Graduate Students & Alumni

Our Graduates

Jake Altemus 2004, is the Director of Outdoor Programs for The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN. He spends his days trying to get young men into the Southern Mountains.

Courtney Baines 2008, is currently teaching for Sustainable Development at ASU.

Rebecca Anne Beyer 2018, More information

Jessica Blackburn 2000, is assistant chair and director of rhetoric and writing studies in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Appalachian studies program at ASU. Her areas of academic interest include cultural, digital, and feminist rhetorics; multimodal composition theory and pedagogy; and Appalachian studies and critical regional rhetorics..

Lori Briscoe-Pennington 2000, Director of Program Development, People, Inc.. Abingdon, VA. Lori and Corey are the proud parents of Selah (7) and Norah (5). lbpetc@gmail.com

Theresa E. Burchett 2001, lives in Gray, TN and has been the Director of the B. Carroll Reece Museum at the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University since March 2005. She was recently was named the Director of the Appalachian Studies Minor at ETSU. B. Carroll Reece Museum | Center for Appalachian Studies and Services | theresaburchett@hotmail.com | burchete@etsu.edu

Jamie Gail Butcher 2005, completed her M.A. degree in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University in August 2005. She holds a B.A. degree in anthropology from the University of Virginia. Currently, Ms. Butcher is pursuing a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests include missional theology, women and gender, and all things Appalachian.jamie.butcher@ptsem.edu

Edward J. Cabbell (1946-2018) 1982, was curator of the John Henry Center for Culture and History Exchange and director of the John Henry Festival and Conference. With William Turner, Ed co-edited Blacks in Appalachia (1985), a ground-breaking project that emerged partially from Ed's graduate work in our program. Ed was a scholar, singer, poet, activist, community organizer, and folklorist. He also funded a scholarship for graduate students in our program.

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What can you do with a Master of Arts degree in Appalachian Studies?

Leila Weinstein Leila Weinstein is the Director of the Bascom Lamar Lunsford “Minstrel of Appalachia” Festival and Program Coordinator at the Ramsey Center for Regional Studies at Mars Hill University in Madison County, North Carolina. She organizes programs for students, faculty, and community members that explore the culture, history, and arts of the Appalachian Mountains and also teaches Appalachian Studies courses. Prior to working at Mars Hill University, Leila was the Director of Education and Outreach at the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum and was the founding director of the Caldwell County Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) program.

Tamara McNaughton 2007, works as the Agriculture Program Manager for Appalachian Sustainable Development. She coordinates programs focused on strengthening the local food economies in Virginia and Tennessee including Rooted in Appalachia and the Appalachian Farmers Market Association and that association’s Local Food Guide. She is also a certified organic farmer of two acres and the Fee Waiver Coordinator for Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group.

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.

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.

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

Appalachian Studies Academic Program