First Appalachian Research Symposium Successful

The first UK Appalachian Research Symposium had a successful first run, according to members of the UK Appalachian Research Community. The student-led event, which took place Feb. 20 at the UK Student Center, brought in approximately 50 attendees and offered presentations from 17 presenters.  Julie Shepherd-Powell received the best paper award for her work entitled, Natural Resource Corruption in the fight Against a Coal-Fired Power Plant in Southwest Virginia.

UK Catering provided lunch for all attendees, and a warm ambiance greeted guests as they watched Nancy Schoenberg, Ph.D. deliver her keynote address, “Deconstructing Fatalism: Lessons from Appalachian Case Studies.”  Ron Pen, Ph.D. and Kevin Kehrberg entertained the group with a performance of traditional Appalachian folk songs.

Lisa Conley, UKARC steering committee member, states, “Our goal was to bring together student researchers from various disciplines, both graduate and undergraduate, and spark a dialogue about our collective focus on Appalachia. We had great discussions in the panels and many of us found parallels in our research we otherwise would not have noticed. “

Another UKARC steering committee member, Amanda Fickey, stated in a recent radio interview with WUKY, “those of us who do research in the region of Appalachia, are generally unaware of what other disciplines are doing and the types of research questions they are asking.”   She believes this event was an excellent opportunity for research to discuss and discover the work of others.

According to Conley, The Appalachian Research Community has already received positive feedback from the presenters and the wider community and plans to incorporate their suggestions into next year’s symposium.

“We hope to broaden the scope and audience of the symposium even more to increase the networking potential and draw in residents from the region as well.”

For more information on UKARC, UK Appalachian Center, or UK Appalachian Studies, please visit www.appalachiancenter.org.