, and am exploring a self-designed/double major more to my liking (and letting me stay in school longer!) After I graduate, I plan to valuably fritter some time away working on organic farms (perhaps in Hawaii), as well as look into the Peace Corps. Ultimately, I want to be a college professor, so I have a few years of schooling left to accomplish.

ANT -1215 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY – Casagrande

G H -2520 AMER ENVIRONMNT'L WRITERS – Tim Silver

ANT -4570 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – Billy Schumann/Christof

P S -4540 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS – Dennis Grady

ANT -2420 GENDER, RACE AND CLASS – Rorbakken

IDS -3251 PRINC OF AGROECOLOGY – Christof

TEC -3532 SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION – Jack Martin

P S -4220 GLOBALIZATION  - Renee Scherlen

PLN -3531 PLN FOR SUSTAINABLE COMM – Jana Carp

P S -4722 U.S. FOREIGN POLICY – Scherlen

POLITICS, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
REVISITING NATURE AS SOCIAL SPACE - IDS 1105-103 – Chuck Smith

I don’t have the space required to list influential
articles, but I find The Organic Machine and Second Nature
(Pollan) to be heavily influential in changing my idea of a man/nature ethic.

On the political science front, Zinn and Stiglitz are major influences,
as well as Chomsky, and magazines like Adbuster’s, Harper’s, the
Atlantic Monthly, and the Economist.

Business and dance

I am self-designing my major with concentrations in business and dance. I mostly have business classes since I was once a business major. But, I didn't like being in Raley all the time talking about how to make lots of money. So, I switched to IDS where I can take only the business classes I want and fill the rest up with some dance classes of my choice. I chose to do this because I want to own a dance studio when I graduate. I currently teach dance and clogging for the High Country Cloggers. I consider myself 1/3 owner since I am paid directly by my students and pay 1/3 of the rent. However, I someday want to by the sole-proprietor. I became interested in clogging and dance in high school although I've taken clogging (but not dance, for lack of being able to "point my own toe," in the words of my mother) since I was seven. I hated clogging until probaly upper middle school or high school. I began assisting a clogging class in high school and then took on my own class my junior year of high school. I've been teaching ever since and now have over 30 students of my own.

The courses I chosen to be part of my major are:
Entrepreneurship, Mgt 4070, Garber
Pilates Conditioning I, Dan 3480, Quin
Pilates Conditioning II, Dan 4480, Quin
Dance Pedagogy, Dan 3450, Keeter
Legal Environment of Business, Law 2150, Dunston
Business and Economic Stats I, Eco 2100, McRae
Calculus with Business Applications, Mat 1030, Felkel
Resident Assistant Development, HPC 3400, Moody
Aerobics, PE 1020, Cook
Nutrition and Health, FCS 2202, O'Loughlin

Some books and articles that have been helpful for my intellectual development in my concentration are Clog Dance in the Appalachians by Jerry Duke and "A Brief History of Clog Dancing" by Jeff Driggs.

I have had many experiences that have helped me grow in this field. For the past 10 or so years, I, along with the entire studio, have attended a clogging workshop each year held in Gatlinburg, TN. Here have had the opportunity to learn from some of the top dance instructors in the country. In addition to this workshop, I have been clogging competitively since I was ten. I continue to take the girls I teach to competitions at least five times a year.

After I graduate, I plan to continue teaching and hopefully expanding my horizon by adding Pilates and other dance classes to my teaching agenda. I also would like to study with one of the top dance and clogging schools in the nation in Atlanta, GA. Eventually, I want to own my dance studio in a fairly large city somewhere here in the good 'ol south-since this is where clogging is most famous!

This semester, I want to focus mainly on my entrepreneurship class which, I am hoping, will teach me the basics of what I need to know to run my own small business.

