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SOCY 411
APPALACHIAN CULTURES

Catalog Entry

SOCY 411. APPALACHIAN CULTURES.
Three hours lecture (3).

Prerequisites: APST 200, or SOCY 110, or SOCY 121

The purpose of this class is to gain a better understanding and appreciation of Appalachia, its beauty, and its mischaracterization. You will learn about the diversity of Appalachia—its cultures and dialects and how stereotyping and media misrepresentation have shaped negative perceptions of the region. Additionally, we will explore and discuss competing discourses—those of the culture of poverty and political economy as well as informal economies. Power dynamics and exploitation of the region, particularly in extractive industries, will also be discussed. Lastly, we will discuss Appalachians’ resilience and grassroots efforts to improve the region. This course fulfills elective sociology credits and may also be used to meet requirements for the Appalachian Studies minor. 

Note(s): Cultural or Behavioral Analysis designated course.  Students cannot receive credit for both ANTH 411 and SOCY 411. This course may be used to meet requirements for the minor in Appalachian Studies.

 

Detailed Description of Content of the Course

The content may include:

I. The concept of culture and social science perspectives. 
II. Is a unique Appalachian subculture extant?

A. Describing Appalachian culture

            1. Economic structure

                        a. adaptive strategies: hunting/gathering, horticulture/agriculture, lumber, mines, other industry
                        b. correlates of adaptive strategy

                                    1) style of work: non-routinized/routinized

                                    2) mode of production: mode of production for use/mode of production for exchange

                                    3) orientation toward time: past/present/future

                                    4) orientation toward land: land as "place"/land as "property"

            2. Social organization

                        a. kinship structure

                                    1) the nuclear family and the ex-tended kin network

                                    2) household composition

                        b. settlement and community: peer group conformity vs. individualism

                         c. social stratification

                                    1) Is the community egalitarian?

                                    2) Does "more urban" equal"higher status"?

            3. Religion and cosmology

                        a. fundamentalism

                        b. lineal and non-lineal (non-discursive or intuitive) modes of thought

B. Stereotypes and caricature of "Mountain People"

            1. Individualism

            2. Fatalism

            3. Otherworldliness

            4. Traditionalism

C. Analyzing Inconsistencies

D. Analyzing the "uniqueness" of Appalachian culture

            1. Explanatory models

                        a. Toennies' Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft

                        b. Cooley's primary/secondary groups

                        c. Parson's "pattern variables"

                        d. Durkheim's mechanical/organic solidarity

                        e. Redfield's folk/urban continuum

                        f. Gans' person/object orientation

            2. Do the models fit rural cultures around the world?

                        a. cross-cultural perspective on rural/urban differences

                        b. Do the models fit Appalachia?

III. Explaining the nature of Appalachian culture

A. Culture as epiphenomenon

            1. the environmental determinism approach to Appalachian culture

            2. the technological determinism approach

            3. the "culture of poverty" model

            4. the social structural approach (internal colonialism, class model, metropolis/satellite model)

B. Culture as basic structure

            1. the cognitive approach (ethnoscience)

            2. the structuralist approach

IV. Culture change in Appalachia--Post World War II

A. Change in economic structure

B. Change in social organization

C. Change in religion and world view

D. What has remained unchanging?

V. Discovering and rediscovering Appalachian culture

A. Discovery of Appalachia in social science
B. The Appalachian "Myth" as an expression of bipolar strains in American culture
 

 

Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

A lecture/discussion and in-class writing approach is used, which encourages students to exchange information about their own respective cultural backgrounds and their perceptions of Appalachian and non-Appalachian cultures.
 

 

Goals and Objectives of Course

Students will be introduced to the cultures of the Appalachian region of which Radford University is a part.  Having successfully completed this course, students will:
·        have knowledge of the diversity of cultures within the Appalachian region
·        exercise critical thinking to understand the cultures of the Appalachian region as cultural systems with both internal integrity and external influences
·        be able to analyze the importance of the environment in understanding Appalachian cultures and their current conditions
 

 

Assessment Measures

Graded and checked assignments may include in-class or take-home examinations and quizzes, homework assignments, in-class writing, and in-class discussions. Journals may be required and checked periodically. Formal oral presentations may be required.
 

 

Other Course Information

None

 

Review and Approval

DATE ACTION REVIEWED
February 2009, Dr. Paula Brush, Chair, Department of Sociology

March 01, 2021