Scholarship
In 1966, West Virginia University 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, anthropology, 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.
Read more about this topic: Appalachian Studies
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