Research & Experiential Teaching

Projects:

Mountain View Cemetery Revitalization Project
2007-08.   A community-based planning project to help a Radford, Virginia, community group identify ways to restore and maintain an historic African-American cemetery, the Mountain View Cemetery, as a community-focused heritage site.  This was conducted as an applied service-learning project for the Spring 2007 Applied Anthropology class, in collaboration with the Mountain View Cemetery Committee. The research team conducted three months of research on the cemetery’s history, community needs and assets, and best practices in African-American cemetery restoration.  It then prepared a consulting report, Mountain View Cemetery: Ideas and Recommendations, with extensive recommendations for the cemetery’s heritage preservation and a phased-in program for restoration and maintenance.  The report was presented to the Mountain View Cemetery Committee and RU’s Service Learning Office, May 2007. In the second stage of the project, 2007-08, further analysis and writing resulted in a book chapter “The Need for Heritage Preservation: Developing a Plan for Revitalization” (2008) describing the recommendations and project design.

Farm Heritage & Community Park Planning Project
2003.  A community-based planning project to study possibilities and potential designs for a farm heritage & community park that might be located somewhere in the New River Valley.  Conducted as an experiential learning project by the Spring 2003 Applied Anthropology class.   The team worked with community educators and key resource people to gain community-based input, and used NRV farm oral histories (collected in an earlier project) to guide their development of ideas for heritage interpretation, park layout, and community-centered activities, which included incorporation of a farmer’s market to help community farmers gain value-added income.  They prepared a consulting report with a set of conceptual recommendations, Farm Heritage and Community Park: Conceptual Plans and Ideas, which they submitted to the Montgomery County Parks & Recreation Office in 2003.

Wildwood Park Planning Recommendation Project
2000.  Community-based planning project focused on developing ideas for the revitalization of Wildwood Park in Radford, Virginia. This was conducted as an experiential service-learning project for the Spring 2000 Practicum class, in collaboration with the community group Pathways for Radford.  The RU team conducted three months of research and prepared a consulting report, Wildwood Park: Nature, Heritage, and Planning Ideas, with recommendations for park revitalization, emphasizing a dual theme focus on both site heritage and nature-based education, and including ideas for enhancing the park entrance area and signage.  The report was presented to Pathways for Radford in 2000.

ORAL HISTORY/ETHNOGRAPHIC PROJECTS:

Appalachian Farming Heritage Project (New River Valley, VA)
2002-05; 2007-08; 2013-14.  This project has spanned 12 years.  It started with an oral history project to document Appalachian farming livelihood strategies in the New River Valley of Virginia.  The project was a collaborative effort between RU’s Department of Sociology/Anthropology and the Virginia Farm Bureau.  Students in the Spring 2002 Economic Anthropology class and the Fall 2002 Practicum class played a major part in conducting the oral history interviews, followed by continued faculty-student research, analysis, and editing work in 2003-05.  The resulting book of oral histories, Appalachian Farming Life: Memories and Perspectives on Family Farming in Virginia's New River Valley, was published by Brightside Press, December 2003.  Later, in 2007-08, the project director conducted an advanced research analysis and write-up stage, which resulted in publication of a journal article describing changes in NRV farming life from the 1930’s into the 21st century (Jan. 2010 Journal of Appalachian Studies).  Most recently, the project director conducted updated Agricultural Census research, then combined the census data with the oral history data to  provide a broad context for understanding farming livelihood strategies in the New River Valley of Virginia, as described in an article for the Journal of the New River Historical Society, 2014.

Coal Mining Heritage Oral History Project
1995-1998.  Oral history project to document knowledge of the coal mining life in the New River Valley in Appalachian Virginia, 1930s-1960s.  The project was carried out in collaboration with the Coal Mining Heritage Association, and was an experiential service-learning project for two Economic Anthropology classes (Fall 1995 & Fall 1997) and a Practicum class (Spring 1996.  The project resulted in 2 books of mining oral histories, Appalachian Coal Mining Memories published by Pocahontas Press (1997) and Coal Mining Lives: An Oral History Sequel to Appalachian Coal Mining Memories (1998). Later, the project director conducted an advanced research analysis and write-up stage, which led to additional professional journal publications and presentations on the coal mining way of life.

