Appalachian Studies Academic Programs

Marc Williams is executive director of Plants and Healers International in Asheville, North Carolina, and serves on the board of directors of the Appalachian Institute for Mountain Studies. He has studied the people-plant connection intensively while learning to employ botanicals for food, medicine, and beauty. Marc added a graduate minor in geography and planning to his Master of Arts degree in Appalachian studies while at Appalachian State University. He has spent over a decade working at restaurants and farms with a focus on sustainability and has visited over one hundred botanical gardens and research institutions during extensive travel in the United States and abroad. Marc has taken thousands of pictures of representative plants during these visits and taught clients about the world of plants, people, and their interface while working with over fifty organizations in the last few years.

Leila Weinstein is the Educational Programs Coordinator at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, where she organizes programs that explore the culture, history, and arts of the Appalachian Mountains. She also teaches children's camps and art classes and curates historical exhibits. One of Leila’s programs, Young at Art, is an outreach program that augments the art curriculum for K-2 students. Leila’s recent exhibits include “Whimmy Diddles n’ Flipper Dingers: Toys of Appalachia “ and “Common Threads: Five Influential Women and their Legacies [in Western North Carolina].”

Mark Freed 2017, is the Cultural Resources Coordinator for the Town of Boone in Boone, North Carolina. Mark works with the Cultural Resources Department to oversee the function and programming of culturally significant buildings, grounds, and other resources in the town, working out of one of those sites—the Jones House Cultural and Community Center in downtown Boone. Mark's programs include coordinating an outdoor summer concert series, the Doc Watson Day Celebration, a weekly old-time jam session, a music lessons program, art and historical exhibitions, and coordinating public and private use of the community center. philburs@yahoo.com

Phil Jamison is a nationally-known dance caller, old-time musician, and flatfoot dancer. He has called dances, performed, and taught music throughout the U.S. and overseas, including more than thirty years as a member of the Green Grass Cloggers. His flatfoot dancing was featured in the film Songcatcher for which he al- so served as Traditional Dance Consultant. He toured and played guitar with Ralph Blizard and the New Southern Ramblers, but he also plays fiddle and banjo. In 2004, he co-founded Dare To Be Square!, a weekend workshop for square dance callers. Phil’s forthcoming book about the history of Appalachian dance, “Hoedowns, Reels, and Frolics,” will be published by the University of Illinois Press in 2015. Phil teaches mathematics as well as Appalachian music and Appalachian studies at Warren Wilson College, where he also coordinates the Old-Time Music and Dance Week at the Swannanoa Gathering.