Appalachian Studies Courses
**This website is under construction. Please come back for more updates on relevant courses**
Course Criteria for Appalachian Studies Minor or Certificate Courses
APP Course Descriptions 18-19 Undergraduate Bulletin
Please note: Students may petition the Director of Appalachian Studies, Dr. Kathryn Engle, on individualized curriculum plans to fulfill the Appalachian Studies Minor or Undergraduate Certificate Requirements.
Spring 2019 Course Offerings
APP 200: Introduction to Appalachian Studies (3.0 Credits)
Applies to the UK Core requirements: Community, Culture & Citizenship in US TR 11:00AM-12:15PM
Credit from this course applies to the following programs: Undergraduate
001 - TR 11:00AM-12:15PM - Miller Hall Room 101 - TBD
This course is a multidisciplinary introduction to Appalachian culture, history, and society. It will examine how and why the central and southern Appalachian Mountains came to be viewed as a distinct region, “Appalachia,” and it will examine Appalachia's place in American life. We will encounter the region's rich traditions of music and literature; its rural social life including kinship and neighborhood institutions; coal mining history, community patterns, and labor struggles; language gender; the experiences of Native Americans, African Americans, and Eastern Europeans in Appalachia; inequality and poverty; community politics and grassroots struggles; and current environmental issues including mountaintop removal coal mining.
APP 300: Topics in Appalachian Studies (3.0 Credits)
Prerequisite: APP 200 or consent of instructor.
Credit from this course applies to the following programs: Undergraduate
001 - TR 2:00-3:15PM - Erickson Hall Room 007 - Carson Eugene Benn
Appalachia appears in American media in a number of different ways, and many of these suggest that the mountains are in a state of poverty and social backwardness. In this class, we'll read, watch, and listen to these media representations. We will consider the role Appalachia has played in the national consciousness and compare it to other places. We will then consider the relationship between media representations and the history of education and social aid in the region, from the second half of the nineteenth century up through the 2016 election. We ask: what has been tried in the past to uplift, educate, and "fix" the mountaineers, and what can we learn from the past as the region looks to construct new futures?
APP 395: Independent Study
Prerequisite: APP 200
Independent study of speical topic under the supervision of Appalachian Studies affiliated faculty. Students must identify both a topic for this project as well as a faculty mentor who has agreed to supervise this project. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits.
App 399: Appalachian Studies Practicum (3.0 Credits)
Prerequisite: APP 200 or consent of instructor - Pass-Fail ONLY. Controlled enrollment course
Spring Break & Following Week March 11-22 - Dr. Kathryn Engle
This practicum course will be an intensive two-week immersion experience considering issues relating to Appalachian Studies and issues specifically relevant to communities in eastern Kentucky. Students will participate in a two-week long course that will include excursions into the region, skill-building and research activities, and culminate in a trip to the Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Asheville, North Carolina. Students will consider a variety of issues relating to Appalachia and Appalachian Studies including local food systems, race, gender, the politics of coal, environmental justice, and representation. Students will be able to pursue individual interests in the region and will complete a reflection on their experiences in the course and through their independent reserach on a chosen topic relating to Appalachia.
