ASI 250-01 - Introduction to Appalachian Studies

Book Rental: Michael Ann Williams, Great Smoky Mountains Folklife
Book Purchase: Richard Straw and H. Tyler Blethen, High Mountains Rising; Florence Cope Bush, Dorie

Jan 11, 13 - Introduction to Appalachia - High Mountains Rising [HMR] Introduction Jan 13

Jan 15, 20 - Interpretations of Appalachia

Jan 22, 25 - Appalachia's Environment

Jan 27, 29, Feb 1 - The Cherokees - HMR ch. 1 Jan 27

Feb 3 - In-Class Essay on Great Smoky Mountains Folklife

Feb 5, 8 - Ethnicity - HMR ch. 2 Feb 5, HMR ch 3 Feb 8

Feb 10, 12 - Folklife - HMR ch. 10 Feb 10

Feb 15 - EXAM

Feb 17 - Folklife

Feb 19, 22, 24 - Religion - HMR ch. 13 Feb 19

Feb 26 - Mountain Talk - HMR ch. 11 Feb 26 and Vowel Demonstration (Click on examples for NC, OH, & WI under "Demonstration 1: Vowel dynamics in three dialects of American English")

Mar 1 - Tour Mountain Heritage Center (class meet at Center on ground floor of HFR Bldg)

Mar 8, 10 - Appalachian Stereotypes - HMR ch. 8 Mar 8 and Hillbilly Days

Mar 12, 15, 17 - Industrialization & Modernization - HMR ch. 5 Mar 12

Mar 19 - Decline into Poverty - HMR ch. 6 Mar 19

Mar 22 EXAM

Mar 24, 26, Apr 5 - Federal Presence

Apr 7, 9 - Migration and Urban Appalachians - HMR ch. 7 Apr 7

Apr 12, 14 - War on Poverty - HMR ch. 14 Apr 12

Apr 16, 19 - Health Care

Apr 21 - In-Class Essay on Dorie

Apr 23 - Education

Apr 26, 28 - Tourism

Apr 30 - Makeups

May 5 - FINAL 8:30-11:00

Assignments

Grades are based on a 10-point + scale. Exams 20% each; in-class essays 15% each; class participation 10%; final 20%.

In-class Book Essays (30%): Essays discussing the main themes of each book will be written in class on Feb 3 (Great Smoky Mountains Folklife) and on Apr 21 (Dorie).

Class Participation (10%) includes taking part in class discussions and also quizzes on reading assignments in High Mountains Rising [see HMR Study Guide questions].

Attendance Policy: Attendance is important in this class. For each unexcused absence beyond 3, your course grade will drop 2 points, to a maximum of 10 points. Tardiness may also lower your grade. Excuses will only be accepted for medical, legal, or weather circumstances or University-sponsored functions; written verification may be required.

Makeups for the exams and in-class essays will only be given for absences caused by medical, legal, or weather circumstances or for University-sponsored functions; written verification may be required. If a mutually-agreeable time cannot be found, makeups will be given during the last class period. Absence from the makeup will count as zero. MISSED QUIZZES CANNOT BE MADE UP, but the 3 LOWEST QUIZ GRADES WILL BE DROPPED.

Bibliographies and Resources:

• Southern Appalachia Subject Guide (U Tenn)
• Appalachian Research Aids (ASU)
• Appalachian Studies Bibliography (WVU 1994-2004)
• Appalachian Studies Resources (ASA)
• Appalachian Studies: Selected Bibliography (ASU)
• Appalachian Treasures Gateway (OU Zanesville)

Asheville Citizen-Times * Knoxville News Sentinel * Roanoke (VA) Times * Chattanooga Times-Free Press * Chattanoogan * Charleston (WV) Daily Mail * Charleston (WV) Gazette * Sylva Herald * Smoky Mountain News * Waynesville Mountaineer * Watauga Democrat (Boone, NC)

This course is a Liberal Studies course. The learning goals of the Liberal Studies Program are for students to:

• Demonstrate the ability to locate, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information;
• Demonstrate the ability to interpret and use numerical, written, oral and visual data;
• Demonstrate the ability to read with comprehension, and to write and speak clearly, coherently, and effectively as well as to adapt modes of communication appropriate to an audience;
• Demonstrate the ability to critically analyze arguments; demonstrate the ability to recognize behaviors and define choices that affect lifelong well-being;
• Demonstrate an understanding of:
  • Past human experiences and ability to relate them to the present:
  • Different contemporary cultures and their interrelationships;
  • Issues involving social institutions, interpersonal and group dynamics, human development and behavior, and cultural diversity; scientific concepts and methods as well as contemporary issues in science and technology;
  • Cultural heritage through its expressions of wisdom, literature and art and their roles in the process of self and social understanding.

Western Carolina University is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for students with documented disabilities. Students who require disability services or reasonable accommodations must identify themselves as having a disability and provide current diagnostic documentation to Disability Services. All information is confidential. Please contact Disability Services for more information at (828) 227-2716 or 144 Killian Annex.

Western Carolina University, as a community of scholarship, is also a community of honor. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students work together to achieve the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Academic dishonesty is a serious offense at Western Carolina University because it threatens the quality of scholarship and defrauds those who depend on knowledge and integrity. Academic dishonesty includes:

• a. Cheating - Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.
• b. Fabrication - Intentional falsification of information or citation in an academic exercise.
• c. Plagiarism - Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of someone else as one's own in an academic exercise.
• d. Facilitation of Academic Dishonesty - Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help someone else to commit an act of academic dishonesty, such as knowingly allowing another to copy information during an examination or other academic exercise. Instructors have the right to determine the appropriate sanction or sanctions for academic dishonesty within their courses up to and including a final grade of "F" in the course. Within 5 calendar days of the event the instructor will inform his/her department head, and the Associate Dean of the Graduate School when the student is a graduate student, in writing of the academic dishonesty charge and sanction. See the Student Handbook for more detailed information.

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