Oh thats nice honey

To begin, I am a sustainable development major, and I will omit explaining what it means because I believe most of us have a basic understanding. I usually just tell people who give me puzzled looks that we try to save the world. Oh, they respond. Actually, if there were a sustainable agriculture concentration I would have chosen it because that is where I am most interested within the major. I believe it is safe to say that I have a moderately diverse pool of interests that have led me to this point in my life. One of the most significant influences has been my aunt and uncle’s goat dairy farm located near Greensboro. Their farm provided me a blissful setting in which to escape the harassments of suburban life in Dallas, Texas. From my experiences vacationing and working on their farm I have gleaned a passionate respect for the traditional knowledge of farm women (not to discredit or exclude men, of course, but I guess I just relate to women a little better.) I feel a sense of nurturing is at the core of my interests, experiences, and decision making. Sustainable agriculture is one method of channeling those feelings into something practical. I am very interested in preserving local farm knowledge (in the form of slow foods, garden techniques, artisan cheesemaking, canning/food preservation, sewing, baking, etc.) as the avalanche of new technology pushes us further and further away from a diminishing way of life. I often muse about the complex relationships between the acceptance and resistance of traditional vs. modern technological approaches to agriculture in our current system. Someone needs to make it a point to keep the old traditions alive and I think that’s where I will find my place in life.
Besides Goat Lady Dairy there are several other intellectual influences such as my peaked interest in traveling and investigating other cultures. This past summer I spent a month in France and I have some background with Hispanic (specifically Mexican) culture from living in Texas. I believe my interest in food culture will provide a doorway into various cultures I may want to experience. I feel there is a direct correlation between my palate and my open acceptance to new ideas. I have never been a picky eater which has led me to try stinky cheeses, ethnic foods, and wine, which has caused me to seek out the productions (material and cultural) and origins of those things. In the same respect, my openness to new ideas has allowed me to join wacky, but completely intellectually stimulating groups like Watauga College and IDS. I would like to make mention here of one of the greatest IDS classes I have ever taken, Movement in the Expressive Arts, which challenged me to express myself and taught me a great deal about different learning perspectives. I am also a member of some less wacky, but very commendable organizations such as the Slow Food Movement and Carolina Farm Stewards.
My experiential education has been made up of crummy, but valuably informative restaurant jobs, the rewarding labors of farm chores, and my intermittent responsibilities for saving lives and caring for injuries. In high school I had decided I wanted to be an athletic trainer as a career, and I was very serious about it. I showed so much enthusiasm that I was put in charge of all the other student trainers for 3 years. Then I gave it up to save the world. This past year I became lifeguard certified and worked for the Blowing Rock public pool. I am officially unable to explain my desire to respond to people’s traumatic accidents, but maybe it has something to do with wanting to be a leader. Hopefully I can channel these possible leadership skills into encouraging a more sustainable world. I also love to swim.

maybe a bit too sterile

An individually-designed major within interdisciplinary studies has enabled me to research issues inherent to my understanding of contemporary Appalachian labor by allowing me to transcend the traditional departmental structure of coursework offered here at Appalachian State University and draw from various disciplines in order to construct a multi-faceted, well-rounded curriculum.
Initially interested in Appalachian Studies, I was introduced to the historical and cultural framework of the region while gaining a sense of the region’s political structure. Especially significant during this phase of my academic career was a coinciding Latin American Studies course which enabled me to research issues regarding the local Hispanic community here in Appalachia. Finding their roles in labor within the local Christmas tree farming and poultry industries to be unjustly compensated, I began shifting my research elsewhere towards labor injustices.
Taking my studies from the Interdisciplinary to the Anthropology department, I was then able to research in depth the coal mining industry here in Appalachia and its role in perpetuating local labor inequality and environmental injustice. Taking trips into the heart of West Virginia to see first-hand the environmental destruction being caused by the industry’s malpractices and to speak one-on-one with the local people were actions which undoubtedly motivated and inspired me to further my research into labor law.
Whereas my initial interest in Appalachian Studies introduced me to the historical context in which various extractive industries found it profitable to settle in Appalachia, I was able to then cross the disciplinary boundaries in order to research through the Business Management department exactly how these industries concluded that this region and its people were a profitable resource to utilize and continue to be today. Research in the Business department has served to be an integral part of my understanding of these labor issues by allowing me to views these issues from the industry’s perspective. Not only contributing to a greater vocabulary and ability to comprehend the industry’s data, I feel that research from an alternative perspective is a vital part of the comprehension of any issue, for in “knowing thine enemy” one can understand how they substantiate their actions. Another coinciding course which contributed to this understanding of corporate America was a seminar offered regarding Marx and his work Capital, which served to provide me with a clearer understanding of labor and its role in capitalism.
Now able to engage in an independent study, advised by the same professor who took me up to West Virginia, I will devote this semester to furthering my research regarding contemporary Appalachian labor injustices while defining in sociological terms how I feel these actions to be criminal. Able to then write a thesis regarding my chosen course of study, I plan to engage in research concerning a more focused, isolated issue among Whitesville, WV pertaining to the proximity of a toxic, coal residue silo to the town's local elementary school and the legal ramifications of the industry's practices with regards to the state's environmental and industrial laws and regulations.

