Alongside the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program, the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community announces the University of Kentucky’s 15th Annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase will be Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. 

Please see our full Call for Proposals for more information, and please share widely.

The symposium is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines from any college and university interested in Appalachia. Registration is free for both presenters and registered attendees. The symposium is intended to foster a supportive community in which students from various fields can present their Appalachian-based research and creative work. 

This year’s theme is Interdependent Possibilities: Cultures of Care, Practices of Place-Making. Attention to care and community provides an opportunity to bring together work on relationality and social justice across disciplines, including: 

• Environmental studies.
• Medicine and public health.
• Life and physical sciences.
• The social sciences and humanities. 

We will examine what care looks like and how we can understand care in relation to place. We welcome work related to the theme or other topics related to Appalachia.

Our keynote, Hopesick: Reckoning with Care, Community, and Recovery in Central Appalachia, will feature Dr. Abby Mack, assistant professor in the UK Department of Anthropology. Mack is an applied and engaged ethnographer and medical anthropologist with extensive training in linguistic anthropology, public health and the critical humanities. Her research program explores how people navigate everyday ethical and political dilemmas in providing and accessing care for psychiatric and substance use disorders in the United States, Los Angeles and Central Appalachia in particular.  

Abstract Submission: To be considered for a presentation, submit a 200-250 word abstract (a brief summary/overview of your work) online by 5 p.m. E.T. Monday, Jan. 23, 2026: 2026 Abstract Submission Form.

Symposium Registration: To register to attend, sign-up online by 5pm ET on Friday, Feb. 14, 2026: 2026 Registration Form (for both presenters and non-presenting attendees).

Any questions, comments, or concerns should be directed to GARCommunity@uky.edu.

Alongside the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program, the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community announces the University of Kentucky’s 15th Annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase will be Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. 

Please see our full Call for Proposals for more information, and please share widely.

The symposium is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines from any college and university interested in Appalachia. Registration is free for both presenters and registered attendees. The symposium is intended to foster a supportive community in which students from various fields can present their Appalachian-based research and creative work. 

This year’s theme is Interdependent Possibilities: Cultures of Care, Practices of Place-Making. Attention to care and community provides an opportunity to bring together work on relationality and social justice across disciplines, including: 

• Environmental studies.
• Medicine and public health.
• Life and physical sciences.
• The social sciences and humanities. 

We will examine what care looks like and how we can understand care in relation to place. We welcome work related to the theme or other topics related to Appalachia.

Our keynote, Hopesick: Reckoning with Care, Community, and Recovery in Central Appalachia, will feature Dr. Abby Mack, assistant professor in the UK Department of Anthropology. Mack is an applied and engaged ethnographer and medical anthropologist with extensive training in linguistic anthropology, public health and the critical humanities. Her research program explores how people navigate everyday ethical and political dilemmas in providing and accessing care for psychiatric and substance use disorders in the United States, Los Angeles and Central Appalachia in particular.  

Abstract Submission: To be considered for a presentation, submit a 200-250 word abstract (a brief summary/overview of your work) online by 5 p.m. E.T. Monday, Jan. 23, 2026: 2026 Abstract Submission Form.

Symposium Registration: To register to attend, sign-up online by 5pm ET on Friday, Feb. 14, 2026: 2026 Registration Form (for both presenters and non-presenting attendees).

Any questions, comments, or concerns should be directed to GARCommunity@uky.edu.

Alongside the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program, the UK Graduate Appalachian Research Community announces the University of Kentucky’s 15th Annual Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase will be Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. 

Please see our full Call for Proposals for more information, and please share widely.

The symposium is open to all undergraduate and graduate students of all disciplines from any college and university interested in Appalachia. Registration is free for both presenters and registered attendees. The symposium is intended to foster a supportive community in which students from various fields can present their Appalachian-based research and creative work. 

This year’s theme is Interdependent Possibilities: Cultures of Care, Practices of Place-Making. Attention to care and community provides an opportunity to bring together work on relationality and social justice across disciplines, including: 

• Environmental studies.
• Medicine and public health.
• Life and physical sciences.
• The social sciences and humanities. 

We will examine what care looks like and how we can understand care in relation to place. We welcome work related to the theme or other topics related to Appalachia.

Our keynote, Hopesick: Reckoning with Care, Community, and Recovery in Central Appalachia, will feature Dr. Abby Mack, assistant professor in the UK Department of Anthropology. Mack is an applied and engaged ethnographer and medical anthropologist with extensive training in linguistic anthropology, public health and the critical humanities. Her research program explores how people navigate everyday ethical and political dilemmas in providing and accessing care for psychiatric and substance use disorders in the United States, Los Angeles and Central Appalachia in particular.  

Abstract Submission: To be considered for a presentation, submit a 200-250 word abstract (a brief summary/overview of your work) online by 5 p.m. E.T. Monday, Jan. 23, 2026: 2026 Abstract Submission Form.

Symposium Registration: To register to attend, sign-up online by 5pm ET on Friday, Feb. 14, 2026: 2026 Registration Form (for both presenters and non-presenting attendees).

Any questions, comments, or concerns should be directed to GARCommunity@uky.edu.

Join the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program for a seasonal event celebrating friendship and this year's graduates. A program to present the December APP graduating minors and certificate recipients begins at 4 p.m. with Friendsgiving immediately to follow. Feel free to bring a dish to share.

This event will be held at the Appalachian Center and virtually via Zoom. If you would like to join by Zoom, register at this link here.

If you would like to bring a dish to share, please complete the brief sign-up form linked here.

Join the Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program for a seasonal event celebrating friendship and this year's graduates. A program to present the December APP graduating minors and certificate recipients begins at 4 p.m. with Friendsgiving immediately to follow. Feel free to bring a dish to share.

This event will be held at the Appalachian Center and virtually via Zoom. If you would like to join by Zoom, register at this link here.

If you would like to bring a dish to share, please complete the brief sign-up form linked here.

Join us for our SWAP (Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress) presentation at the Appalachian Center or tune in virtually via Zoom. This year's SWAPs will showcase the research conducted by recipients of the 2025 James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and the UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Award, as well as other scholars and students sharing their research.

Join us for our SWAP (Sharing Work on Appalachia in Progress) presentation at the Appalachian Center or tune in virtually via Zoom. This year's SWAPs will showcase the research conducted by recipients of the 2025 James S. Brown Graduate Student Award for Research on Appalachia and the UK Appalachian Center Eller & Billings Student Research Award, as well as other scholars and students sharing their research.

Join the UK Appalachian Center and Appalachian Studies Program for a hiking trip to the Pinnacles in Berea! This will be a guided hike led by the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center. UK Appalachian Center Director, Dr. Kathryn Engle, will also lead the group. The trip will last approximately 12:30 pm to 5 pm on Sunday, October 19.

Click here for the link to register. All participants must complete the linked registration form to attend. The group will meet at the Appalachian Center, 624 Maxwelton Court, at 12:30 pm. There will also be an option to meet at the Pinnacles (address to be provided). Contact the Appalachian Center Department Manager, Shannon Markel, at shannon.markel@uky.edu for additional information.

We hope to see you there!