Coal Mining Heritage Museum & Video Documentation Project
2005-06.  Community-based research project in which the Spring 2005 Applied Anthropology class worked collaboratively with the region's Coal Mining Heritage Association on two related activities: 1) to develop procedures for the cataloging and care of a mining heritage museum collection, and 2) to create documentary videos to be used for museum exhibits.  The team researched museum best practices and wrote a consulting report, Coal Mining Heritage Museum and Video Documentary Project, applying and tailoring museum recommendations to the community group’s specific needs.  The consulting report, which was also accompanied by four short videos on DVD, was presented to the community group in 2005.  In a second, follow-up stage of the project, the videotaping was continued (as independent study classes), and the team produced a longer 30-minute documentary video, Memories from the Mines, on coal mining life in the New River Valley of Virginia.  This was presented to the Coal Mining Heritage Association in Spring 2006.

Radford Arsenal Oral History Project
2000-2003.  Oral history project to document the impacts of the Radford Arsenal on New River Valley families and economic patterns, especially during the 1940s.  Conducted in collaboration with the Radford Arsenal as an experiential service-learning project for the RU Fall 2000 Practicum class and a Spring 2001 Honors Project, and followed by continued faculty-student analysis and editing work in 2002-3.  The resulting book of oral histories, The Radford Arsenal: Impacts and Cultural Change in an Appalachian Region, was published by Brightside Press, December 2003.

Wildwood Park Planning Recommendation Project
2000.  Community-based planning project focused on developing ideas for the revitalization of Wildwood Park in Radford, Virginia. This was conducted as an experiential service-learning project for the Spring 2000 Practicum class, in collaboration with the community group Pathways for Radford.  The RU team conducted three months of research and prepared a consulting report, Wildwood Park: Nature, Heritage, and Planning Ideas, with recommendations for park revitalization, emphasizing a dual theme focus on both site heritage and nature-based education, and including ideas for enhancing the park entrance area and signage.  The report was presented to Pathways for Radford in 2000.

Appalachia Heritage Tourism Project
1993-1994.  Development of a set of recommendations for heritage tourism in the region surrounding the Town of Appalachia in southwest Virginia.  Conducted as an experiential service-learning project for the Fall 1993 Economic Anthropology class, which worked in collaboration with members of the Town of Appalachia’s Town Hall and it’s Business Committee.  After three months of research, the team prepared a consulting report, Appalachia, Heart of the Appalachian Region: Working Ideas for Development, which it submitted to the Town of Appalachia in 1994.  Later, the project director conducted advanced research analysis and wrote a journal article (2005) and two book chapters (1997, 2009) describing the community-based research design of this applied project.

Appalachia Coal Camp Oral History Project

1992-1995; 2007-8.  Oral history project to document knowledge of the coal mining life in 18 coal camps surrounding the Town of Appalachia in far southwest Virginia, 1930s-1960s.  The project involved faculty-student-community collaborative oral history work from 1992-95.  The oral history results have been published in numerous professional journal articles and presentations describing mining household survival strategies, and in an extensive chapter, “Voices From the Coal Camps: Life in an Appalachian Coal Mining Region” in a 2008 book on the coal camps of Wise County, Virginia.

Farmers Market Project
2003-04.  A socio-economic study of Farmer's Markets in Southwest Virginia.  This was conducted as an experiential learning project by the Fall 2003 Economic Anthropology class.  The team compiled their findings as an ethnographic study of farmer's markets, The Social and Economic World of Farmers Markets in 2004.

Flea Market Project
1991-1993.  Study of flea marketing as an economic livelihood strategy.  This was conducted as an experiential learning project for the Fall 1991 Economic Anthropology class and a Spring 1992 Practicum class. Data was collected largely at the Pulaski Flea Market using a wide variety of fieldwork methods including mapping, interviews, and participant-observation.  The research results were presented by the faculty-student team in a research paper, “Making a Buck: Economic and Social Adaptations in an Appalachian Flea Market,” in 1993.