My Quest

I have been learning my entire life. My education began with words like “googoo” and “gahgah” and quickly I moved on to “maamaa” and “daadaa”. Since those early lessons I have been fascinated with learning and the education process. My early elementary education (grades K-5) occurred in Grafton Massachusetts, prior to the first major event in my life (other than my birth). At the age of 10, my family and I moved from the quaint town of Grafton to the planned community of Mission Viejo in sunny Southern California.
Life in Southern California was fun and fantastic for me. The sun always seemed to be shining and the beach was just a short bus ride away. My academic career continued with moderate success and culminated with my graduation from high school in 1987. I left high school and attended Cal State Fullerton for a short time where I quickly came to the conclusion that college was not for me, at least not yet. I ceased attending Fullerton and proceeded to pursue lessons in life. I went to work, made money, paid bills, etc…, and I learned at every step along the way. Fast forward a decade or so and the saga continues.
The summer of 2002 found me living in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. I had a new and increasing desire to return to school and to complete the college education I had started so long before. Initially, I was going to study history; however, that quickly changed after a brief conversation with a neighbor of mine. At the time of our chat, I was unaware of the IDS Department and any of the options it offered. My neighbor filled me in.
My outlook towards education has always been of an interdisciplinary nature, I just never termed it that way. Whenever I learned new information (whether in school or in life), a multitude of questions always seemed to form in my brain. If I learned geography, I always wondered about the history, culture, etc…and if I learned history, I always pondered the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ (they taught me the ‘when’). My interdisciplinary enlightenment led me to the American Studies concentration and that is where I now reside. My first IDS course was ‘Development, Globalization, and Resistance’ which now falls into one of the seminar categories. I enrolled and completed the IDS core classes while taking a mixture of courses in what I term “all things American”. My interests are varied and in fact, there are no areas of study that I find uninteresting or unworthy of study.
My personal interests and hobbies include birding, woodworking, and activities that take place out of doors. Learning is also a major focus of my life: I enjoy the mystery and discovery that it entails.
Upon graduation, I intend to teach the young. I will teach with the hope and intention of instilling in others the love of learning that I have. I believe that teaching not only educates the student, but the instructor as well. My quest for education is unending and lifelong.

In an effort to fulfill the assignment requirements, let me add a few things.

My concentration is American Studies. To me, this vaguely and broadly means the study of all things american. I came to this area of study somewhat by chance. In my first attempt at college, I found myself undirected and simply taking classes that I wanted to take (within the general education guidelines). I took U.S. History to 1877 and U.S. History since 1877 in lieu of taking the more general U.S. History class. I also enrolled in American Lit. (Twain to Modern), American Government, North American Geography, and History of California. Basically, I chose classes that seemed pertinent to where I lived, in broad terms. I will fast forward ahead from Cal State Fullerton to ASU. Once I learned of the American Studies concentration within the IDS department, a quick check of the classes I needed against the classes I had already taken told me to go with an American Studies major over a History major. Another factor that helped seal the decision was the IDS department (both faculty and students) itself. The somewhat liberal approach by the faculty and the eclectic mix of students played an important role in my deciscion to go with American Studies.

Courses:

HIS 3726 - Appalachian History w/ John Williams
ANT 2400 - North American Indians w/ C. Classen
GHY 3012 - US and Canada @ CSFullerton
ENG 2310/2320 - American Lit. w/ Z. Boyd & C. Conway (respectively)
HIS 2201/2204 - US History to 1877 & since 1877 @ CSFullerton
ENG 4790 - American Lit. 1900-1945 w/ B. Dick
PS 4230 - President/Executive Branch w/ P. Ardoin
PS 3230 - American Legislative Politics w/ P. Ardoin

My minor is English and I have taken primarily film and literature courses to fulfill my minor. I took Sociology of Sport (w/ Rosenberg) as an elective. For my foreign language requirement, I chose Spanish.

