NEH Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College

• B.A. Sociology, University of Kentucky, 1968
• M.A. Sociology, University of Notre Dame, 1971
• Ph.D. Sociology and Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, 1974

A native of Lynch, Kentucky, Bill Turner was the first to combine interests in the fields of African American and Appalachian Studies, having been appointed the Director of AAS at Notre Dame in 1969 and publishing a book titled Blacks in Appalachia in 1985. He has more than 30 years of research, administrative, and teaching experience and has held positions at several colleges and universities, including serving as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Black and Appalachian Studies at Berea College from 1988-89. He currently holds the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College, where he teaches a class on Appalachian history and culture, pursues research projects on Appalachia, and works with faculty, students, and staff to facilitate the integration of Appalachian Studies scholarship and materials into courses at Berea.

Why Appalachian Studies?
“Why study Appalachia” begs the question of the most fundamental canon of scholarship.  If we must answer “Why study Appalachia?” we might well as be asked “Why study anything?”  Is it not true that humans—especially those in academic settings—analyze, examine, and research virtually every aspect of reality, from the physical to the metaphysical?

The pivot points in the study of Appalachia—whether speculative and unexamined ideas or that which has been logically examined and confirmed by observation—are goods in and of themselves.  Those who study Appalachia need not worry nor waste time furnishing “good reasons” for doing so, or rationalizing, validating, or defending their pursuits.

C. Eric Lincoln, the late Duke University professor of Black Religion, tells a story that supplies a reason for studying Appalachia.  According to this brilliant man from Athens, Alabama (in the Appalachian Region), while some of the gods were fooling around atop Mount Olympus their play resulted in the Jewel of Truth being dislodged; it tumbled down and splintered into a million fragments on the rocks below. 

The subject matter of the study of Appalachia—from its literature to its biodiversity—was among the fragments. Carter G. Woodson, perhaps Berea College’s best known alum (the Father of Black History), describes the Appalachian fragments of reality and truth best to include why we also affirm our own reality—and reason for being —when we study Appalachia: “We have a wonderful history behind us. If we are unable to demonstrate to the world that we have this record, the world will say to us, ‘You are not worthy to enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else.’ They will say to us, ‘Who are you anyway?’”

Who are we?

We are those who study and serve Appalachia. 

Come to the Mountaintop with us as we push the journey towards Truth.  If you’re from Appalachia, you might just find your fragment of truth.  If not, studying the Appalachian reality will help you to understand the universality of the story of the Southern Mountains and its peoples, how it applies and ties to the common journey of humans around the globe.

Join us.