Books:

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
The Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
A Death in the Family by James Agee
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas
Theodore Roosevelt by Nathan Miller
The Big Year by Mark Obmascik
The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking by James Krenov

Experiences/Events:

Moving to California (at the age of 10) from Massachusetts
Living in Argentina for nearly a year
Working in the "real world" (not the TV show) for more than a decade
Mother having and surviving cancer

Goals/Focus after graduation:

To teach. I would like to pass on to others not simply the facts and figures that many equate with education but the love of learning and the multitude of ways in which one can persue an education. Also, I may possibly relocate back to California.

Light at the end of the Tunnel

Hello my name is Joe Schenkenberg and have a self-designed major in Cinema Studies. A lot of people ask me isn't that the same as Film Studies, but it really isn't. Film Studies deal with more the theory of meanings in certain film. Sure, it can cover some aspects of the total production of a film, but Cinema Studies deals with the entire production of a film. Pre-production, production, and post-production all come into play in my major. I am more interested in making films than understanding the meaning. Not to say that films shouldn't have a meaning, but that is just one aspect of Cinema.
I am 6th year senior that has slowly creeped to the finish line, but the race is almost over. I began my college career at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, where I recieved a golf schlorship. I started out as a buisness major then changed to a Communications major. My love for creating films really developed when my parents got a new Mac with editing software and I couldn't stop doing it. Within the Comm major I had access to video equipment, but the classes for overall video production was not abundent at Lees-McRae. So I decided to transfer to Appalachian just down the road which wasn't a hard transition. I was still a Comm major, where the classes at APP provided a better enviroment to learn about audio and video. The classes I took here in the Broadcasting Dept. where very helpful and allowed me to understand the basics of audio, lighting, and video. The only problem was these classes revolved too much around tv and radio, which are two things I loathe. So after a couple of semesters of taking classes like Writing for Electronic Media and Broadcast Media Production I decided to leave the Comm department and continue to take classes that I felt would help me in becoming Cinematically well-rounded. The IDS major was a perfect fit. I now have the abiltiy to take classes in the theatre department, english department, and whichever other department I feel might be best for my self-designed major of Cinema Studies. This will be my 3rd semester as a IDS major, and it will hopefully be my last as well.
Over the summer I produced a 17 minute film that I thought would change the world. I wrote, directed, and produced this film. It was called Sunset Riders. For two months all I did was eat, sleep, and drink this film. It was the only thing I ever thought about and I worked harder than I have ever worked on this project than anything else in my life. Sadly enought when the film was finished it got mixed reviews. At first I was pretty satisified with my film (Sunset Riders), but as time grew I found it more and more repulsive to watch. Why did this film fail and what could I have done better? That is what my senior project will focus on, where I plan to shoot another film this summer that will be very similiar to the production aspects of Sunset Riders. This time I hope to right the wrongs that I made in Sunset Riders and I am going to show you how I am going to achieve this in my senior project and make a truely great film that will live up to all my expectations.

For class on Thursday, 1/12...

For your blog post and your class presentation tomorrow, here are some things I would like you to include:

A description of your concentration in your own words, along with a brief account of how you came to be interested in the subject.

A list of courses (including department, course title, and professor) that you have taken for your concentration. You may omit required courses and general education courses unless there was something specific about them that has become important to you in thinking about your major concentration.

A short list of books and articles that stand out for you as having been influential in your intellectual development.

Describe any other experiences, events, individuals, and influences (such as travel or work) that have been important to your intellectual and academic life.

What are your life, career, and/or graduate school plans and goals after graduation?

Finally, what particular topics within your concentration do you think you might want to focus on this semester and why?

Courtney's Blog

to visit my blog go to: appsenior.blogspot. com

assignment for 1/12 is there!

Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog. We will be using this blog as a place to post class announcements, share information and drafts, and to ask and answer questions over the course of the semester.